diff --git a/amazon-efs-utils.spec b/amazon-efs-utils.spec
index 40ae8774..9377c416 100644
--- a/amazon-efs-utils.spec
+++ b/amazon-efs-utils.spec
@@ -81,7 +81,9 @@ mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{_unitdir}
 install -p -m 644 %{_builddir}/%{name}/dist/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.service %{buildroot}%{_unitdir}
 %else
 mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{_sysconfdir}/init
+mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{_sysconfdir}/init.d
 install -p -m 644 %{_builddir}/%{name}/dist/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.conf %{buildroot}%{_sysconfdir}/init
+install -p -m 755 %{_builddir}/%{name}/dist/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.sysvinit %{buildroot}%{_sysconfdir}/init.d/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog
 %endif
 
 mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{efs_bindir}
@@ -101,6 +103,7 @@ install -p -m 644 %{_builddir}/%{name}/man/mount.efs.8 %{buildroot}%{_mandir}/ma
 %{_unitdir}/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.service
 %else
 %config(noreplace) %{_sysconfdir}/init/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.conf
+%config(noreplace) %{_sysconfdir}/init.d/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog
 %endif
 %{_sysconfdir}/amazon/efs/efs-utils.crt
 %{efs_bindir}/mount.efs
@@ -124,12 +127,20 @@ install -p -m 644 %{_builddir}/%{name}/man/mount.efs.8 %{buildroot}%{_mandir}/ma
 
 %preun
 if [ $1 -eq 0 ]; then
-   /sbin/stop amazon-efs-mount-watchdog &> /dev/null || true
+    if [ -f /sbin/init.sysvinit ]; then
+        service amazon-efs-mount-watchdog stop &> /dev/null || true
+    else
+        /sbin/stop amazon-efs-mount-watchdog &> /dev/null || true
+    fi
 fi
 
 %postun
 if [ $1 -eq 1 ]; then
-    /sbin/restart amazon-efs-mount-watchdog &> /dev/null || true
+    if [ -f /sbin/init.sysvinit ]; then
+        service amazon-efs-mount-watchdog restart &> /dev/null || true
+    else
+        /sbin/restart amazon-efs-mount-watchdog &> /dev/null || true
+    fi
 fi
 
 %endif
diff --git a/build-deb.sh b/build-deb.sh
index 2a70d8f0..95273ede 100755
--- a/build-deb.sh
+++ b/build-deb.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ mkdir -p ${BUILD_ROOT}
 echo 'Creating application directories'
 mkdir -p ${BUILD_ROOT}/etc/amazon/efs
 mkdir -p ${BUILD_ROOT}/etc/init/
+mkdir -p ${BUILD_ROOT}/etc/init.d/
 mkdir -p ${BUILD_ROOT}/etc/systemd/system
 mkdir -p ${BUILD_ROOT}/sbin
 mkdir -p ${BUILD_ROOT}/usr/bin
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ mkdir -p ${BUILD_ROOT}/usr/share/man/man8
 
 echo 'Copying application files'
 install -p -m 644 dist/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.conf ${BUILD_ROOT}/etc/init
+install -p -m 755 dist/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.sysvinit ${BUILD_ROOT}/etc/init.d/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog
 install -p -m 644 dist/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.service ${BUILD_ROOT}/etc/systemd/system
 install -p -m 444 dist/efs-utils.crt ${BUILD_ROOT}/etc/amazon/efs
 install -p -m 644 dist/efs-utils.conf ${BUILD_ROOT}/etc/amazon/efs
diff --git a/dist/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.sysvinit b/dist/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.sysvinit
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..61c9119d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dist/amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.sysvinit
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# Copyright 2017-2018 Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE accompanying this file
+# for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+# the License.
+#
+### BEGIN INIT INFO
+# Provides: amazon-efs-mount-watchdog
+# Required-Start: $network
+# Required-Stop: $network
+# X-Start-Before: $remote_fs
+# X-Stop-After: $remote_fs
+# Default-Stop:  016
+# Short-Description: Amazon EFS Mount Watchdog
+# Description: Amazon EFS Mount Watchdog
+### END INIT INFO
+
+name=$(basename "$0")
+pid_file="/var/run/$name.pid"
+cmd="/usr/bin/env amazon-efs-mount-watchdog"
+
+get_pid() {
+    cat "$pid_file" 2>/dev/null
+}
+
+is_running() {
+    [ -f "$pid_file" ] && ps -p "$(get_pid)" >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
+
+root_required() {
+    if [ "$(id -u)" -ne 0 ]; then
+        echo "ERROR: root privileges are required"
+        exit 2
+    fi
+}
+
+case "$1" in
+    start)
+        if is_running; then
+            echo "Already started"
+        else
+            root_required
+
+            echo "Starting $name..."
+            $cmd &
+            echo $! > "$pid_file"
+            if ! is_running; then
+                echo "ERROR: Failed to start"
+                exit 1
+            fi
+            echo "Running"
+        fi
+        ;;
+    stop)
+        if is_running; then
+            root_required
+
+            echo "Stopping $name..."
+            kill "$(get_pid)"
+            for i in $(seq 10); do
+                if ! is_running; then
+                    break
+                fi
+                sleep 1
+            done
+
+            if is_running; then
+                echo "ERROR: Failed to stop"
+                exit 1
+            else
+                echo "Stopped"
+                rm -f "$pid_file"
+            fi
+        else
+            echo "Not running"
+        fi
+        ;;
+    restart)
+        $0 stop || exit $?
+        sleep 1
+        $0 start
+        ;;
+    status)
+        if is_running; then
+            echo "Running"
+        else
+            echo "Stopped"
+            exit 3
+        fi
+        ;;
+    *)
+        echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status}"
+        exit 1
+        ;;
+esac
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/dist/scriptlets/after-install-upgrade b/dist/scriptlets/after-install-upgrade
index 65bbff6d..c1092915 100644
--- a/dist/scriptlets/after-install-upgrade
+++ b/dist/scriptlets/after-install-upgrade
@@ -3,7 +3,11 @@ set -e
 
 if [ -n $2 ]; then
     if [ "$(cat /proc/1/comm)" = "init" ]; then
-        /sbin/restart amazon-efs-mount-watchdog &> /dev/null || true
+        if [ -f /sbin/init.sysvinit ]; then
+            service amazon-efs-mount-watchdog restart &> /dev/null || true
+        else
+            /sbin/restart amazon-efs-mount-watchdog &> /dev/null || true
+        fi
     elif [ "$(cat /proc/1/comm)" = "systemd" ]; then
         if systemctl is-active --quiet amazon-efs-mount-watchdog; then
             systemctl try-restart amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.service &> /dev/null || true
diff --git a/dist/scriptlets/before-remove b/dist/scriptlets/before-remove
index 248c97b7..637f5364 100644
--- a/dist/scriptlets/before-remove
+++ b/dist/scriptlets/before-remove
@@ -3,7 +3,11 @@ set -e
 
 if [ "$1" = "remove" ] || [ "$1" = "purge" ]; then
     if [ "$(cat /proc/1/comm)" = "init" ]; then
-        /sbin/stop amazon-efs-mount-watchdog &> /dev/null || true
+        if [ -f /sbin/init.sysvinit ]; then
+            service amazon-efs-mount-watchdog stop &> /dev/null || true
+        else
+            /sbin/stop amazon-efs-mount-watchdog &> /dev/null || true
+        fi
     elif [ "$(cat /proc/1/comm)" = "systemd" ]; then
         if systemctl is-active --quiet amazon-efs-mount-watchdog; then
             systemctl --no-reload disable amazon-efs-mount-watchdog.service &> /dev/null || true
diff --git a/src/mount_efs/__init__.py b/src/mount_efs/__init__.py
index a95c7e57..b7cef95a 100755
--- a/src/mount_efs/__init__.py
+++ b/src/mount_efs/__init__.py
@@ -1375,14 +1375,20 @@ def poll_tunnel_process(tunnel_proc, fs_id, mount_completed):
 
 def get_init_system(comm_file="/proc/1/comm"):
     init_system = DEFAULT_UNKNOWN_VALUE
-    if not check_if_platform_is_mac():
+    if check_if_platform_is_mac():
+        init_system = "launchd"
+    else:
         try:
             with open(comm_file) as f:
                 init_system = f.read().strip()
         except IOError:
             logging.warning("Unable to read %s", comm_file)
-    else:
-        init_system = "launchd"
+
+        # Handle other init systems
+        if init_system == "init":
+            # Sysvinit
+            if os.path.isfile("/sbin/init.sysvinit"):
+                init_system = "sysvinit"
 
     logging.debug("Identified init system: %s", init_system)
     return init_system
@@ -1445,6 +1451,23 @@ def start_watchdog(init_system):
         elif "start" in str(status):
             logging.debug("%s is already running", WATCHDOG_SERVICE)
 
+    elif init_system == "sysvinit":
+        rc = subprocess.call(
+            ["service", WATCHDOG_SERVICE, "status"],
+            stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+            stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+            close_fds=True
+        )
+        if rc != 0:
+            subprocess.Popen(
+                ["service", WATCHDOG_SERVICE, "start"],
+                stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+                stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+                close_fds=True,
+            )
+        else:
+            logging.debug("%s is already running", WATCHDOG_SERVICE)
+
     elif init_system == "systemd":
         rc = subprocess.call(
             ["systemctl", "is-active", "--quiet", WATCHDOG_SERVICE], close_fds=True