diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 7f5d465783..4f50b32cdf 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -568,6 +568,8 @@ foreach ident : [
         ['memfd_create',      '''#include <sys/mman.h>'''],
         ['gettid',            '''#include <sys/types.h>
                                  #include <unistd.h>'''],
+        ['fchmodat2',         '''#include <stdlib.h>
+                                 #include <fcntl.h>'''],      # no known header declares fchmodat2
         ['pivot_root',        '''#include <stdlib.h>
                                  #include <unistd.h>'''],     # no known header declares pivot_root
         ['ioprio_get',        '''#include <sched.h>'''],      # no known header declares ioprio_get
diff --git a/src/basic/fs-util.c b/src/basic/fs-util.c
index a9336f1a67..f5a1a8edbf 100644
--- a/src/basic/fs-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/fs-util.c
@@ -288,8 +288,22 @@ int fchmod_umask(int fd, mode_t m) {
 
 int fchmod_opath(int fd, mode_t m) {
         /* This function operates also on fd that might have been opened with
-         * O_PATH. Indeed fchmodat() doesn't have the AT_EMPTY_PATH flag like
-         * fchownat() does. */
+         * O_PATH. The tool set we have is non-intuitive:
+         * - fchmod(2) only operates on open files (i. e., fds with an open file description);
+         * - fchmodat(2) does not have a flag arg like fchownat(2) does, so no way to pass AT_EMPTY_PATH;
+         *   + it should not be confused with the libc fchmodat(3) interface, which adds 4th flag argument,
+         *     but does not support AT_EMPTY_PATH (only supports AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW);
+         * - fchmodat2(2) supports all the AT_* flags, but is still very recent.
+         *
+         * We try to use fchmodat2(), and, if it is not supported, resort
+         * to the /proc/self/fd dance. */
+
+        assert(fd >= 0);
+
+        if (fchmodat2(fd, "", m, AT_EMPTY_PATH) >= 0)
+                return 0;
+        if (!IN_SET(errno, ENOSYS, EPERM)) /* Some container managers block unknown syscalls with EPERM */
+                return -errno;
 
         if (chmod(FORMAT_PROC_FD_PATH(fd), m) < 0) {
                 if (errno != ENOENT)
diff --git a/src/basic/missing_syscall.h b/src/basic/missing_syscall.h
index 83ec137fa5..d795efd8f2 100644
--- a/src/basic/missing_syscall.h
+++ b/src/basic/missing_syscall.h
@@ -32,6 +32,21 @@
 
 /* ======================================================================= */
 
+#if !HAVE_FCHMODAT2
+static inline int missing_fchmodat2(int dirfd, const char *path, mode_t mode, int flags) {
+#  ifdef __NR_fchmodat2
+        return syscall(__NR_fchmodat2, dirfd, path, mode, flags);
+#  else
+        errno = ENOSYS;
+        return -1;
+#  endif
+}
+
+#  define fchmodat2 missing_fchmodat2
+#endif
+
+/* ======================================================================= */
+
 #if !HAVE_PIVOT_ROOT
 static inline int missing_pivot_root(const char *new_root, const char *put_old) {
         return syscall(__NR_pivot_root, new_root, put_old);
diff --git a/src/nspawn/nspawn-patch-uid.c b/src/nspawn/nspawn-patch-uid.c
index 66663adc2b..063995dd6b 100644
--- a/src/nspawn/nspawn-patch-uid.c
+++ b/src/nspawn/nspawn-patch-uid.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include "fileio.h"
 #include "fs-util.h"
 #include "missing_magic.h"
+#include "missing_syscall.h"
 #include "nspawn-def.h"
 #include "nspawn-patch-uid.h"
 #include "stat-util.h"
@@ -239,14 +240,18 @@ static int patch_fd(int fd, const char *name, const struct stat *st, uid_t shift
 
                 /* The Linux kernel alters the mode in some cases of chown(). Let's undo this. */
                 if (name) {
+                        /* It looks like older glibc (before 2016) did not support AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW. */
                         if (!S_ISLNK(st->st_mode))
-                                r = fchmodat(fd, name, st->st_mode, 0);
-                        else /* AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW is not available for fchmodat() */
-                                r = 0;
+                                r = RET_NERRNO(fchmodat(fd, name, st->st_mode, 0));
+                        else {
+                                r = RET_NERRNO(fchmodat2(fd, name, st->st_mode, AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW));
+                                if (IN_SET(r, -ENOSYS, -EPERM))
+                                        r = 0;
+                        }
                 } else
-                        r = fchmod(fd, st->st_mode);
+                        r = RET_NERRNO(fchmod(fd, st->st_mode));
                 if (r < 0)
-                        return -errno;
+                        return r;
 
                 changed = true;
         }
diff --git a/src/test/test-seccomp.c b/src/test/test-seccomp.c
index 56c4b3fd87..279a155cb0 100644
--- a/src/test/test-seccomp.c
+++ b/src/test/test-seccomp.c
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 #include "macro.h"
 #include "memory-util.h"
 #include "missing_sched.h"
-#include "missing_syscall_def.h"
+#include "missing_syscall.h"
 #include "nsflags.h"
 #include "nulstr-util.h"
 #include "process-util.h"
@@ -1007,21 +1007,22 @@ static int real_open(const char *path, int flags, mode_t mode) {
 #endif
 }
 
-static int try_fchmodat2(int dirfd, const char *path, int flags, mode_t mode) {
+static int try_fchmodat2(int dirfd, const char *path, mode_t mode, int flags) {
+        int r;
+
         /* glibc does not provide a direct wrapper for fchmodat2(). Let's hence define our own wrapper for
          * testing purposes that calls the real syscall, on architectures and in environments where
          * SYS_fchmodat2 is defined. Otherwise, let's just fall back to the glibc fchmodat() call. */
 
-#if defined __NR_fchmodat2 && __NR_fchmodat2 >= 0
-        int r;
-        r = (int) syscall(__NR_fchmodat2, dirfd, path, flags, mode);
+        /* Not supported by fchmodat() */
+        assert_se(!FLAGS_SET(flags, AT_EMPTY_PATH));
+
+        r = RET_NERRNO(fchmodat2(dirfd, path, mode, flags));
+        if (r != -ENOSYS)
+                return r;
+
         /* The syscall might still be unsupported by kernel or libseccomp. */
-        if (r < 0 && errno == ENOSYS)
-                return fchmodat(dirfd, path, flags, mode);
-        return r;
-#else
-        return fchmodat(dirfd, path, flags, mode);
-#endif
+        return RET_NERRNO(fchmodat(dirfd, path, mode, flags));
 }
 
 TEST(restrict_suid_sgid) {