diff --git a/files/fail2ban.service.in b/files/fail2ban.service.in
index ddaa41b4..e93fd596 100644
--- a/files/fail2ban.service.in
+++ b/files/fail2ban.service.in
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ PartOf=iptables.service firewalld.service ip6tables.service ipset.service nftabl
 Type=simple
 Environment="PYTHONNOUSERSITE=1"
 RuntimeDirectory=fail2ban
+StateDirectory=fail2ban
 ExecStart=@BINDIR@/fail2ban-server -xf start
 # if should be logged in systemd journal, use following line or set logtarget to sysout in fail2ban.local
 # ExecStart=@BINDIR@/fail2ban-server -xf --logtarget=sysout start