diff --git a/newsfragments/do_not_close_fds.feature b/newsfragments/do_not_close_fds.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d9ae574
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/do_not_close_fds.feature
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+- Do not close file descriptors when executing podman. This allows
+  externally created file descriptors to be passed to containers.
+  These file descriptors might have been created through
+  [systemd socket activation](https://github.com/containers/podman/blob/main/docs/tutorials/socket_activation.md#socket-activation-of-containers).
diff --git a/podman_compose.py b/podman_compose.py
index 3d1500d..ea4bb9f 100755
--- a/podman_compose.py
+++ b/podman_compose.py
@@ -1506,7 +1506,10 @@ class Podman:
 
             if log_formatter is not None:
                 p = await asyncio.create_subprocess_exec(
-                    *cmd_ls, stdout=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE, stderr=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE
+                    *cmd_ls,
+                    stdout=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE,
+                    stderr=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE,
+                    close_fds=False,
                 )  # pylint: disable=consider-using-with
 
                 # This is hacky to make the tasks not get garbage collected
@@ -1524,7 +1527,7 @@ class Podman:
                 err_t.add_done_callback(task_reference.discard)
 
             else:
-                p = await asyncio.create_subprocess_exec(*cmd_ls)  # pylint: disable=consider-using-with
+                p = await asyncio.create_subprocess_exec(*cmd_ls, close_fds=False)  # pylint: disable=consider-using-with
 
             try:
                 exit_code = await p.wait()