diff --git a/docs/ENVIRONMENT.md b/docs/ENVIRONMENT.md
index b4363ba58b..016a89787d 100644
--- a/docs/ENVIRONMENT.md
+++ b/docs/ENVIRONMENT.md
@@ -112,6 +112,13 @@ systemd-timedated:
   first existing unit listed in the environment variable, and
   `timedatectl set-ntp off` disables and stops all listed units.
 
+bootctl and other tools that access the EFI System Partition (ESP):
+
+* `$SYSTEMD_RELAX_ESP_CHECKS=1` — if set, the ESP validation checks are
+  relaxed. Specifically, validation checks that ensure the specified ESP path
+  is a FAT file system are turned off, as are checks that the path is located
+  on a GPT partition with the correct type UUID.
+
 systemd itself:
 
 * `$SYSTEMD_ACTIVATION_UNIT` — set for all NSS and PAM module invocations that
diff --git a/man/bootctl.xml b/man/bootctl.xml
index 9aa5a6b59d..3cfac1b6a0 100644
--- a/man/bootctl.xml
+++ b/man/bootctl.xml
@@ -126,6 +126,13 @@
     <para>On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code otherwise.</para>
   </refsect1>
 
+  <refsect1>
+    <title>Environment</title>
+    <para>If <varname>$SYSTEMD_RELAX_ESP_CHECKS=1</varname> is set the validation checks for the ESP are relaxed, and
+    the path specified with <option>--path=</option> may refer to any kind of file system on any kind of
+    partition.</para>
+  </refsect1>
+
   <refsect1>
     <title>See Also</title>
     <para>
diff --git a/src/shared/bootspec.c b/src/shared/bootspec.c
index 445cc378ff..df15b660ec 100644
--- a/src/shared/bootspec.c
+++ b/src/shared/bootspec.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include "def.h"
 #include "device-nodes.h"
 #include "efivars.h"
+#include "env-util.h"
 #include "fd-util.h"
 #include "fileio.h"
 #include "parse-util.h"
@@ -412,28 +413,33 @@ static int verify_esp(
         struct statfs sfs;
         sd_id128_t uuid = SD_ID128_NULL;
         uint32_t part = 0;
+        bool relax_checks;
         int r;
 
         assert(p);
 
+        relax_checks = getenv_bool("SYSTEMD_RELAX_ESP_CHECKS") > 0;
+
         /* Non-root user can only check the status, so if an error occured in the following, it does not cause any
          * issues. Let's also, silence the error messages. */
 
-        if (statfs(p, &sfs) < 0) {
-                /* If we are searching for the mount point, don't generate a log message if we can't find the path */
-                if (errno == ENOENT && searching)
-                        return -ENOENT;
+        if (!relax_checks) {
+                if (statfs(p, &sfs) < 0) {
+                        /* If we are searching for the mount point, don't generate a log message if we can't find the path */
+                        if (errno == ENOENT && searching)
+                                return -ENOENT;
 
-                return log_full_errno(unprivileged_mode && errno == EACCES ? LOG_DEBUG : LOG_ERR, errno,
-                                      "Failed to check file system type of \"%s\": %m", p);
-        }
+                        return log_full_errno(unprivileged_mode && errno == EACCES ? LOG_DEBUG : LOG_ERR, errno,
+                                              "Failed to check file system type of \"%s\": %m", p);
+                }
 
-        if (!F_TYPE_EQUAL(sfs.f_type, MSDOS_SUPER_MAGIC)) {
-                if (searching)
-                        return -EADDRNOTAVAIL;
+                if (!F_TYPE_EQUAL(sfs.f_type, MSDOS_SUPER_MAGIC)) {
+                        if (searching)
+                                return -EADDRNOTAVAIL;
 
-                log_error("File system \"%s\" is not a FAT EFI System Partition (ESP) file system.", p);
-                return -ENODEV;
+                        log_error("File system \"%s\" is not a FAT EFI System Partition (ESP) file system.", p);
+                        return -ENODEV;
+                }
         }
 
         if (stat(p, &st) < 0)
@@ -458,7 +464,7 @@ static int verify_esp(
 
         /* In a container we don't have access to block devices, skip this part of the verification, we trust the
          * container manager set everything up correctly on its own. Also skip the following verification for non-root user. */
-        if (detect_container() > 0 || unprivileged_mode)
+        if (detect_container() > 0 || unprivileged_mode || relax_checks)
                 goto finish;
 
 #if HAVE_BLKID