diff --git a/crates/keyfork/Cargo.toml b/crates/keyfork/Cargo.toml
index 3771f5e..a655680 100644
--- a/crates/keyfork/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/keyfork/Cargo.toml
@@ -47,3 +47,4 @@ clap_complete = { version = "4.4.6", optional = true }
 sequoia-openpgp = { workspace = true }
 keyforkd-models.workspace = true
 base64.workspace = true
+nix = { version = "0.29.0", default-features = false, features = ["process"] }
diff --git a/crates/keyfork/src/cli/recover.rs b/crates/keyfork/src/cli/recover.rs
index 48bc3ec..3df6044 100644
--- a/crates/keyfork/src/cli/recover.rs
+++ b/crates/keyfork/src/cli/recover.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 use super::Keyfork;
 use clap::{Parser, Subcommand};
 use std::path::PathBuf;
+use nix::{
+    sys::wait::waitpid,
+    unistd::{fork, ForkResult},
+};
 
 use keyfork_mnemonic::{English, Mnemonic};
 use keyfork_prompt::{
@@ -80,12 +84,32 @@ impl RecoverSubcommands {
 pub struct Recover {
     #[command(subcommand)]
     command: RecoverSubcommands,
+
+    /// Daemonize the server once started, restoring control back to the shell.
+    #[arg(long, global=true)]
+    daemon: bool,
 }
 
 impl Recover {
     pub fn handle(&self, _k: &Keyfork) -> Result<()> {
         let seed = self.command.handle()?;
         let mnemonic = Mnemonic::try_from_slice(&seed)?;
+        if self.daemon {
+            // SAFETY: Forking threaded programs is unsafe. We know we don't have multiple
+            // threads at this point.
+            match unsafe { fork() }? {
+                ForkResult::Parent { child } => {
+                    // wait for the child to die, so we don't exit prematurely
+                    waitpid(Some(child), None)?;
+                    return Ok(());
+                },
+                ForkResult::Child => {
+                    if let ForkResult::Parent { .. } = unsafe { fork() }? {
+                        return Ok(());
+                    }
+                },
+            }
+        }
         tokio::runtime::Builder::new_multi_thread()
             .enable_all()
             .build()