diff --git a/windows/svc/example/main.go b/windows/svc/example/main.go
index dc96c081..9bf9bbdc 100644
--- a/windows/svc/example/main.go
+++ b/windows/svc/example/main.go
@@ -36,11 +36,11 @@ func usage(errmsg string) {
 func main() {
 	const svcName = "myservice"
 
-	isIntSess, err := svc.IsAnInteractiveSession()
+	inService, err := svc.IsWindowsService()
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("failed to determine if we are running in an interactive session: %v", err)
+		log.Fatalf("failed to determine if we are running in service: %v", err)
 	}
-	if !isIntSess {
+	if inService {
 		runService(svcName, false)
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/windows/svc/security.go b/windows/svc/security.go
index 65025998..da6df1d3 100644
--- a/windows/svc/security.go
+++ b/windows/svc/security.go
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@
 package svc
 
 import (
+	"errors"
+	"syscall"
+	"unsafe"
+
 	"golang.org/x/sys/windows"
 )
 
@@ -23,6 +27,8 @@ func allocSid(subAuth0 uint32) (*windows.SID, error) {
 // IsAnInteractiveSession determines if calling process is running interactively.
 // It queries the process token for membership in the Interactive group.
 // http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2668851/how-do-i-detect-that-my-application-is-running-as-service-or-in-an-interactive-s
+//
+// Deprecated: Use IsWindowsService instead.
 func IsAnInteractiveSession() (bool, error) {
 	interSid, err := allocSid(windows.SECURITY_INTERACTIVE_RID)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -57,3 +63,95 @@ func IsAnInteractiveSession() (bool, error) {
 	}
 	return false, nil
 }
+
+var (
+	ntdll                      = windows.NewLazySystemDLL("ntdll.dll")
+	_NtQueryInformationProcess = ntdll.NewProc("NtQueryInformationProcess")
+
+	kernel32                    = windows.NewLazySystemDLL("kernel32.dll")
+	_QueryFullProcessImageNameA = kernel32.NewProc("QueryFullProcessImageNameA")
+)
+
+// IsWindowsService reports whether the process is currently executing
+// as a Windows service.
+func IsWindowsService() (bool, error) {
+	// This code was copied from runtime.isWindowsService function.
+
+	// The below technique looks a bit hairy, but it's actually
+	// exactly what the .NET framework does for the similarly named function:
+	// https://github.com/dotnet/extensions/blob/f4066026ca06984b07e90e61a6390ac38152ba93/src/Hosting/WindowsServices/src/WindowsServiceHelpers.cs#L26-L31
+	// Specifically, it looks up whether the parent process has session ID zero
+	// and is called "services".
+	const _CURRENT_PROCESS = ^uintptr(0)
+	// pbi is a PROCESS_BASIC_INFORMATION struct, where we just care about
+	// the 6th pointer inside of it, which contains the pid of the process
+	// parent:
+	// https://github.com/wine-mirror/wine/blob/42cb7d2ad1caba08de235e6319b9967296b5d554/include/winternl.h#L1294
+	var pbi [6]uintptr
+	var pbiLen uint32
+	r0, _, _ := syscall.Syscall6(_NtQueryInformationProcess.Addr(), 5, _CURRENT_PROCESS, 0, uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(&pbi[0])), uintptr(unsafe.Sizeof(pbi)), uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(&pbiLen)), 0)
+	if r0 != 0 {
+		return false, errors.New("NtQueryInformationProcess failed: error=" + itoa(int(r0)))
+	}
+	var psid uint32
+	err := windows.ProcessIdToSessionId(uint32(pbi[5]), &psid)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	if psid != 0 {
+		// parent session id should be 0 for service process
+		return false, nil
+	}
+
+	pproc, err := windows.OpenProcess(windows.PROCESS_QUERY_LIMITED_INFORMATION, false, uint32(pbi[5]))
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	defer windows.CloseHandle(pproc)
+
+	// exeName gets the path to the executable image of the parent process
+	var exeName [261]byte
+	exeNameLen := uint32(len(exeName) - 1)
+	r0, _, e0 := syscall.Syscall6(_QueryFullProcessImageNameA.Addr(), 4, uintptr(pproc), 0, uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(&exeName[0])), uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(&exeNameLen)), 0, 0)
+	if r0 == 0 {
+		if e0 != 0 {
+			return false, e0
+		} else {
+			return false, syscall.EINVAL
+		}
+	}
+	const (
+		servicesLower = "services.exe"
+		servicesUpper = "SERVICES.EXE"
+	)
+	i := int(exeNameLen) - 1
+	j := len(servicesLower) - 1
+	if i < j {
+		return false, nil
+	}
+	for {
+		if j == -1 {
+			return i == -1 || exeName[i] == '\\', nil
+		}
+		if exeName[i] != servicesLower[j] && exeName[i] != servicesUpper[j] {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+		i--
+		j--
+	}
+}
+
+func itoa(val int) string { // do it here rather than with fmt to avoid dependency
+	if val < 0 {
+		return "-" + itoa(-val)
+	}
+	var buf [32]byte // big enough for int64
+	i := len(buf) - 1
+	for val >= 10 {
+		buf[i] = byte(val%10 + '0')
+		i--
+		val /= 10
+	}
+	buf[i] = byte(val + '0')
+	return string(buf[i:])
+}
diff --git a/windows/svc/svc_test.go b/windows/svc/svc_test.go
index 3a80e480..7e870535 100644
--- a/windows/svc/svc_test.go
+++ b/windows/svc/svc_test.go
@@ -132,3 +132,23 @@ func TestExample(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("%q string does not contain %q", string(out), want)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestIsAnInteractiveSession(t *testing.T) {
+	isInteractive, err := svc.IsAnInteractiveSession()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !isInteractive {
+		t.Error("IsAnInteractiveSession retuns false when running interactively.")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIsWindowsService(t *testing.T) {
+	isSvc, err := svc.IsWindowsService()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if isSvc {
+		t.Error("IsWindowsService retuns true when not running in a service.")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/windows/syscall_windows.go b/windows/syscall_windows.go
index 30ef6410..65ca6d20 100644
--- a/windows/syscall_windows.go
+++ b/windows/syscall_windows.go
@@ -270,6 +270,7 @@ func NewCallbackCDecl(fn interface{}) uintptr {
 //sys	RegEnumKeyEx(key Handle, index uint32, name *uint16, nameLen *uint32, reserved *uint32, class *uint16, classLen *uint32, lastWriteTime *Filetime) (regerrno error) = advapi32.RegEnumKeyExW
 //sys	RegQueryValueEx(key Handle, name *uint16, reserved *uint32, valtype *uint32, buf *byte, buflen *uint32) (regerrno error) = advapi32.RegQueryValueExW
 //sys	GetCurrentProcessId() (pid uint32) = kernel32.GetCurrentProcessId
+//sys	ProcessIdToSessionId(pid uint32, sessionid *uint32) (err error) = kernel32.ProcessIdToSessionId
 //sys	GetConsoleMode(console Handle, mode *uint32) (err error) = kernel32.GetConsoleMode
 //sys	SetConsoleMode(console Handle, mode uint32) (err error) = kernel32.SetConsoleMode
 //sys	GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo(console Handle, info *ConsoleScreenBufferInfo) (err error) = kernel32.GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo
diff --git a/windows/zsyscall_windows.go b/windows/zsyscall_windows.go
index f1ae76b3..f6cef2b9 100644
--- a/windows/zsyscall_windows.go
+++ b/windows/zsyscall_windows.go
@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ var (
 	procRegEnumKeyExW                                        = modadvapi32.NewProc("RegEnumKeyExW")
 	procRegQueryValueExW                                     = modadvapi32.NewProc("RegQueryValueExW")
 	procGetCurrentProcessId                                  = modkernel32.NewProc("GetCurrentProcessId")
+	procProcessIdToSessionId                                 = modkernel32.NewProc("ProcessIdToSessionId")
 	procGetConsoleMode                                       = modkernel32.NewProc("GetConsoleMode")
 	procSetConsoleMode                                       = modkernel32.NewProc("SetConsoleMode")
 	procGetConsoleScreenBufferInfo                           = modkernel32.NewProc("GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo")
@@ -1943,6 +1944,18 @@ func GetCurrentProcessId() (pid uint32) {
 	return
 }
 
+func ProcessIdToSessionId(pid uint32, sessionid *uint32) (err error) {
+	r1, _, e1 := syscall.Syscall(procProcessIdToSessionId.Addr(), 2, uintptr(pid), uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(sessionid)), 0)
+	if r1 == 0 {
+		if e1 != 0 {
+			err = errnoErr(e1)
+		} else {
+			err = syscall.EINVAL
+		}
+	}
+	return
+}
+
 func GetConsoleMode(console Handle, mode *uint32) (err error) {
 	r1, _, e1 := syscall.Syscall(procGetConsoleMode.Addr(), 2, uintptr(console), uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(mode)), 0)
 	if r1 == 0 {