diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 642ccd4491..0d62a11562 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -552,6 +552,7 @@ m4 = find_program('m4')
 stat = find_program('stat')
 git = find_program('git', required : false)
 env = find_program('env')
+perl = find_program('perl', required : false)
 
 meson_make_symlink = meson.source_root() + '/tools/meson-make-symlink.sh'
 mkdir_p = 'mkdir -p $DESTDIR/@0@'
diff --git a/src/basic/mkdir-label.c b/src/basic/mkdir-label.c
index 6f3a46f467..2a44d276cb 100644
--- a/src/basic/mkdir-label.c
+++ b/src/basic/mkdir-label.c
@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ int mkdir_label(const char *path, mode_t mode) {
         return mac_smack_fix(path, false, false);
 }
 
-int mkdir_safe_label(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, bool follow_symlink) {
-        return mkdir_safe_internal(path, mode, uid, gid, follow_symlink, mkdir_label);
+int mkdir_safe_label(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, MkdirFlags flags) {
+        return mkdir_safe_internal(path, mode, uid, gid, flags, mkdir_label);
 }
 
 int mkdir_parents_label(const char *path, mode_t mode) {
diff --git a/src/basic/mkdir.c b/src/basic/mkdir.c
index de4746c867..cb6495525c 100644
--- a/src/basic/mkdir.c
+++ b/src/basic/mkdir.c
@@ -29,9 +29,10 @@
 #include "mkdir.h"
 #include "path-util.h"
 #include "stat-util.h"
+#include "stdio-util.h"
 #include "user-util.h"
 
-int mkdir_safe_internal(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, bool follow_symlink, mkdir_func_t _mkdir) {
+int mkdir_safe_internal(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, MkdirFlags flags, mkdir_func_t _mkdir) {
         struct stat st;
         int r;
 
@@ -46,26 +47,47 @@ int mkdir_safe_internal(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, boo
         if (lstat(path, &st) < 0)
                 return -errno;
 
-        if (follow_symlink && S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
+        if ((flags & MKDIR_FOLLOW_SYMLINK) && S_ISLNK(st.st_mode)) {
                 _cleanup_free_ char *p = NULL;
 
                 r = chase_symlinks(path, NULL, CHASE_NONEXISTENT, &p);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return r;
                 if (r == 0)
-                        return mkdir_safe_internal(p, mode, uid, gid, false, _mkdir);
+                        return mkdir_safe_internal(p, mode, uid, gid,
+                                                   flags & ~MKDIR_FOLLOW_SYMLINK,
+                                                   _mkdir);
 
                 if (lstat(p, &st) < 0)
                         return -errno;
         }
 
+        if (!S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) {
+                log_full(flags & MKDIR_WARN_MODE ? LOG_WARNING : LOG_DEBUG,
+                         "Path \"%s\" already exists and is not a directory, refusing.", path);
+                return -ENOTDIR;
+        }
         if ((st.st_mode & 0007) > (mode & 0007) ||
             (st.st_mode & 0070) > (mode & 0070) ||
-            (st.st_mode & 0700) > (mode & 0700) ||
-            (uid != UID_INVALID && st.st_uid != uid) ||
-            (gid != GID_INVALID && st.st_gid != gid) ||
-            !S_ISDIR(st.st_mode))
+            (st.st_mode & 0700) > (mode & 0700)) {
+                log_full(flags & MKDIR_WARN_MODE ? LOG_WARNING : LOG_DEBUG,
+                         "Directory \"%s\" already exists, but has mode %04o that is too permissive (%04o was requested), refusing.",
+                         path, st.st_mode & 0777, mode);
                 return -EEXIST;
+        }
+        if ((uid != UID_INVALID && st.st_uid != uid) ||
+            (gid != GID_INVALID && st.st_gid != gid)) {
+                char u[DECIMAL_STR_MAX(uid_t)] = "-", g[DECIMAL_STR_MAX(gid_t)] = "-";
+
+                if (uid != UID_INVALID)
+                        xsprintf(u, UID_FMT, uid);
+                if (gid != UID_INVALID)
+                        xsprintf(g, GID_FMT, gid);
+                log_full(flags & MKDIR_WARN_MODE ? LOG_WARNING : LOG_DEBUG,
+                         "Directory \"%s\" already exists, but is owned by "UID_FMT":"GID_FMT" (%s:%s was requested), refusing.",
+                         path, st.st_uid, st.st_gid, u, g);
+                return -EEXIST;
+        }
 
         return 0;
 }
@@ -76,8 +98,8 @@ int mkdir_errno_wrapper(const char *pathname, mode_t mode) {
         return 0;
 }
 
-int mkdir_safe(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, bool follow_symlink) {
-        return mkdir_safe_internal(path, mode, uid, gid, follow_symlink, mkdir_errno_wrapper);
+int mkdir_safe(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, MkdirFlags flags) {
+        return mkdir_safe_internal(path, mode, uid, gid, flags, mkdir_errno_wrapper);
 }
 
 int mkdir_parents_internal(const char *prefix, const char *path, mode_t mode, mkdir_func_t _mkdir) {
diff --git a/src/basic/mkdir.h b/src/basic/mkdir.h
index d6c2d579a3..59d0fb6d81 100644
--- a/src/basic/mkdir.h
+++ b/src/basic/mkdir.h
@@ -23,18 +23,23 @@
 
 #include <sys/types.h>
 
+typedef enum MkdirFlags {
+        MKDIR_FOLLOW_SYMLINK = 1 << 0,
+        MKDIR_WARN_MODE      = 1 << 1,
+} MkdirFlags;
+
 int mkdir_errno_wrapper(const char *pathname, mode_t mode);
-int mkdir_safe(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, bool follow_symlink);
+int mkdir_safe(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, MkdirFlags flags);
 int mkdir_parents(const char *path, mode_t mode);
 int mkdir_p(const char *path, mode_t mode);
 
 /* mandatory access control(MAC) versions */
-int mkdir_safe_label(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, bool follow_symlink);
+int mkdir_safe_label(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, MkdirFlags flags);
 int mkdir_parents_label(const char *path, mode_t mode);
 int mkdir_p_label(const char *path, mode_t mode);
 
 /* internally used */
 typedef int (*mkdir_func_t)(const char *pathname, mode_t mode);
-int mkdir_safe_internal(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, bool follow_symlink, mkdir_func_t _mkdir);
+int mkdir_safe_internal(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid, MkdirFlags flags, mkdir_func_t _mkdir);
 int mkdir_parents_internal(const char *prefix, const char *path, mode_t mode, mkdir_func_t _mkdir);
 int mkdir_p_internal(const char *prefix, const char *path, mode_t mode, mkdir_func_t _mkdir);
diff --git a/src/core/execute.c b/src/core/execute.c
index bfd3dfdafc..56e0eec205 100644
--- a/src/core/execute.c
+++ b/src/core/execute.c
@@ -2049,7 +2049,7 @@ static int setup_exec_directory(
                         }
 
                         /* First set up private root if it doesn't exist yet, with access mode 0700 and owned by root:root */
-                        r = mkdir_safe_label(private_root, 0700, 0, 0, false);
+                        r = mkdir_safe_label(private_root, 0700, 0, 0, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
                         if (r < 0)
                                 goto fail;
 
diff --git a/src/login/logind-dbus.c b/src/login/logind-dbus.c
index 22116aa236..7dc8c5a340 100644
--- a/src/login/logind-dbus.c
+++ b/src/login/logind-dbus.c
@@ -1219,7 +1219,7 @@ static int method_set_user_linger(sd_bus_message *message, void *userdata, sd_bu
 
         mkdir_p_label("/var/lib/systemd", 0755);
 
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/var/lib/systemd/linger", 0755, 0, 0, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/var/lib/systemd/linger", 0755, 0, 0, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
@@ -1963,7 +1963,7 @@ static int update_schedule_file(Manager *m) {
 
         assert(m);
 
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/shutdown", 0755, 0, 0, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/shutdown", 0755, 0, 0, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to create shutdown subdirectory: %m");
 
diff --git a/src/login/logind-inhibit.c b/src/login/logind-inhibit.c
index e14835292e..f814376e80 100644
--- a/src/login/logind-inhibit.c
+++ b/src/login/logind-inhibit.c
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ int inhibitor_save(Inhibitor *i) {
 
         assert(i);
 
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/inhibit", 0755, 0, 0, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/inhibit", 0755, 0, 0, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0)
                 goto fail;
 
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ int inhibitor_create_fifo(Inhibitor *i) {
 
         /* Create FIFO */
         if (!i->fifo_path) {
-                r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/inhibit", 0755, 0, 0, false);
+                r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/inhibit", 0755, 0, 0, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return r;
 
diff --git a/src/login/logind-seat.c b/src/login/logind-seat.c
index 3e89b0f124..ecca551db3 100644
--- a/src/login/logind-seat.c
+++ b/src/login/logind-seat.c
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ int seat_save(Seat *s) {
         if (!s->started)
                 return 0;
 
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/seats", 0755, 0, 0, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/seats", 0755, 0, 0, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0)
                 goto fail;
 
diff --git a/src/login/logind-session.c b/src/login/logind-session.c
index 5673ea4f9e..b5d90a70da 100644
--- a/src/login/logind-session.c
+++ b/src/login/logind-session.c
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ int session_save(Session *s) {
         if (!s->started)
                 return 0;
 
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/sessions", 0755, 0, 0, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/sessions", 0755, 0, 0, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0)
                 goto fail;
 
@@ -949,7 +949,7 @@ int session_create_fifo(Session *s) {
 
         /* Create FIFO */
         if (!s->fifo_path) {
-                r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/sessions", 0755, 0, 0, false);
+                r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/sessions", 0755, 0, 0, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return r;
 
diff --git a/src/login/logind-user.c b/src/login/logind-user.c
index f85564f221..dc8feacbf9 100644
--- a/src/login/logind-user.c
+++ b/src/login/logind-user.c
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ static int user_save_internal(User *u) {
         assert(u);
         assert(u->state_file);
 
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/users", 0755, 0, 0, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/users", 0755, 0, 0, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0)
                 goto fail;
 
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ static int user_mkdir_runtime_path(User *u) {
 
         assert(u);
 
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/user", 0755, 0, 0, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/user", 0755, 0, 0, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to create /run/user: %m");
 
diff --git a/src/machine/machine.c b/src/machine/machine.c
index 4bacf91d26..95eb590f73 100644
--- a/src/machine/machine.c
+++ b/src/machine/machine.c
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ int machine_save(Machine *m) {
         if (!m->started)
                 return 0;
 
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/machines", 0755, 0, 0, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/machines", 0755, 0, 0, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0)
                 goto fail;
 
diff --git a/src/network/networkd.c b/src/network/networkd.c
index 79c15d4111..5fd82552ee 100644
--- a/src/network/networkd.c
+++ b/src/network/networkd.c
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         /* Create runtime directory. This is not necessary when networkd is
          * started with "RuntimeDirectory=systemd/netif", or after
          * systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service. */
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/netif", 0755, uid, gid, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/netif", 0755, uid, gid, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0)
                 log_warning_errno(r, "Could not create runtime directory: %m");
 
@@ -75,15 +75,15 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         /* Always create the directories people can create inotify watches in.
          * It is necessary to create the following subdirectories after drop_privileges()
          * to support old kernels not supporting AmbientCapabilities=. */
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/netif/links", 0755, uid, gid, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/netif/links", 0755, uid, gid, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0)
                 log_warning_errno(r, "Could not create runtime directory 'links': %m");
 
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/netif/leases", 0755, uid, gid, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/netif/leases", 0755, uid, gid, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0)
                 log_warning_errno(r, "Could not create runtime directory 'leases': %m");
 
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/netif/lldp", 0755, uid, gid, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/netif/lldp", 0755, uid, gid, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0)
                 log_warning_errno(r, "Could not create runtime directory 'lldp': %m");
 
diff --git a/src/nspawn/nspawn-setuid.c b/src/nspawn/nspawn-setuid.c
index 2dee5f8ec8..80189ac6db 100644
--- a/src/nspawn/nspawn-setuid.c
+++ b/src/nspawn/nspawn-setuid.c
@@ -226,8 +226,8 @@ int change_uid_gid(const char *user, char **_home) {
         if (r < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to make home root directory: %m");
 
-        r = mkdir_safe(home, 0755, uid, gid, false);
-        if (r < 0 && r != -EEXIST)
+        r = mkdir_safe(home, 0755, uid, gid, 0);
+        if (r < 0 && !IN_SET(r, -EEXIST, -ENOTDIR))
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to make home directory: %m");
 
         (void) fchown(STDIN_FILENO, uid, gid);
diff --git a/src/resolve/resolved.c b/src/resolve/resolved.c
index a4cda0b5ef..193f88bd58 100644
--- a/src/resolve/resolved.c
+++ b/src/resolve/resolved.c
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         }
 
         /* Always create the directory where resolv.conf will live */
-        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/resolve", 0755, uid, gid, false);
+        r = mkdir_safe_label("/run/systemd/resolve", 0755, uid, gid, MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
         if (r < 0) {
                 log_error_errno(r, "Could not create runtime directory: %m");
                 goto finish;
diff --git a/src/test/test-fs-util.c b/src/test/test-fs-util.c
index ebcec4fcc5..9fe79502c8 100644
--- a/src/test/test-fs-util.c
+++ b/src/test/test-fs-util.c
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ static void test_readlink_and_make_absolute(void) {
         char *r = NULL;
         _cleanup_free_ char *pwd = NULL;
 
-        assert_se(mkdir_safe(tempdir, 0755, getuid(), getgid(), false) >= 0);
+        assert_se(mkdir_safe(tempdir, 0755, getuid(), getgid(), MKDIR_WARN_MODE) >= 0);
         assert_se(touch(name) >= 0);
 
         assert_se(symlink(name, name_alias) >= 0);
diff --git a/src/timesync/timesyncd.c b/src/timesync/timesyncd.c
index 3d7cfd5be5..7ec23904db 100644
--- a/src/timesync/timesyncd.c
+++ b/src/timesync/timesyncd.c
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ static int load_clock_timestamp(uid_t uid, gid_t gid) {
                 }
 
         } else {
-                r = mkdir_safe_label("/var/lib/systemd/timesync", 0755, uid, gid, true);
+                r = mkdir_safe_label("/var/lib/systemd/timesync", 0755, uid, gid,
+                                     MKDIR_FOLLOW_SYMLINK | MKDIR_WARN_MODE);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to create state directory: %m");
 
diff --git a/test/meson.build b/test/meson.build
index 99103e9570..809bd44a93 100644
--- a/test/meson.build
+++ b/test/meson.build
@@ -233,9 +233,13 @@ custom_target(
         output : 'sys',
         build_by_default : true)
 
-udev_test_pl = find_program('udev-test.pl')
-test('udev-test',
-     udev_test_pl)
+if perl.found()
+        udev_test_pl = find_program('udev-test.pl')
+        test('udev-test',
+             udev_test_pl)
+else
+        message('Skipping udev-test because perl is not available')
+endif
 
 if conf.get('ENABLE_HWDB') == 1
         hwdb_test_sh = find_program('hwdb-test.sh')
diff --git a/test/test-execute/exec-capabilityboundingset-invert.service b/test/test-execute/exec-capabilityboundingset-invert.service
index fd5d248702..1abe390601 100644
--- a/test/test-execute/exec-capabilityboundingset-invert.service
+++ b/test/test-execute/exec-capabilityboundingset-invert.service
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
 Description=Test for CapabilityBoundingSet
 
 [Service]
-ExecStart=/bin/sh -x -c 'c=$$(capsh --print | grep "^Bounding set .*cap_chown"); test -z "$$c"'
+ExecStart=/bin/sh -x -c '! capsh --print | grep "^Bounding set .*cap_chown"'
 Type=oneshot
 CapabilityBoundingSet=~CAP_CHOWN
diff --git a/test/test-execute/exec-privatenetwork-yes.service b/test/test-execute/exec-privatenetwork-yes.service
index 3df543ec93..a38d24912f 100644
--- a/test/test-execute/exec-privatenetwork-yes.service
+++ b/test/test-execute/exec-privatenetwork-yes.service
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
 Description=Test for PrivateNetwork
 
 [Service]
-ExecStart=/bin/sh -x -c 'i=$$(ip link | grep ": " | grep -v ": lo:"); test -z "$$i"'
+ExecStart=/bin/sh -x -c '! ip link | grep ": " | grep -Ev ": (lo|sit0@.*):"'
 Type=oneshot
 PrivateNetwork=yes
diff --git a/test/test-execute/exec-specifier-interpolation.service b/test/test-execute/exec-specifier-interpolation.service
index 3e62662aa9..f128e3c4b3 100644
--- a/test/test-execute/exec-specifier-interpolation.service
+++ b/test/test-execute/exec-specifier-interpolation.service
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@ Description=https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/2637
 
 [Service]
 Type=oneshot
-ExecStart=/bin/sh -x -c "perl -e 'exit(!(qq{%%U} eq qq{\\x25U}))'"
+ExecStart=/bin/sh -x -c "! test -x perl || perl -e 'exit(!(qq{%%U} eq qq{\\x25U}))'"