diff --git a/man/tmpfiles.d.xml b/man/tmpfiles.d.xml
index 9f3660bd461..9907dc6b9a3 100644
--- a/man/tmpfiles.d.xml
+++ b/man/tmpfiles.d.xml
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ L     /tmp/foobar -    -    -    -   /dev/null</programlisting>
       <title>Type</title>
 
       <para>The type consists of a single letter and optionally an
-      exclamation mark.</para>
+      exclamation mark and/or minus sign.</para>
 
       <para>The following line types are understood:</para>
 
@@ -439,6 +439,15 @@ r! /tmp/.X[0-9]*-lock</programlisting>
       running system, and will only be executed with
       <option>--boot</option>.</para>
 
+      <para>If the minus sign is used, this line failing to run
+      successfully during create (and only create) will not cause
+      the execution of <command>systemd-tmpfiles</command> to return
+      an error.</para>
+
+      <para>For example:
+      <programlisting># Modify sysfs but don't fail if we are in a container with a read-only /proc
+w- /proc/sys/vm/swappiness - - - - 10</programlisting></para>
+
       <para>Note that for all line types that result in creation of any kind of file node
       (i.e. <varname>f</varname>/<varname>F</varname>,
       <varname>d</varname>/<varname>D</varname>/<varname>v</varname>/<varname>q</varname>/<varname>Q</varname>,
diff --git a/src/tmpfiles/tmpfiles.c b/src/tmpfiles/tmpfiles.c
index e29f706fc09..e994be66df4 100644
--- a/src/tmpfiles/tmpfiles.c
+++ b/src/tmpfiles/tmpfiles.c
@@ -128,6 +128,8 @@ typedef struct Item {
 
         bool force:1;
 
+        bool allow_failure:1;
+
         bool done:1;
 } Item;
 
@@ -2271,6 +2273,9 @@ static int process_item(Item *i) {
         r = arg_create ? create_item(i) : 0;
         q = arg_remove ? remove_item(i) : 0;
         p = arg_clean ? clean_item(i) : 0;
+        /* Failure can only be tolerated for create */
+        if (i->allow_failure)
+                r = 0;
 
         return t < 0 ? t :
                 r < 0 ? r :
@@ -2474,7 +2479,7 @@ static int parse_line(const char *fname, unsigned line, const char *buffer, bool
         ItemArray *existing;
         OrderedHashmap *h;
         int r, pos;
-        bool force = false, boot = false;
+        bool force = false, boot = false, allow_failure = false;
 
         assert(fname);
         assert(line >= 1);
@@ -2519,6 +2524,8 @@ static int parse_line(const char *fname, unsigned line, const char *buffer, bool
                         boot = true;
                 else if (action[pos] == '+' && !force)
                         force = true;
+                else if (action[pos] == '-' && !allow_failure)
+                        allow_failure = true;
                 else {
                         *invalid_config = true;
                         log_error("[%s:%u] Unknown modifiers in command '%s'",
@@ -2535,6 +2542,7 @@ static int parse_line(const char *fname, unsigned line, const char *buffer, bool
 
         i.type = action[0];
         i.force = force;
+        i.allow_failure = allow_failure;
 
         r = specifier_printf(path, specifier_table, NULL, &i.path);
         if (r == -ENXIO)