diff --git a/man/systemd-imdsd@.service.xml b/man/systemd-imdsd@.service.xml
index 76d94dd68ac..d1670c02dcc 100644
--- a/man/systemd-imdsd@.service.xml
+++ b/man/systemd-imdsd@.service.xml
@@ -78,6 +78,16 @@
           set to <literal>unlocked</literal> (the default) this "prohibit" route is not created, and regular unprivileged
           processes can directly contact IMDS.</para>
 
+          <para>Some systems set <varname>net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter</varname>. With
+          <literal>locked</literal>, IMDS then cannot be reached. <command>systemd-imdsd</command> warns about
+          this when setting up the network. To allow IMDS access, turn it off with a
+          <citerefentry><refentrytitle>sysctl.d</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
+          drop-in, e.g. <filename>/etc/sysctl.d/90-imds.conf</filename>:</para>
+          <programlisting>net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter = 0</programlisting>
+
+          <para>systemd's <filename>50-default.conf</filename> already turns on reverse path filtering for every
+          individual link, so all other links keep it.</para>
+
           <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v261"/>
         </listitem>
       </varlistentry>
diff --git a/src/imds/imdsd.c b/src/imds/imdsd.c
index 4c8bb60afb0..7473bbc21aa 100644
--- a/src/imds/imdsd.c
+++ b/src/imds/imdsd.c
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 #include "socket-util.h"
 #include "string-util.h"
 #include "strv.h"
+#include "sysctl-util.h"
 #include "time-util.h"
 #include "tmpfile-util.h"
 #include "utf8.h"
@@ -1637,6 +1638,19 @@ static int imds_configured(int level) {
         return 0;
 }
 
+static void warn_rp_filter_all(void) {
+        int r, v;
+
+        /* The kernel applies the maximum of the link's and the "all" setting, so turning off reverse path
+         * filtering on the link does not help if "all" turns it on. */
+        r = sysctl_read_ip_property_int(AF_INET, "all", "rp_filter", &v);
+        if (r < 0)
+                return (void) log_debug_errno(r, "Failed to read net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter, ignoring: %m");
+        if (v != 0)
+                log_warning("net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter=%i turns on IPv4 reverse path filtering on all links, "
+                            "which drops IMDS replies in locked mode. Set it to 0 to allow IMDS access.", v);
+}
+
 static int setup_network(void) {
         int r;
 
@@ -1691,9 +1705,11 @@ static int setup_network(void) {
         /* IMDS's replies to imdsd carry no firewall mark. Reverse path filtering would check their source
          * address against the main table, find the prohibit route below, and drop them. IPv6 has no
          * reverse path filter. */
-        if (arg_network_mode != IMDS_NETWORK_UNLOCKED && in4_addr_is_set(&arg_address_ipv4))
+        if (arg_network_mode != IMDS_NETWORK_UNLOCKED && in4_addr_is_set(&arg_address_ipv4)) {
                 fputs("# Reverse path filtering would drop IMDS's replies due to the prohibit route\n"
                       "IPv4ReversePathFilter=no\n", f);
+                warn_rp_filter_all();
+        }
 
         fputs("\n"
               "[DHCP]\n"
diff --git a/test/units/TEST-74-AUX-UTILS.imds.sh b/test/units/TEST-74-AUX-UTILS.imds.sh
index 5046b38eda8..97650affa15 100755
--- a/test/units/TEST-74-AUX-UTILS.imds.sh
+++ b/test/units/TEST-74-AUX-UTILS.imds.sh
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ at_exit() {
     rmdir /run/systemd/system/systemd-imdsd@.service.d
     # cached negative entries would short-circuit the /flaky retry on a rerun
     rm -rf /run/systemd/imds/cache/veth-imds
+    if [[ -v RP_FILTER_ALL ]]; then
+        rm -f /run/sysctl.d/90-imds.conf
+        sysctl -w net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter="$RP_FILTER_ALL"
+    fi
     rm -rf "$WORK_DIR"
 }
 
@@ -168,11 +172,12 @@ ip -n imds addr add 169.254.169.254/32 dev veth-imds-peer
 IMDSD_LOCKED=("${IMDSD[@]}" --data-url=http://169.254.169.254:8088 --address-ipv4=169.254.169.254)
 
 # Unlocked mode has no prohibit route, and keeps reverse path filtering
-SYSTEMD_PROC_CMDLINE=systemd.imds.network=unlocked "${IMDSD[@]}" --address-ipv4=169.254.169.254 --setup-network
+SYSTEMD_PROC_CMDLINE=systemd.imds.network=unlocked "${IMDSD[@]}" --address-ipv4=169.254.169.254 --setup-network 2>&1 | tee "$WORK_DIR/setup-network-unlocked.log"
 cat /run/systemd/network/85-imds-early.network
 (! grep -F -e "Type=prohibit" -e "IPv4ReversePathFilter=" /run/systemd/network/85-imds-early.network >/dev/null)
+(! grep -F "net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter" "$WORK_DIR/setup-network-unlocked.log" >/dev/null)
 
-SYSTEMD_PROC_CMDLINE=systemd.imds.network=locked "${IMDSD_LOCKED[@]}" --setup-network
+SYSTEMD_PROC_CMDLINE=systemd.imds.network=locked "${IMDSD_LOCKED[@]}" --setup-network 2>&1 | tee "$WORK_DIR/setup-network.log"
 cat /run/systemd/network/85-imds-early.network
 grep -Fx "Type=prohibit" /run/systemd/network/85-imds-early.network >/dev/null
 grep -Fx "IPv4ReversePathFilter=no" /run/systemd/network/85-imds-early.network >/dev/null
@@ -204,15 +209,25 @@ assert_eq "$(sysctl -n net.ipv4.conf.veth-imds.rp_filter)" 0
 # applies the maximum of that and net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter, which some distributions turn on (e.g.
 # Ubuntu). Then the reverse path filter still drops the replies.
 if [[ "$(sysctl -n net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter)" == 0 ]]; then
+    (! grep -F "net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter" "$WORK_DIR/setup-network.log" >/dev/null)
     assert_eq "$("${IMDSD_LOCKED[@]}" --interface=veth-imds /hostname)" "piff"
 else
-    echo "WARNING: net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter is on, imdsd cannot reach IMDS in locked mode"
+    grep -F "net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter=" "$WORK_DIR/setup-network.log" >/dev/null
     # Do not wait for imdsd's overall 40s timeout (too annoying); instead, check that reverse path
     # filtering drops the replies
     rp_filter_drops() { nstat -asz TcpExtIPReversePathFilter | awk '/IPReversePathFilter/ { print $2 }'; }
     DROPS="$(rp_filter_drops)"
     assert_rc 124 timeout 5 "${IMDSD_LOCKED[@]}" --interface=veth-imds /hostname
     (( "$(rp_filter_drops)" > DROPS ))
+
+    # The documented workaround. Only apply this file: all sysctl.d files would also reset the link's
+    # setting, which networkd configures after them during boot.
+    RP_FILTER_ALL="$(sysctl -n net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter)"
+    mkdir -p /run/sysctl.d
+    echo "net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter = 0" >/run/sysctl.d/90-imds.conf
+    /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl /run/sysctl.d/90-imds.conf
+    sysctl net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter net.ipv4.conf.veth-imds.rp_filter
+    assert_eq "$("${IMDSD_LOCKED[@]}" --interface=veth-imds /hostname)" "piff"
 fi
 
 # Everybody else gets blocked
diff --git a/units/systemd-imds-early-network.service.in b/units/systemd-imds-early-network.service.in
index 23b35e6337b..0804dd3a833 100644
--- a/units/systemd-imds-early-network.service.in
+++ b/units/systemd-imds-early-network.service.in
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ Before=network-pre.target
 Wants=network-pre.target
 Conflicts=shutdown.target initrd-switch-root.target
 Before=shutdown.target initrd-switch-root.target
-After=sys-devices-virtual-dmi-id.device
+After=sys-devices-virtual-dmi-id.device systemd-sysctl.service
 
 [Service]
 ExecStart={{LIBEXECDIR}}/systemd-imdsd --setup-network