diff --git a/src/core/mount.c b/src/core/mount.c
index bb42955e84..e32db2bf63 100644
--- a/src/core/mount.c
+++ b/src/core/mount.c
@@ -1603,12 +1603,7 @@ static int mount_load_proc_self_mountinfo(Manager *m, bool set_flags) {
 
         assert(m);
 
-        table = mnt_new_table();
-        iter = mnt_new_iter(MNT_ITER_FORWARD);
-        if (!table || !iter)
-                return log_oom();
-
-        r = mnt_table_parse_mtab(table, NULL);
+        r = libmount_parse(NULL, NULL, &table, &iter);
         if (r < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to parse /proc/self/mountinfo: %m");
 
diff --git a/src/mount/mount-tool.c b/src/mount/mount-tool.c
index fc18dd28d7..739f52c219 100644
--- a/src/mount/mount-tool.c
+++ b/src/mount/mount-tool.c
@@ -726,12 +726,7 @@ static int find_mount_points(const char *what, char ***list) {
         /* Returns all mount points obtained from /proc/self/mountinfo in *list,
          * and the number of mount points as return value. */
 
-        table = mnt_new_table();
-        iter = mnt_new_iter(MNT_ITER_FORWARD);
-        if (!table || !iter)
-                return log_oom();
-
-        r = mnt_table_parse_mtab(table, NULL);
+        r = libmount_parse(NULL, NULL, &table, &iter);
         if (r < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to parse /proc/self/mountinfo: %m");
 
diff --git a/src/shared/libmount-util.h b/src/shared/libmount-util.h
index 7d94468e52..6e8e61ed6c 100644
--- a/src/shared/libmount-util.h
+++ b/src/shared/libmount-util.h
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 /* SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+ */
 #pragma once
 
+#include <stdio.h>
+
 /* This needs to be after sys/mount.h */
 #include <libmount.h>
 
@@ -8,3 +10,33 @@
 
 DEFINE_TRIVIAL_CLEANUP_FUNC(struct libmnt_table*, mnt_free_table);
 DEFINE_TRIVIAL_CLEANUP_FUNC(struct libmnt_iter*, mnt_free_iter);
+
+static inline int libmount_parse(
+                const char *path,
+                FILE *source,
+                struct libmnt_table **ret_table,
+                struct libmnt_iter **ret_iter) {
+
+        _cleanup_(mnt_free_tablep) struct libmnt_table *table = NULL;
+        _cleanup_(mnt_free_iterp) struct libmnt_iter *iter = NULL;
+        int r;
+
+        /* Older libmount seems to require this. */
+        assert(!source || path);
+
+        table = mnt_new_table();
+        iter = mnt_new_iter(MNT_ITER_FORWARD);
+        if (!table || !iter)
+                return -ENOMEM;
+
+        if (source)
+                r = mnt_table_parse_stream(table, source, path);
+        else
+                r = mnt_table_parse_mtab(table, path);
+        if (r < 0)
+                return r;
+
+        *ret_table = TAKE_PTR(table);
+        *ret_iter = TAKE_PTR(iter);
+        return 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/shared/mount-util.c b/src/shared/mount-util.c
index 056106488d..97cc7b44c5 100644
--- a/src/shared/mount-util.c
+++ b/src/shared/mount-util.c
@@ -38,12 +38,7 @@ int umount_recursive(const char *prefix, int flags) {
 
                 again = false;
 
-                table = mnt_new_table();
-                iter = mnt_new_iter(MNT_ITER_FORWARD);
-                if (!table || !iter)
-                        return -ENOMEM;
-
-                r = mnt_table_parse_mtab(table, NULL);
+                r = libmount_parse(NULL, NULL, &table, &iter);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return log_debug_errno(r, "Failed to parse /proc/self/mountinfo: %m");
 
@@ -139,14 +134,9 @@ int bind_remount_recursive_with_mountinfo(
                 if (!todo)
                         return -ENOMEM;
 
-                table = mnt_new_table();
-                iter = mnt_new_iter(MNT_ITER_FORWARD);
-                if (!table || !iter)
-                        return -ENOMEM;
-
                 rewind(proc_self_mountinfo);
 
-                r = mnt_table_parse_stream(table, proc_self_mountinfo, "/proc/self/mountinfo");
+                r = libmount_parse("/proc/self/mountinfo", proc_self_mountinfo, &table, &iter);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return log_debug_errno(r, "Failed to parse /proc/self/mountinfo: %m");
 
diff --git a/src/shutdown/umount.c b/src/shutdown/umount.c
index ea9fba8831..5b1160833b 100644
--- a/src/shutdown/umount.c
+++ b/src/shutdown/umount.c
@@ -61,12 +61,7 @@ int mount_points_list_get(const char *mountinfo, MountPoint **head) {
 
         assert(head);
 
-        table = mnt_new_table();
-        iter = mnt_new_iter(MNT_ITER_FORWARD);
-        if (!table || !iter)
-                return log_oom();
-
-        r = mnt_table_parse_mtab(table, mountinfo);
+        r = libmount_parse(mountinfo, NULL, &table, &iter);
         if (r < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to parse %s: %m", mountinfo);
 
diff --git a/src/test/test-libmount.c b/src/test/test-libmount.c
index fc28f27d53..c3395493d4 100644
--- a/src/test/test-libmount.c
+++ b/src/test/test-libmount.c
@@ -21,13 +21,10 @@ static void test_libmount_unescaping_one(
         _cleanup_(mnt_free_iterp) struct libmnt_iter *iter = NULL;
         _cleanup_fclose_ FILE *f = NULL;
 
-        assert_se(table = mnt_new_table());
-        assert_se(iter = mnt_new_iter(MNT_ITER_FORWARD));
-
         f = fmemopen((char*) string, strlen(string), "re");
         assert_se(f);
 
-        assert_se(mnt_table_parse_stream(table, f, title) >= 0);
+        assert_se(libmount_parse(title, f, &table, &iter) >= 0);
 
         struct libmnt_fs *fs;
         const char *source, *target;