diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index cd702de..7fddce7 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -27,6 +27,12 @@ int line_height = 0;   /* if line height < font height, it will be raised to fon
 int separator_height = 2; /* height of the separator line between two notifications */
 enum separator_color sep_color = AUTO; /* AUTO or FOREGROUND */
 
+/* show a notification on startup
+ * This is mainly for crash detection since dbus restarts dunst
+ * automatically after a crash, so crashes might get unnotices otherwise
+ * */
+int startup_notification = False;
+
 
 /* monitor to display notifications on */
 int monitor = 0;
diff --git a/dunst.c b/dunst.c
index 585b492..b23063e 100644
--- a/dunst.c
+++ b/dunst.c
@@ -1438,6 +1438,9 @@ void load_options(char *cmdline_config_path)
                 }
         }
 
+        startup_notification = option_get_bool("global", "startup_notification",
+                        "-startup_notification", false, "print notification on startup");
+
         lowbgcolor =
             option_get_string("urgency_low", "background", "-lb", lowbgcolor,
                               "Background color for notifcations with low urgency");
@@ -1581,6 +1584,20 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         signal (SIGUSR1, pause_signal_handler);
         signal (SIGUSR2, pause_signal_handler);
 
+        if (startup_notification) {
+                notification *n = malloc(sizeof (notification));
+                n->appname = "dunst";
+                n->summary = "startup";
+                n->body = "dunst is up and running";
+                n->urgency = LOW;
+                n->icon = NULL;
+                n->msg = NULL;
+                n->dbus_client = NULL;
+                n->color_strings[0] = NULL;
+                n->color_strings[1] = NULL;
+                init_notification(n, 0);
+        }
+
         run();
         return 0;
 }
diff --git a/dunstrc b/dunstrc
index 3ef3e82..6797c8a 100644
--- a/dunstrc
+++ b/dunstrc
@@ -89,6 +89,10 @@
     # that fits nicely to the background color.
     separator_color = auto
 
+    # print a notification on startup
+    # This is mainly for error detection, since dbus (re-)starts dunst
+    # automatically after a crash.
+    startup_notification = false
 
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