diff --git a/nixos/syndicate-server.nix b/nixos/syndicate-server.nix
index 6caf365..38aff0b 100644
--- a/nixos/syndicate-server.nix
+++ b/nixos/syndicate-server.nix
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ with lib;
       options = {
         enable = mkEnableOption "this Syndicate dataspace server instance";
 
+        runInDbusSession = mkEnableOption "dbus-run-session wrapper";
+
         user = mkOption {
           type = types.str;
           example = "jane";
@@ -52,7 +54,8 @@ with lib;
     in builtins.listToAttrs (lib.lists.flatten (lib.attrsets.mapAttrsToList
       (name: cfg:
         let
-          configFileName = ".syndicate-nixos-config.pr";
+          configFileName = "syndicate-nixos-config.pr";
+          runtimeConfig = "\${RUNTIME_DIRECTORY}/${configFileName}";
           configFile = pkgs.writeText configFileName
             (lib.strings.concatMapStrings (dir: ''
               <require-service <config-watcher "${dir}" $.>>
@@ -61,13 +64,16 @@ with lib;
           name = "syndicate-${name}";
           value = let
             serviceConfig = let
-              linkConfig =
-                "${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/ln -sf ${configFile} ${configFileName}";
+              loadConfig =
+                "${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/cp ${configFile} ${runtimeConfig}";
             in {
-              ExecStartPre = linkConfig;
-              ExecStart =
-                "${cfg.package}/bin/syndicate-server --no-banner --config ${configFileName}";
-              ExecReload = linkConfig;
+              RuntimeDirectory = name;
+              ExecStartPre = loadConfig;
+              ExecStart = "${
+                  lib.optionalString cfg.runInDbusSession
+                  "${pkgs.dbus}/bin/dbus-run-session "
+                }${cfg.package}/bin/syndicate-server --no-banner --config ${runtimeConfig}";
+              ExecReload = loadConfig;
               User = cfg.user;
             };
           in {