diff --git a/src/core/execute.c b/src/core/execute.c
index 2cb2392d16..4e75d86472 100644
--- a/src/core/execute.c
+++ b/src/core/execute.c
@@ -2581,7 +2581,7 @@ static int apply_mount_namespace(
                             needs_sandboxing ? context->protect_home : PROTECT_HOME_NO,
                             needs_sandboxing ? context->protect_system : PROTECT_SYSTEM_NO,
                             context->mount_flags,
-                            DISSECT_IMAGE_DISCARD_ON_LOOP,
+                            DISSECT_IMAGE_DISCARD_ON_LOOP|DISSECT_IMAGE_RELAX_VAR_CHECK,
                             error_path);
 
         /* If we couldn't set up the namespace this is probably due to a missing capability. setup_namespace() reports
diff --git a/src/dissect/dissect.c b/src/dissect/dissect.c
index c1be6c034c..2fef95aa02 100644
--- a/src/dissect/dissect.c
+++ b/src/dissect/dissect.c
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ static enum {
 } arg_action = ACTION_DISSECT;
 static const char *arg_image = NULL;
 static const char *arg_path = NULL;
-static DissectImageFlags arg_flags = DISSECT_IMAGE_REQUIRE_ROOT|DISSECT_IMAGE_DISCARD_ON_LOOP;
+static DissectImageFlags arg_flags = DISSECT_IMAGE_REQUIRE_ROOT|DISSECT_IMAGE_DISCARD_ON_LOOP|DISSECT_IMAGE_RELAX_VAR_CHECK;
 static void *arg_root_hash = NULL;
 static size_t arg_root_hash_size = 0;
 
diff --git a/src/gpt-auto-generator/gpt-auto-generator.c b/src/gpt-auto-generator/gpt-auto-generator.c
index 4aac903aa6..04691a62c4 100644
--- a/src/gpt-auto-generator/gpt-auto-generator.c
+++ b/src/gpt-auto-generator/gpt-auto-generator.c
@@ -697,6 +697,18 @@ static int enumerate_partitions(dev_t devnum) {
                         r = k;
         }
 
+        if (m->partitions[PARTITION_VAR].found) {
+                k = add_partition_mount(m->partitions + PARTITION_VAR, "var", "/var", "Variable Data Partition");
+                if (k < 0)
+                        r = k;
+        }
+
+        if (m->partitions[PARTITION_TMP].found) {
+                k = add_partition_mount(m->partitions + PARTITION_TMP, "var-tmp", "/var/tmp", "Temporary Data Partition");
+                if (k < 0)
+                        r = k;
+        }
+
         if (m->partitions[PARTITION_ROOT].found) {
                 k = add_root_rw(m->partitions + PARTITION_ROOT);
                 if (k < 0)
diff --git a/src/nspawn/nspawn.c b/src/nspawn/nspawn.c
index 9113f6e323..962b2d0209 100644
--- a/src/nspawn/nspawn.c
+++ b/src/nspawn/nspawn.c
@@ -5058,7 +5058,7 @@ static int run(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                                 loop->fd,
                                 arg_image,
                                 arg_root_hash, arg_root_hash_size,
-                                DISSECT_IMAGE_REQUIRE_ROOT,
+                                DISSECT_IMAGE_REQUIRE_ROOT|DISSECT_IMAGE_RELAX_VAR_CHECK,
                                 &dissected_image);
                 if (r == -ENOPKG) {
                         /* dissected_image_and_warn() already printed a brief error message. Extend on that with more details */
diff --git a/src/portable/portable.c b/src/portable/portable.c
index 7a86398a4b..e18826ab26 100644
--- a/src/portable/portable.c
+++ b/src/portable/portable.c
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ static int portable_extract_by_path(
                 if (r < 0)
                         return log_debug_errno(r, "Failed to create temporary directory: %m");
 
-                r = dissect_image(d->fd, NULL, 0, DISSECT_IMAGE_READ_ONLY|DISSECT_IMAGE_REQUIRE_ROOT|DISSECT_IMAGE_DISCARD_ON_LOOP, &m);
+                r = dissect_image(d->fd, NULL, 0, DISSECT_IMAGE_READ_ONLY|DISSECT_IMAGE_REQUIRE_ROOT|DISSECT_IMAGE_DISCARD_ON_LOOP|DISSECT_IMAGE_RELAX_VAR_CHECK, &m);
                 if (r == -ENOPKG)
                         sd_bus_error_setf(error, SD_BUS_ERROR_INVALID_ARGS, "Couldn't identify a suitable partition table or file system in '%s'.", path);
                 else if (r == -EADDRNOTAVAIL)
diff --git a/src/shared/dissect-image.c b/src/shared/dissect-image.c
index 11d21c3a4d..087c3dc345 100644
--- a/src/shared/dissect-image.c
+++ b/src/shared/dissect-image.c
@@ -598,6 +598,43 @@ int dissect_image(
                                         if (!generic_node)
                                                 return -ENOMEM;
                                 }
+
+                        } else if (sd_id128_equal(type_id, GPT_TMP)) {
+
+                                if (pflags & GPT_FLAG_NO_AUTO)
+                                        continue;
+
+                                designator = PARTITION_TMP;
+                                rw = !(pflags & GPT_FLAG_READ_ONLY);
+
+                        } else if (sd_id128_equal(type_id, GPT_VAR)) {
+
+                                if (pflags & GPT_FLAG_NO_AUTO)
+                                        continue;
+
+                                if (!FLAGS_SET(flags, DISSECT_IMAGE_RELAX_VAR_CHECK)) {
+                                        sd_id128_t var_uuid;
+
+                                        /* For /var we insist that the uuid of the partition matches the
+                                         * HMAC-SHA256 of the /var GPT partition type uuid, keyed by machine
+                                         * ID. Why? Unlike the other partitions /var is inherently
+                                         * installation specific, hence we need to be careful not to mount it
+                                         * in the wrong installation. By hashing the partition UUID from
+                                         * /etc/machine-id we can securely bind the partition to the
+                                         * installation. */
+
+                                        r = sd_id128_get_machine_app_specific(GPT_VAR, &var_uuid);
+                                        if (r < 0)
+                                                return r;
+
+                                        if (!sd_id128_equal(var_uuid, id)) {
+                                                log_debug("Found a /var/ partition, but its UUID didn't match our expectations, ignoring.");
+                                                continue;
+                                        }
+                                }
+
+                                designator = PARTITION_VAR;
+                                rw = !(pflags & GPT_FLAG_READ_ONLY);
                         }
 
                         if (designator != _PARTITION_DESIGNATOR_INVALID) {
@@ -910,6 +947,14 @@ int dissected_image_mount(DissectedImage *m, const char *where, uid_t uid_shift,
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
+        r = mount_partition(m->partitions + PARTITION_VAR, where, "/var", uid_shift, flags);
+        if (r < 0)
+                return r;
+
+        r = mount_partition(m->partitions + PARTITION_TMP, where, "/var/tmp", uid_shift, flags);
+        if (r < 0)
+                return r;
+
         boot_mounted = mount_partition(m->partitions + PARTITION_XBOOTLDR, where, "/boot", uid_shift, flags);
         if (boot_mounted < 0)
                 return boot_mounted;
@@ -1333,7 +1378,8 @@ int dissected_image_acquire_metadata(DissectedImage *m) {
                 [META_HOSTNAME]     = "/etc/hostname\0",
                 [META_MACHINE_ID]   = "/etc/machine-id\0",
                 [META_MACHINE_INFO] = "/etc/machine-info\0",
-                [META_OS_RELEASE]   = "/etc/os-release\0/usr/lib/os-release\0",
+                [META_OS_RELEASE]   = "/etc/os-release\0"
+                                      "/usr/lib/os-release\0",
         };
 
         _cleanup_strv_free_ char **machine_info = NULL, **os_release = NULL;
@@ -1528,6 +1574,8 @@ static const char *const partition_designator_table[] = {
         [PARTITION_SWAP] = "swap",
         [PARTITION_ROOT_VERITY] = "root-verity",
         [PARTITION_ROOT_SECONDARY_VERITY] = "root-secondary-verity",
+        [PARTITION_TMP] = "tmp",
+        [PARTITION_VAR] = "var",
 };
 
 DEFINE_STRING_TABLE_LOOKUP(partition_designator, int);
diff --git a/src/shared/dissect-image.h b/src/shared/dissect-image.h
index 40b8035ac7..359dc877d5 100644
--- a/src/shared/dissect-image.h
+++ b/src/shared/dissect-image.h
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ enum  {
         PARTITION_SWAP,
         PARTITION_ROOT_VERITY, /* verity data for the PARTITION_ROOT partition */
         PARTITION_ROOT_SECONDARY_VERITY, /* verity data for the PARTITION_ROOT_SECONDARY partition */
+        PARTITION_TMP,
+        PARTITION_VAR,
         _PARTITION_DESIGNATOR_MAX,
         _PARTITION_DESIGNATOR_INVALID = -1
 };
@@ -59,6 +61,7 @@ typedef enum DissectImageFlags {
         DISSECT_IMAGE_MOUNT_NON_ROOT_ONLY = 1 << 7,  /* Mount only non-root partitions */
         DISSECT_IMAGE_VALIDATE_OS         = 1 << 8,  /* Refuse mounting images that aren't identifiable as OS images */
         DISSECT_IMAGE_NO_UDEV             = 1 << 9,  /* Don't wait for udev initializing things */
+        DISSECT_IMAGE_RELAX_VAR_CHECK     = 1 << 10, /* Don't insist that the UUID of /var is hashed from /etc/machine-id */
 } DissectImageFlags;
 
 struct DissectedImage {
diff --git a/src/shared/gpt.h b/src/shared/gpt.h
index 31e01bd5a5..8e9b111857 100644
--- a/src/shared/gpt.h
+++ b/src/shared/gpt.h
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 #define GPT_SWAP        SD_ID128_MAKE(06,57,fd,6d,a4,ab,43,c4,84,e5,09,33,c8,4b,4f,4f)
 #define GPT_HOME        SD_ID128_MAKE(93,3a,c7,e1,2e,b4,4f,13,b8,44,0e,14,e2,ae,f9,15)
 #define GPT_SRV         SD_ID128_MAKE(3b,8f,84,25,20,e0,4f,3b,90,7f,1a,25,a7,6f,98,e8)
+#define GPT_VAR         SD_ID128_MAKE(4d,21,b0,16,b5,34,45,c2,a9,fb,5c,16,e0,91,fd,2d)
+#define GPT_TMP         SD_ID128_MAKE(7e,c6,f5,57,3b,c5,4a,ca,b2,93,16,ef,5d,f6,39,d1)
 
 /* Verity partitions for the root partitions above (we only define them for the root partitions, because only they are
  * are commonly read-only and hence suitable for verity). */
diff --git a/src/shared/machine-image.c b/src/shared/machine-image.c
index 15fd514353..b45efcd1e6 100644
--- a/src/shared/machine-image.c
+++ b/src/shared/machine-image.c
@@ -1171,7 +1171,7 @@ int image_read_metadata(Image *i) {
                 if (r < 0)
                         return r;
 
-                r = dissect_image(d->fd, NULL, 0, DISSECT_IMAGE_REQUIRE_ROOT, &m);
+                r = dissect_image(d->fd, NULL, 0, DISSECT_IMAGE_REQUIRE_ROOT|DISSECT_IMAGE_RELAX_VAR_CHECK, &m);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return r;
 
diff --git a/src/test/test-dissect-image.c b/src/test/test-dissect-image.c
index 12685dad13..a1ccf605b1 100644
--- a/src/test/test-dissect-image.c
+++ b/src/test/test-dissect-image.c
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                 return EXIT_FAILURE;
         }
 
-        r = dissect_image(d->fd, NULL, 0, DISSECT_IMAGE_REQUIRE_ROOT, &m);
+        r = dissect_image(d->fd, NULL, 0, DISSECT_IMAGE_REQUIRE_ROOT|DISSECT_IMAGE_RELAX_VAR_CHECK, &m);
         if (r < 0) {
                 log_error_errno(r, "Failed to dissect image: %m");
                 return EXIT_FAILURE;