diff --git a/changes/18534-support-rpm-upgrade b/changes/18534-support-rpm-upgrade
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8294440820
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/18534-support-rpm-upgrade
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+* Added support for upgrades to fleetd RPMs packages.
diff --git a/orbit/pkg/packaging/linux_shared.go b/orbit/pkg/packaging/linux_shared.go
index 8e0d67aff9..c7199b8163 100644
--- a/orbit/pkg/packaging/linux_shared.go
+++ b/orbit/pkg/packaging/linux_shared.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/fleetdm/fleet/v4/pkg/secure"
 	"github.com/goreleaser/nfpm/v2"
 	"github.com/goreleaser/nfpm/v2/files"
+	"github.com/goreleaser/nfpm/v2/rpm"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 )
 
@@ -85,6 +86,8 @@ func buildNFPM(opt Options, pkger nfpm.Packager) (string, error) {
 
 	// Write files
 
+	_, isRPM := pkger.(*rpm.RPM)
+
 	if err := writeSystemdUnit(opt, rootDir); err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("write systemd unit: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -110,9 +113,16 @@ func buildNFPM(opt Options, pkger nfpm.Packager) (string, error) {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("write preremove script: %w", err)
 	}
 	postRemovePath := filepath.Join(tmpDir, "postremove.sh")
-	if err := writePostRemove(opt, postRemovePath); err != nil {
+	if err := writePostRemove(postRemovePath); err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("write postremove script: %w", err)
 	}
+	var postTransPath string
+	if isRPM {
+		postTransPath = filepath.Join(tmpDir, "posttrans.sh")
+		if err := writeRPMPostTrans(opt, postTransPath); err != nil {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("write RPM posttrans script: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
 
 	if opt.FleetCertificate != "" {
 		if err := writeFleetServerCertificate(opt, orbitRoot); err != nil {
@@ -194,6 +204,11 @@ func buildNFPM(opt Options, pkger nfpm.Packager) (string, error) {
 		log.Debug().Interface("file", c).Msg("added file")
 	}
 
+	rpmInfo := nfpm.RPM{}
+	if _, ok := pkger.(*rpm.RPM); ok {
+		rpmInfo.Scripts.PostTrans = postTransPath
+	}
+
 	// Build package
 	info := &nfpm.Info{
 		Name:        "fleet-osquery",
@@ -211,6 +226,7 @@ func buildNFPM(opt Options, pkger nfpm.Packager) (string, error) {
 				PreRemove:   preRemovePath,
 				PostRemove:  postRemovePath,
 			},
+			RPM: rpmInfo,
 		},
 	}
 	filename := pkger.ConventionalFileName(info)
@@ -367,7 +383,7 @@ pkill fleet-desktop || true
 	return nil
 }
 
-func writePostRemove(opt Options, path string) error {
+func writePostRemove(path string) error {
 	if err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte(`#!/bin/sh
 
 # For RPM during uninstall, $1 is 0
@@ -381,3 +397,39 @@ fi
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+// postTransTemplate contains the template for RPM posttrans scriptlet (used when upgrading).
+// See https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/packaging-guidelines/Scriptlets/.
+//
+// We cannot rely on "$1" because it's always "0" for RPM < 4.12
+// (see https://github.com/rpm-software-management/rpm/commit/ab069ec876639d46d12dd76dad54fd8fb762e43d)
+// thus we check if orbit service is enabled, and if not we enable it (because posttrans
+// will run both on "install" and "upgrade").
+var postTransTemplate = template.Must(template.New("posttrans").Parse(`#!/bin/sh
+
+# Exit on error
+set -e
+
+if ! systemctl is-enabled orbit >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	# If we have a systemd, daemon-reload away now
+	if command -v systemctl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		systemctl daemon-reload >/dev/null 2>&1
+{{ if .StartService -}}
+		systemctl restart orbit.service 2>&1
+		systemctl enable orbit.service 2>&1
+{{- end}}
+	fi
+fi
+`))
+
+// writeRPMPostTrans sets the posttrans scriptlets necessary to support RPM upgrades.
+func writeRPMPostTrans(opt Options, path string) error {
+	var contents bytes.Buffer
+	if err := postTransTemplate.Execute(&contents, opt); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("execute template: %w", err)
+	}
+	if err := os.WriteFile(path, contents.Bytes(), constant.DefaultFileMode); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("write file: %w", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}