diff --git a/modules/setup/library/Setup/Webserver/Apache.php b/modules/setup/library/Setup/Webserver/Apache.php
index e8c7d540c..f6b245520 100644
--- a/modules/setup/library/Setup/Webserver/Apache.php
+++ b/modules/setup/library/Setup/Webserver/Apache.php
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ Alias {urlPath} "{documentRoot}"
     Options SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
     AllowOverride None
 
+    DirectoryIndex index.php
+
     <IfModule mod_authz_core.c>
         # Apache 2.4
         <RequireAll>
@@ -53,6 +55,13 @@ Alias {urlPath} "{documentRoot}"
         DirectoryIndex error_norewrite.html
         ErrorDocument 404 /error_norewrite.html
     </IfModule>
+    
+    # forwarding PHP requests to FPM
+    # remove comments if you want to use FPM
+    #<FilesMatch "\.php$">
+    #    SetHandler "proxy:fcgi://127.0.0.1:9000"
+    #    ErrorDocument 503 /icingaweb2/error_unavailable.html
+    #</FilesMatch>
 </Directory>
 EOD;
     }
diff --git a/packages/files/apache/icingaweb2.conf b/packages/files/apache/icingaweb2.conf
index 6bf0b7a66..8da819084 100644
--- a/packages/files/apache/icingaweb2.conf
+++ b/packages/files/apache/icingaweb2.conf
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ Alias /icingaweb2 "/usr/share/icingaweb2/public"
     Options SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
     AllowOverride None
 
+    DirectoryIndex index.php
+
     <IfModule mod_authz_core.c>
         # Apache 2.4
         <RequireAll>
@@ -35,4 +37,11 @@ Alias /icingaweb2 "/usr/share/icingaweb2/public"
         DirectoryIndex error_norewrite.html
         ErrorDocument 404 /error_norewrite.html
     </IfModule>
+
+    # forwarding PHP requests to FPM
+    # remove comments if you want to use FPM
+    #<FilesMatch "\.php$">
+    #    SetHandler "proxy:fcgi://127.0.0.1:9000"
+    #    ErrorDocument 503 /icingaweb2/error_unavailable.html
+    #</FilesMatch>
 </Directory>
diff --git a/packages/files/apache/icingaweb2.fpm.conf b/packages/files/apache/icingaweb2.fpm.conf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f8f169a49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/files/apache/icingaweb2.fpm.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+Alias /icingaweb2 "/usr/share/icingaweb2/public"
+
+# forwarding PHP requests to FPM
+<LocationMatch "^/icingaweb2/(.*\.php)$">
+    ProxyPassMatch "fcgi://127.0.0.1:9000/usr/share/icingaweb2/public/$1"
+    <IfModule mod_authz_core.c>
+        # Apache 2.4
+        ProxyErrorOverride on
+        ErrorDocument 503 /icingaweb2/error_unavailable.html
+    </IfModule>
+</LocationMatch>
+
+<Directory "/usr/share/icingaweb2/public">
+    Options SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
+    AllowOverride None
+
+    DirectoryIndex index.php
+
+    <IfModule mod_authz_core.c>
+        # Apache 2.4
+        <RequireAll>
+            Require all granted
+        </RequireAll>
+    </IfModule>
+
+    <IfModule !mod_authz_core.c>
+        # Apache 2.2
+        Order allow,deny
+        Allow from all
+    </IfModule>
+
+    SetEnv ICINGAWEB_CONFIGDIR "/etc/icingaweb2"
+
+    EnableSendfile Off
+
+    <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
+        RewriteEngine on
+        RewriteBase /icingaweb2/
+        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s [OR]
+        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
+        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
+        RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
+        RewriteRule ^.*$ index.php [NC,L]
+    </IfModule>
+
+    <IfModule !mod_rewrite.c>
+        DirectoryIndex error_norewrite.html
+        ErrorDocument 404 /error_norewrite.html
+    </IfModule>
+
+    # forwarding PHP requests to FPM
+    <FilesMatch "\.php$">
+        SetHandler "proxy:fcgi://127.0.0.1:9000"
+        ErrorDocument 503 /icingaweb2/error_unavailable.html
+    </FilesMatch>
+</Directory>
diff --git a/public/error_unavailable.html b/public/error_unavailable.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d1ef413df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/error_unavailable.html
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+<h1>Backend unavailable</h1>
+<p>
+  It seems that the PHP FPM service is not running. Make sure to start PHP FPM service in order to access Icinga Web 2.
+  If you upgraded Icinga Web 2 recently, make sure to read the
+  <a href="https://www.icinga.com/docs/icingaweb2/latest/doc/02-Installation/">docs regarding PHP FPM</a>,
+  also locally available under <code>/usr/share/icingaweb2/doc/02-Installation.md</code>.
+</p>