diff --git a/man/systemd-system.conf.xml b/man/systemd-system.conf.xml
index 0811e1909e..d39928ec23 100644
--- a/man/systemd-system.conf.xml
+++ b/man/systemd-system.conf.xml
@@ -323,11 +323,10 @@
       <varlistentry>
         <term><varname>DefaultEnvironment=</varname></term>
 
-        <listitem><para>Sets manager environment variables passed to
-        all executed processes. Takes a space-separated list of
-        variable assignments. See
-        <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>environ</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
-        for details about environment variables.</para>
+        <listitem><para>Configures environment variables passed to all executed processes. Takes a
+        space-separated list of variable assignments. See <citerefentry
+        project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>environ</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
+        details about environment variables.</para>
 
         <para>Example:
 
@@ -339,6 +338,20 @@
         <literal>VAR3</literal>.</para></listitem>
       </varlistentry>
 
+      <varlistentry>
+        <term><varname>ManagerEnvironment=</varname></term>
+
+        <listitem><para>Takes the same arguments as <varname>DefaultEnvironment=</varname>, see above. Sets
+        environment variables just for the manager process itself. These variables are not inherited by
+        processes spawned by the service manager, use <varname>DefaultEnvironment=</varname> for that. Note
+        that these variables are merged into the existing environment block. In particular, in case of the
+        system manager, this includes variables set by the kernel based on the kernel command line.</para>
+
+        <para>Setting environment variables for the manager process may be useful to modify its behaviour.
+        See <ulink url="https://systemd.io/ENVIRONMENT">ENVIRONMENT</ulink> for a descriptions of some
+        variables understood by <command>systemd</command>.</para></listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+
       <varlistentry>
         <term><varname>DefaultCPUAccounting=</varname></term>
         <term><varname>DefaultBlockIOAccounting=</varname></term>
diff --git a/src/core/main.c b/src/core/main.c
index 2237925209..12ac2ba3c6 100644
--- a/src/core/main.c
+++ b/src/core/main.c
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ static usec_t arg_kexec_watchdog;
 static char *arg_early_core_pattern;
 static char *arg_watchdog_device;
 static char **arg_default_environment;
+static char **arg_manager_environment;
 static struct rlimit *arg_default_rlimit[_RLIMIT_MAX];
 static uint64_t arg_capability_bounding_set;
 static bool arg_no_new_privs;
@@ -670,6 +671,7 @@ static int parse_config_file(void) {
                 { "Manager", "DefaultStartLimitIntervalSec", config_parse_sec,                   0, &arg_default_start_limit_interval      },
                 { "Manager", "DefaultStartLimitBurst",       config_parse_unsigned,              0, &arg_default_start_limit_burst         },
                 { "Manager", "DefaultEnvironment",           config_parse_environ,               0, &arg_default_environment               },
+                { "Manager", "ManagerEnvironment",           config_parse_environ,               0, &arg_manager_environment               },
                 { "Manager", "DefaultLimitCPU",              config_parse_rlimit,                RLIMIT_CPU, arg_default_rlimit            },
                 { "Manager", "DefaultLimitFSIZE",            config_parse_rlimit,                RLIMIT_FSIZE, arg_default_rlimit          },
                 { "Manager", "DefaultLimitDATA",             config_parse_rlimit,                RLIMIT_DATA, arg_default_rlimit           },
@@ -2301,6 +2303,19 @@ static void fallback_rlimit_memlock(const struct rlimit *saved_rlimit_memlock) {
         arg_default_rlimit[RLIMIT_MEMLOCK] = rl;
 }
 
+static void setenv_manager_environment(void) {
+        char **p;
+        int r;
+
+        STRV_FOREACH(p, arg_manager_environment) {
+                log_debug("Setting '%s' in our own environment.", *p);
+
+                r = putenv_dup(*p, true);
+                if (r < 0)
+                        log_warning_errno(errno, "Failed to setenv \"%s\", ignoring: %m", *p);
+        }
+}
+
 static void reset_arguments(void) {
         /* Frees/resets arg_* variables, with a few exceptions commented below. */
 
@@ -2334,6 +2349,7 @@ static void reset_arguments(void) {
         arg_watchdog_device = NULL;
 
         arg_default_environment = strv_free(arg_default_environment);
+        arg_manager_environment = strv_free(arg_manager_environment);
         rlimit_free_all(arg_default_rlimit);
 
         arg_capability_bounding_set = CAP_ALL;
@@ -2395,6 +2411,9 @@ static int parse_configuration(const struct rlimit *saved_rlimit_nofile,
         if (arg_show_status == _SHOW_STATUS_INVALID)
                 arg_show_status = SHOW_STATUS_YES;
 
+        /* Push variables into the manager environment block */
+        setenv_manager_environment();
+
         return 0;
 }