diff --git a/pkgs/servers/matrix-synapse/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/matrix-synapse/default.nix
index 626af744e92..1b97e0049ed 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/matrix-synapse/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/matrix-synapse/default.nix
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ in buildPythonApplication rec {
     sha256 = "1ych13x3c2cam7af4q2ariwvzwvr65g3j2x8ajjn33ydwxxbqbg6";
   };
 
+  patches = [
+    # adds an entry point for the service
+    ./homeserver-script.patch
+  ];
+
   propagatedBuildInputs = [
     bcrypt
     bleach
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/matrix-synapse/homeserver-script.patch b/pkgs/servers/matrix-synapse/homeserver-script.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..95e28196a22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/servers/matrix-synapse/homeserver-script.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+diff --git a/homeserver b/homeserver
+new file mode 120000
+index 0000000..2f1d413
+--- /dev/null
++++ b/homeserver
+@@ -0,0 +1,1 @@
++synapse/app/homeserver.py
+\ No newline at end of file
+diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
+index b00c2af..c7f6e0a 100755
+--- a/setup.py
++++ b/setup.py
+@@ -92,6 +92,6 @@ setup(
+     include_package_data=True,
+     zip_safe=False,
+     long_description=long_description,
+-    scripts=["synctl"] + glob.glob("scripts/*"),
++    scripts=["synctl", "homeserver"] + glob.glob("scripts/*"),
+     cmdclass={'test': TestCommand},
+ )
+