diff --git a/man/bootup.xml b/man/bootup.xml
index cf237dba52..c942bab344 100644
--- a/man/bootup.xml
+++ b/man/bootup.xml
@@ -324,11 +324,11 @@ systemd-reboot.service     |               |               |               |
                            v               |               v               |
                    <emphasis>poweroff.target</emphasis>         |    systemd-kexec.service      |
                                            v               |               |
-                                      <emphasis>halt.target</emphasis>          |       <emphasis>soft-reboot.target</emphasis>
+                                      <emphasis>halt.target</emphasis>          |  systemd-soft-reboot.service
                                                            v               |
                                                      <emphasis>kexec.target</emphasis>          |
                                                                            v
-                                                             systemd-soft-reboot.service</programlisting>
+                                                                   <emphasis>soft-reboot.target</emphasis></programlisting>
 
     <para>Commonly used system shutdown targets are <emphasis>emphasized</emphasis>.</para>
 
diff --git a/units/soft-reboot.target b/units/soft-reboot.target
index 4bca192454..6a6c772875 100644
--- a/units/soft-reboot.target
+++ b/units/soft-reboot.target
@@ -11,10 +11,8 @@
 Description=Reboot System Userspace
 Documentation=man:systemd.special(7)
 DefaultDependencies=no
-Requires=shutdown.target umount.target final.target
-After=shutdown.target umount.target final.target
 Requires=systemd-soft-reboot.service
-Before=systemd-soft-reboot.service
+After=systemd-soft-reboot.service
 AllowIsolate=yes
 JobTimeoutSec=30min
 JobTimeoutAction=soft-reboot-force
diff --git a/units/systemd-journald.service.in b/units/systemd-journald.service.in
index 2b340f4ea7..96362f5730 100644
--- a/units/systemd-journald.service.in
+++ b/units/systemd-journald.service.in
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@ Before=sysinit.target
 
 # To avoid journald SIGKILLed during soft-reboot and corrupting journals.
 # See https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/30195
-Before=soft-reboot.target
+# Note, typically soft-reboot.target will be never reached,
+# and systemd-soft-reboot.service will trigger soft-reboot.
+# Hence, this must be stopped before systemd-soft-reboot.service.
+Before=soft-reboot.target systemd-soft-reboot.service
 Conflicts=soft-reboot.target
 
 # Mount and swap units need the journal socket units. If they were removed by
diff --git a/units/systemd-soft-reboot.service b/units/systemd-soft-reboot.service
index da9f463821..35ba3a9fc4 100644
--- a/units/systemd-soft-reboot.service
+++ b/units/systemd-soft-reboot.service
@@ -11,5 +11,6 @@
 Description=Reboot System Userspace
 Documentation=man:systemd-soft-reboot.service(8)
 DefaultDependencies=no
-Requires=soft-reboot.target
+Requires=shutdown.target umount.target final.target
+After=shutdown.target umount.target final.target
 SuccessAction=soft-reboot-force