diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 3f9f3fab37..1674f6195a 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -4626,7 +4626,12 @@ systemd_localed_SOURCES = \
 systemd_localed_LDADD = \
 	libsystemd-label.la \
 	libsystemd-internal.la \
-	libsystemd-shared.la
+	libsystemd-shared.la \
+	$(XKBCOMMON_LIBS)
+
+systemd_localed_CFLAGS = \
+	$(AM_CFLAGS) \
+	$(XKBCOMMON_CFLAGS)
 
 nodist_systemunit_DATA += \
 	units/systemd-localed.service
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index f621752d64..0d3ab2b48b 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 systemd System and Service Manager
 
+CHANGES WITH 218:
+
+        * If compiled with --enable-xkbcommon, systemd-localed will
+          verify x11 keymap settings by compiling the given keymap. It
+          will spew out warnings if the compilation fails. This
+          requires libxkbcommon to be installed.
+
 CHANGES WITH 217:
 
         * journalctl gained the new options -t/--identifier= to match
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2c8be53dd3..bd3cc0ea61 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -414,6 +414,18 @@ if test "x$enable_kmod" != "xno"; then
 fi
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_KMOD, [test "$have_kmod" = "yes"])
 
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+have_xkbcommon=no
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(xkbcommon, AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-xkbcommon], [disable xkbcommon keymap support]))
+if test "x$enable_xkbcommon" != "xno"; then
+        PKG_CHECK_MODULES(XKBCOMMON, [ xkbcommon >= 0.3.0 ],
+                [AC_DEFINE(HAVE_XKBCOMMON, 1, [Define if libxkbcommon is available]) have_xkbcommon=yes], have_xkbcommon=no)
+        if test "x$have_xkbcommon" = xno -a "x$enable_xkbcommon" = xyes; then
+                AC_MSG_ERROR([*** xkbcommon support requested but libraries not found])
+        fi
+fi
+AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_XKBCOMMON, [test "$have_xkbcommon" = "yes"])
+
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 have_blkid=no
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(blkid, AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-blkid], [disable blkid support]))
@@ -1374,6 +1386,7 @@ AC_MSG_RESULT([
         polkit:                  ${have_polkit}
         efi:                     ${have_efi}
         kmod:                    ${have_kmod}
+        xkbcommon:               ${have_xkbcommon}
         blkid:                   ${have_blkid}
         dbus:                    ${have_dbus}
         nss-myhostname:          ${have_myhostname}
diff --git a/src/locale/localed.c b/src/locale/localed.c
index 9377ce5015..4e56382f4f 100644
--- a/src/locale/localed.c
+++ b/src/locale/localed.c
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@
 #include "event-util.h"
 #include "locale-util.h"
 
+#ifdef HAVE_XKBCOMMON
+#include <xkbcommon/xkbcommon.h>
+#endif
+
 enum {
         /* We don't list LC_ALL here on purpose. People should be
          * using LANG instead. */
@@ -1005,6 +1009,51 @@ static int method_set_vc_keyboard(sd_bus *bus, sd_bus_message *m, void *userdata
         return sd_bus_reply_method_return(m, NULL);
 }
 
+#ifdef HAVE_XKBCOMMON
+static void log_xkb(struct xkb_context *ctx, enum xkb_log_level lvl, const char *format, va_list args) {
+        /* suppress xkb messages for now */
+}
+
+static int verify_xkb_rmlvo(const char *model, const char *layout, const char *variant, const char *options) {
+        const struct xkb_rule_names rmlvo = {
+                .model          = model,
+                .layout         = layout,
+                .variant        = variant,
+                .options        = options,
+        };
+        struct xkb_context *ctx = NULL;
+        struct xkb_keymap *km = NULL;
+        int r;
+
+        /* compile keymap from RMLVO information to check out its validity */
+
+        ctx = xkb_context_new(XKB_CONTEXT_NO_ENVIRONMENT_NAMES);
+        if (!ctx) {
+                r = -ENOMEM;
+                goto exit;
+        }
+
+        xkb_context_set_log_fn(ctx, log_xkb);
+
+        km = xkb_keymap_new_from_names(ctx, &rmlvo, XKB_KEYMAP_COMPILE_NO_FLAGS);
+        if (!km) {
+                r = -EINVAL;
+                goto exit;
+        }
+
+        r = 0;
+
+exit:
+        xkb_keymap_unref(km);
+        xkb_context_unref(ctx);
+        return r;
+}
+#else
+static int verify_xkb_rmlvo(const char *model, const char *layout, const char *variant, const char *options) {
+        return 0;
+}
+#endif
+
 static int method_set_x11_keyboard(sd_bus *bus, sd_bus_message *m, void *userdata, sd_bus_error *error) {
         Context *c = userdata;
         const char *layout, *model, *variant, *options;
@@ -1038,6 +1087,11 @@ static int method_set_x11_keyboard(sd_bus *bus, sd_bus_message *m, void *userdat
                     (options && !string_is_safe(options)))
                         return sd_bus_error_set_errnof(error, -EINVAL, "Received invalid keyboard data");
 
+                r = verify_xkb_rmlvo(model, layout, variant, options);
+                if (r < 0)
+                        log_warning("Cannot compile XKB keymap for new x11 keyboard layout ('%s' / '%s' / '%s' / '%s'): %s",
+                                    strempty(model), strempty(layout), strempty(variant), strempty(options), strerror(-r));
+
                 r = bus_verify_polkit_async(m, CAP_SYS_ADMIN, "org.freedesktop.locale1.set-keyboard", interactive, &c->polkit_registry, error);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return r;