diff --git a/man/systemctl.xml b/man/systemctl.xml
index 0ceb26d59b..39229a0075 100644
--- a/man/systemctl.xml
+++ b/man/systemctl.xml
@@ -1006,8 +1006,8 @@ along with systemd; If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
         <term><command>halt</command></term>
 
         <listitem>
-          <para>Shut down and halt the system. This is mostly
-          equivalent to <command>start halt.target</command> but also
+          <para>Shut down and halt the system. This is mostly equivalent to
+          <command>start halt.target --irreversible</command> but also
           prints a wall message to all users.  If combined with
           <option>--force</option> shutdown of all running services is
           skipped, however all processes are killed and all file
@@ -1023,8 +1023,8 @@ along with systemd; If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
         <listitem>
           <para>Shut down and power-off the system. This is mostly
-          equivalent to <command>start poweroff.target</command> but
-          also prints a wall message to all users. If combined with
+          equivalent to <command>start poweroff.target --irreversible</command>
+          but also prints a wall message to all users. If combined with
           <option>--force</option> shutdown of all running services is
           skipped, however all processes are killed and all file
           systems are unmounted or mounted read-only, immediately
@@ -1039,8 +1039,8 @@ along with systemd; If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
         <listitem>
           <para>Shut down and reboot the system. This is mostly
-          equivalent to <command>start reboot.target</command> but
-          also prints a wall message to all users. If combined with
+          equivalent to <command>start reboot.target --irreversible</command>
+          but also prints a wall message to all users. If combined with
           <option>--force</option> shutdown of all running services is
           skipped, however all processes are killed and all file
           systems are unmounted or mounted read-only, immediately
@@ -1055,7 +1055,7 @@ along with systemd; If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
         <listitem>
           <para>Shut down and reboot the system via kexec. This is
-          mostly equivalent to <command>start kexec.target</command>
+          mostly equivalent to <command>start kexec.target --irreversible</command>
           but also prints a wall message to all users. If combined
           with <option>--force</option> shutdown of all running
           services is skipped, however all processes are killed and
diff --git a/src/login/logind-dbus.c b/src/login/logind-dbus.c
index d235474a23..818f2fa808 100644
--- a/src/login/logind-dbus.c
+++ b/src/login/logind-dbus.c
@@ -1051,7 +1051,7 @@ static int execute_shutdown_or_sleep(
                 DBusError *error) {
 
         _cleanup_dbus_message_unref_ DBusMessage *reply = NULL;
-        const char *mode = "replace", *p;
+        const char *mode = "replace-irreversibly", *p;
         int r;
         char *c;
 
diff --git a/src/systemctl/systemctl.c b/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
index 723be76cdb..3d59a8bb1d 100644
--- a/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
+++ b/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
@@ -1595,11 +1595,22 @@ static int start_unit(DBusConnection *bus, char **args) {
                         streq(args[0], "force-reload")          ? "ReloadOrTryRestartUnit" :
                                                                   "StartUnit";
 
-                mode =
-                        (streq(args[0], "isolate") ||
-                         streq(args[0], "rescue")  ||
-                         streq(args[0], "emergency") ||
-                         streq(args[0], "default")) ? "isolate" : arg_job_mode;
+                if (streq(args[0], "isolate") ||
+                    streq(args[0], "rescue")  ||
+                    streq(args[0], "emergency") ||
+                    streq(args[0], "default"))
+                        mode = "isolate";
+                else if (streq(args[0], "halt") ||
+                         streq(args[0], "poweroff") ||
+                         streq(args[0], "reboot") ||
+                         streq(args[0], "kexec") ||
+                         streq(args[0], "exit") ||
+                         streq(args[0], "suspend") ||
+                         streq(args[0], "hibernate") ||
+                         streq(args[0], "hybrid-sleep"))
+                        mode = "replace-irreversibly";
+                else
+                        mode = arg_job_mode;
 
                 one_name = table[verb_to_action(args[0])];
 
@@ -1614,7 +1625,7 @@ static int start_unit(DBusConnection *bus, char **args) {
                         arg_action == ACTION_RUNLEVEL2 ||
                         arg_action == ACTION_RUNLEVEL3 ||
                         arg_action == ACTION_RUNLEVEL4 ||
-                        arg_action == ACTION_RUNLEVEL5) ? "isolate" : "replace";
+                        arg_action == ACTION_RUNLEVEL5) ? "isolate" : "replace-irreversibly";
 
                 one_name = table[arg_action];
         }