diff --git a/bootstrapvz/common/assets/init.d/generate-ssh-hostkeys b/bootstrapvz/common/assets/init.d/generate-ssh-hostkeys
index 297cf21..cb51e3d 100644
--- a/bootstrapvz/common/assets/init.d/generate-ssh-hostkeys
+++ b/bootstrapvz/common/assets/init.d/generate-ssh-hostkeys
@@ -1,36 +1,14 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-### BEGIN INIT INFO
-# Provides:       generate-ssh-hostkeys
-# Required-Start: $local_fs
-# Required-Stop:  
-# Should-Start:   
-# Should-Stop:    
-# Default-Start:  2 3 4 5
-# Default-Stop:   
-# Description:    Generate ssh host keys if they do not exist
-### END INIT INFO
+# Kept for backward compatibility. OpenSSH Host Keys are generated
+# by "ssh-generate-hostkeys.service" systemd unit or "ssh-generate-hostkeys"
+# sysvinit script (#431).
 
-prog=$(basename $0)
-logger="logger -t $prog"
+set -eu
 
-rsa_key="/etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key"
-ecdsa_key="/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key"
-ed25519_key="/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key"
-
-# Exit if the hostkeys already exist
-if [ -f $rsa_key -a -f $ecdsa_key -a -f $ed25519_key ]; then
-	exit
+if [ -z "${1+x}" ] || [ -z "$1" ]; then
+    PAR="start"
+else
+    PAR="$1"
 fi
 
-# Generate the ssh host keys
-[ -f $rsa_key ] || ssh-keygen -f $rsa_key -t rsa -C 'host' -N ''
-[ -f $ecdsa_key ] || ssh-keygen -f $ecdsa_key -t ecdsa -C 'host' -N ''
-[ -f $ed25519_key ] || ssh-keygen -f $ed25519_key -t ed25519 -C 'host' -N ''
-
-# Output the public keys to the console
-# This allows user to get host keys securely through console log
-echo "-----BEGIN SSH HOST KEY FINGERPRINTS-----" | $logger
-ssh-keygen -l -f $rsa_key.pub | $logger
-ssh-keygen -l -f $ecdsa_key.pub | $logger
-ssh-keygen -l -f $ed25519_key.pub | $logger
-echo "------END SSH HOST KEY FINGERPRINTS------" | $logger
+exec /etc/init.d/ssh-generate-hostkeys "$PAR"
diff --git a/bootstrapvz/common/assets/init.d/ssh-generate-hostkeys b/bootstrapvz/common/assets/init.d/ssh-generate-hostkeys
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b048555
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bootstrapvz/common/assets/init.d/ssh-generate-hostkeys
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+### BEGIN INIT INFO
+# Provides:          ssh-generate-hostkeys
+# Required-Start:    $local_fs $syslog
+# Required-Stop:
+# X-Start-Before:    ssh
+# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
+# Default-Stop:
+# Short-Description: Generate ssh host keys if they do not exist
+# Description:       Generate ssh host keys if they do not exist.
+#                    This is part of bootstrap-vz: http://github.com/andsens/bootstrap-vz
+#                    See https://github.com/andsens/bootstrap-vz/blob/master/LICENSE for
+#                    legal notices and disclaimers.
+### END INIT INFO
+
+set -e
+
+DAEMON=/usr/local/sbin/ssh-generate-hostkeys
+
+[ -x "$DAEMON" ] || exit 0
+
+. /lib/lsb/init-functions
+
+case "$1" in
+  start)
+    $DAEMON
+    exit $?
+    ;;
+  stop|restart|reload|force-reload|status)
+    ;;
+  *)
+    echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|force-reload|status}" >&2
+    exit 1
+esac
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/bootstrapvz/common/assets/ssh-generate-hostkeys b/bootstrapvz/common/assets/ssh-generate-hostkeys
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59c2402
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bootstrapvz/common/assets/ssh-generate-hostkeys
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -eu
+
+prog="$(basename $0)"
+logger="logger -t ${prog}"
+
+# Output the public keys to the console.
+# This allows user to get host keys securely through console log.
+
+echo "-----BEGIN SSH HOST KEY FINGERPRINTS-----" | ${logger}
+for key in ecdsa ed25519 rsa; do
+    keyfile="/etc/ssh/ssh_host_${key}_key"
+    if [ ! -f "${keyfile}" ]; then
+        /usr/bin/ssh-keygen -f "${keyfile}"  -t "${key}" -C 'host' -N ''
+    fi
+    /usr/bin/ssh-keygen -l -f "${keyfile}.pub" | ${logger}
+done
+echo "------END SSH HOST KEY FINGERPRINTS------" | ${logger}
diff --git a/bootstrapvz/common/assets/systemd/ssh-generate-hostkeys.service b/bootstrapvz/common/assets/systemd/ssh-generate-hostkeys.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8204c48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bootstrapvz/common/assets/systemd/ssh-generate-hostkeys.service
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=OpenBSD Secure Shell server Host Key Generation
+ConditionFileNotEmpty=|!/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key
+ConditionFileNotEmpty=|!/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key
+ConditionFileNotEmpty=|!/etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
+Before=ssh.service
+
+[Service]
+ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/ssh-generate-hostkeys
+Type=oneshot
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/bootstrapvz/common/tasks/ssh.py b/bootstrapvz/common/tasks/ssh.py
index 8458c5a..1c5c651 100644
--- a/bootstrapvz/common/tasks/ssh.py
+++ b/bootstrapvz/common/tasks/ssh.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ from ..tools import log_check_call
 import os.path
 from . import assets
 import initd
+import shutil
 
 
 class AddOpenSSHPackage(Task):
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ class AddSSHKeyGeneration(Task):
     @classmethod
     def run(cls, info):
         init_scripts_dir = os.path.join(assets, 'init.d')
+        systemd_dir = os.path.join(assets, 'systemd')
         install = info.initd['install']
         from subprocess import CalledProcessError
         try:
@@ -38,7 +40,29 @@ class AddSSHKeyGeneration(Task):
             elif info.manifest.release == jessie:
                 install['generate-ssh-hostkeys'] = os.path.join(init_scripts_dir, 'jessie/generate-ssh-hostkeys')
             else:
-                install['generate-ssh-hostkeys'] = os.path.join(init_scripts_dir, 'generate-ssh-hostkeys')
+                install['ssh-generate-hostkeys'] = os.path.join(init_scripts_dir, 'ssh-generate-hostkeys')
+
+                ssh_keygen_host_service = os.path.join(systemd_dir, 'ssh-generate-hostkeys.service')
+                ssh_keygen_host_service_dest = os.path.join(info.root, 'etc/systemd/system/ssh-generate-hostkeys.service')
+
+                ssh_keygen_host_initscript = os.path.join(init_scripts_dir, 'generate-ssh-hostkeys')
+                ssh_keygen_host_initscript_dest = os.path.join(info.root, 'etc/init.d/generate-ssh-hostkeys')
+
+                ssh_keygen_host_script = os.path.join(assets, 'ssh-generate-hostkeys')
+                ssh_keygen_host_script_dest = os.path.join(info.root, 'usr/local/sbin/ssh-generate-hostkeys')
+
+                # Copy files over
+                shutil.copy(ssh_keygen_host_service, ssh_keygen_host_service_dest)
+
+                shutil.copy(ssh_keygen_host_initscript, ssh_keygen_host_initscript_dest)
+                os.chmod(ssh_keygen_host_initscript_dest, 0755)
+
+                shutil.copy(ssh_keygen_host_script, ssh_keygen_host_script_dest)
+                os.chmod(ssh_keygen_host_script_dest, 0750)
+
+                # Enable systemd service
+                log_check_call(['chroot', info.root, 'systemctl', 'enable', 'ssh-generate-hostkeys.service'])
+
         except CalledProcessError:
             import logging
             logging.getLogger(__name__).warn('The OpenSSH server has not been installed, '