diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md
index 87a67a1297dc..be754f99713b 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2405.section.md
@@ -179,6 +179,8 @@ The pre-existing [services.ankisyncd](#opt-services.ankisyncd.enable) has been m
   `wants`), because the dependency that `multi-user.target` has on
   `network-online.target` is planned for removal.
 
+- `services.pgbouncer` now has systemd support enabled and will log to journald. The default setting for `services.pgbouncer.logFile` is now `null` to disable logging to a separate log file.
+
 - `services.archisteamfarm` no longer uses the abbreviation `asf` for its state directory (`/var/lib/asf`), user and group (both `asf`). Instead the long name `archisteamfarm` is used.
   Configurations with `system.stateVersion` 23.11 or earlier, default to the old stateDirectory until the 24.11 release and must either set the option explicitly or move the data to the new directory.
 
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/databases/pgbouncer.nix b/nixos/modules/services/databases/pgbouncer.nix
index 65b287e84442..157d49c13161 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/databases/pgbouncer.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/databases/pgbouncer.nix
@@ -66,9 +66,6 @@ let
       ${optionalString (cfg.adminUsers != null) "admin_users = ${cfg.adminUsers}"}
       ${optionalString (cfg.statsUsers != null) "stats_users = ${cfg.statsUsers}"}
 
-      # linux
-      pidfile = /run/pgbouncer/pgbouncer.pid
-
       # extra
       ${cfg.extraConfig}
     '';
@@ -96,10 +93,9 @@ in {
 
     logFile = mkOption {
       type = types.nullOr types.str;
-      default = "pgbouncer.log";
+      default = null;
       description = lib.mdDoc ''
-        Specifies the log file.
-        Either this or syslog has to be specified.
+        Specifies a log file in addition to journald.
       '';
     };
 
@@ -601,22 +597,21 @@ in {
 
     systemd.services.pgbouncer = {
       description = "PgBouncer - PostgreSQL connection pooler";
-      wants    = [ "postgresql.service" ];
-      after    = [ "postgresql.service" ];
+      wants    = [ "network-online.target" ] ++ lib.optional config.services.postgresql.enable "postgresql.service";
+      after    = [ "network-online.target" ] ++ lib.optional config.services.postgresql.enable "postgresql.service";
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
       serviceConfig = {
-        Type = "forking";
+        Type = "notify";
         User = cfg.user;
         Group = cfg.group;
-        ExecStart = "${pkgs.pgbouncer}/bin/pgbouncer -d ${confFile}";
+        ExecStart = "${lib.getExe pkgs.pgbouncer} ${confFile}";
         ExecReload = "${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/kill -SIGHUP $MAINPID";
         RuntimeDirectory = "pgbouncer";
-        PIDFile = "/run/pgbouncer/pgbouncer.pid";
         LimitNOFILE = cfg.openFilesLimit;
       };
     };
 
-    networking.firewall.allowedTCPPorts = optional cfg.openFirewall cfg.port;
+    networking.firewall.allowedTCPPorts = optional cfg.openFirewall cfg.listenPort;
 
   };
 
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/sql/pgbouncer/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/sql/pgbouncer/default.nix
index 71afc98562af..83bfb3c839cc 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/sql/pgbouncer/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/sql/pgbouncer/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, fetchurl, openssl, libevent, c-ares, pkg-config, nixosTests }:
+{ lib, stdenv, fetchurl, openssl, libevent, c-ares, pkg-config, systemd, nixosTests }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "pgbouncer";
@@ -10,8 +10,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ pkg-config ];
-  buildInputs = [ libevent openssl c-ares ];
+  buildInputs = [ libevent openssl c-ares ]
+    ++ lib.optional stdenv.isLinux systemd;
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
+  configureFlags = lib.optional stdenv.isLinux "--with-systemd";
 
   passthru.tests = {
     pgbouncer = nixosTests.pgbouncer;