diff --git a/src/network/networkd-link.c b/src/network/networkd-link.c
index e4800a10de..bc363f95b0 100644
--- a/src/network/networkd-link.c
+++ b/src/network/networkd-link.c
@@ -1237,12 +1237,38 @@ static int link_enter_join_netdev(Link *link) {
 
 static int link_set_ipv4_forward(Link *link) {
         const char *p = NULL;
+        bool b;
         int r;
 
+        b = link_ipv4_forward_enabled(link);
+
         p = strappenda("/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/", link->ifname, "/forwarding");
-        r = write_string_file_no_create(p, one_zero(link_ipv4_forward_enabled(link)));
+        r = write_string_file_no_create(p, one_zero(b));
         if (r < 0)
-                log_link_warning_errno(link, r, "Cannot configure IPv4 forwarding for interface: %m");
+                log_link_warning_errno(link, r, "Cannot configure IPv4 forwarding for interface %s: %m", link->ifname);
+
+        if (b) {
+                _cleanup_free_ char *buf = NULL;
+
+                /* If IP forwarding is turned on for this interface,
+                 * then propagate this to the global setting. Given
+                 * that turning this on has side-effects on other
+                 * fields, we'll try to avoid doing this unless
+                 * necessary, hence check the previous value
+                 * first. Note that we never turn this option off
+                 * again, since all interfaces we manage do not do
+                 * forwarding anyway by default, and ownership rules
+                 * of this control are so unclear. */
+
+                r = read_one_line_file("/proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward", &buf);
+                if (r < 0)
+                        log_link_warning_errno(link, r, "Cannot read /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward: %m");
+                else if (!streq(buf, "1")) {
+                        r = write_string_file_no_create("/proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward", "1");
+                        if (r < 0)
+                                log_link_warning_errno(link, r, "Cannot write /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward: %m");
+                }
+        }
 
         return 0;
 }