diff --git a/vpn-node/Dockerfile b/vpn-node/Dockerfile
index b41d4bc..f7f75c7 100644
--- a/vpn-node/Dockerfile
+++ b/vpn-node/Dockerfile
@@ -44,6 +44,15 @@ RUN curl -fsSL "https://apps.purevpn-tools.com/cross-platform/linux-daemon/1.4.1
     && gzip -d /opt/purevpn-cli/pured-linux-x64.gz \
     && chmod +x /opt/purevpn-cli/pured-linux-x64
 
+# ── Fake systemctl (pured.service) ───────────────────────────────────────────
+# purevpn-cli checks `systemctl is-active pured.service` to detect missing
+# components. Without systemd, this always returns inactive → endless sudo loop.
+# Fake systemctl returns "active" when the daemon is reachable on :9485.
+COPY systemctl.sh /usr/local/bin/systemctl
+RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/systemctl \
+    && mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system \
+    && cp /opt/purevpn-cli/pured.service /etc/systemd/system/pured.service
+
 # ── PATH ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 ENV PATH=/opt/purevpn-cli/bin:/opt/purevpn-cli:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
 
diff --git a/vpn-node/systemctl.sh b/vpn-node/systemctl.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..81b1811
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vpn-node/systemctl.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Fake systemctl for containers — handles pured.service lifecycle without systemd.
+# All other commands are no-ops so purevpn-cli installer steps don't break.
+case "$*" in
+    *"is-active pured"*)
+        nc -z 127.0.0.1 9485 2>/dev/null && echo "active" && exit 0
+        echo "inactive"; exit 1 ;;
+    *"start pured"*)
+        NODE_ENV=production /opt/purevpn-cli/pured-linux-x64 --start &
+        sleep 2; exit 0 ;;
+    *"stop pured"*|*"disable pured"*)
+        pkill -f "pured-linux-x64" 2>/dev/null || true; exit 0 ;;
+    *)
+        exit 0 ;;
+esac