diff --git a/docs/ENVIRONMENT.md b/docs/ENVIRONMENT.md
index 74a71bba93..8eb2b9b9e2 100644
--- a/docs/ENVIRONMENT.md
+++ b/docs/ENVIRONMENT.md
@@ -52,9 +52,13 @@ All tools:
 * `$SYSTEMD_EFI_OPTIONS` — if set, used instead of the string in the
   SystemdOptions EFI variable. Analogous to `$SYSTEMD_PROC_CMDLINE`.
 
-* `$SYSTEMD_IN_INITRD` — takes a boolean. If set, overrides initrd detection.
-  This is useful for debugging and testing initrd-only programs in the main
-  system.
+* `$SYSTEMD_IN_INITRD=[auto|lenient|0|1]` — if set, specifies initrd detection
+  method. Defaults to `auto`. Behavior is defined as follows:
+  `auto`: Checks if `/etc/initrd-release` exists, and a temporary fs is mounted
+          on `/`. If both conditions meet, then it's in initrd.
+  `lenient`: Similiar to `auto`, but the rootfs check is skipped.
+  `0|1`: Simply overrides initrd detection. This is useful for debugging and
+         testing initrd-only programs in the main system.
 
 * `$SYSTEMD_BUS_TIMEOUT=SECS` — specifies the maximum time to wait for method call
   completion. If no time unit is specified, assumes seconds. The usual other units
diff --git a/src/basic/util.c b/src/basic/util.c
index 907a8d1b2a..7de5341637 100644
--- a/src/basic/util.c
+++ b/src/basic/util.c
@@ -53,11 +53,13 @@ int prot_from_flags(int flags) {
 
 bool in_initrd(void) {
         int r;
+        const char *e;
+        bool lenient = false;
 
         if (saved_in_initrd >= 0)
                 return saved_in_initrd;
 
-        /* We make two checks here:
+        /* We have two checks here:
          *
          * 1. the flag file /etc/initrd-release must exist
          * 2. the root file system must be a memory file system
@@ -65,17 +67,29 @@ bool in_initrd(void) {
          * The second check is extra paranoia, since misdetecting an
          * initrd can have bad consequences due the initrd
          * emptying when transititioning to the main systemd.
+         *
+         * If env var $SYSTEMD_IN_INITRD is not set or set to "auto",
+         * both checks are used. If it's set to "lenient", only check
+         * 1 is used. If set to a booleen value, then the boolean
+         * value is returned.
          */
 
-        r = getenv_bool_secure("SYSTEMD_IN_INITRD");
-        if (r < 0 && r != -ENXIO)
-                log_debug_errno(r, "Failed to parse $SYSTEMD_IN_INITRD, ignoring: %m");
+        e = secure_getenv("SYSTEMD_IN_INITRD");
+        if (e) {
+                if (streq(e, "lenient"))
+                        lenient = true;
+                else if (!streq(e, "auto")) {
+                        r = parse_boolean(e);
+                        if (r >= 0) {
+                                saved_in_initrd = r > 0;
+                                return saved_in_initrd;
+                        }
+                        log_debug_errno(r, "Failed to parse $SYSTEMD_IN_INITRD, ignoring: %m");
+                }
+        }
 
-        if (r >= 0)
-                saved_in_initrd = r > 0;
-        else
-                saved_in_initrd = access("/etc/initrd-release", F_OK) >= 0 &&
-                                  path_is_temporary_fs("/") > 0;
+        saved_in_initrd = (lenient || path_is_temporary_fs("/") > 0) &&
+                          access("/etc/initrd-release", F_OK) >= 0;
 
         return saved_in_initrd;
 }