diff --git a/utils/nvfd-fan-control.service b/utils/nvfd-fan-control.service
index 8573d91..0d2adb3 100644
--- a/utils/nvfd-fan-control.service
+++ b/utils/nvfd-fan-control.service
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 [Unit]
 Description=NVIDIA Fan Control - Temperature-aware per-GPU mode switching
-After=nvfd.service
-Wants=nvfd.service
+StartLimitIntervalSec=400
+StartLimitBurst=3
 
 [Service]
 Type=simple
 ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/nvfd-fan-control.sh --threshold-up 45 --threshold-down 35
-Restart=always
-RestartSec=5
+Restart=on-failure
+RestartSec=90
 User=root
 
 [Install]
diff --git a/utils/nvfd-fan-control.sh b/utils/nvfd-fan-control.sh
index 7a18b5d..7712de0 100755
--- a/utils/nvfd-fan-control.sh
+++ b/utils/nvfd-fan-control.sh
@@ -64,6 +64,16 @@ done
 # Check for root privileges 
 [[ "$EUID" -ne 0 ]] && { echo "ERROR: This script must be run as root (use sudo)" >&2; exit 1; }
 
+# Wait for nvfd service to be active (up to 30 seconds)
+# Systemd handles restart rate limiting via StartLimitBurst/StartLimitIntervalSec
+echo "[INFO] Waiting for nvfd service to be ready..."
+for i in {1..30}; do
+  systemctl is-active --quiet nvfd.service && break
+  [[ $i -eq 30 ]] && { echo "[ERROR] nvfd service not ready after 30 seconds. Exiting." >&2; exit 1; }
+  sleep 1
+done
+echo "[INFO] nvfd service is ready"
+
 # Acquire file lock to prevent multiple instances
 exec 200>"$LOCKFILE"
 if ! flock -n 200; then