diff --git a/pkg/test/dockerutil/container.go b/pkg/test/dockerutil/container.go
index ae5b03941..d32c9d305 100644
--- a/pkg/test/dockerutil/container.go
+++ b/pkg/test/dockerutil/container.go
@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@ type RunOpts struct {
 
 	// Links is the list of containers to be connected to the container.
 	Links []string
+
+	// Sysctls is the list of Namespaced sysctls used for the container.
+	Sysctls map[string]string
 }
 
 func makeContainer(ctx context.Context, logger testutil.Logger, runtime string) *Container {
@@ -275,6 +278,7 @@ func (c *Container) hostConfig(r RunOpts) *container.HostConfig {
 		Privileged:      r.Privileged,
 		ReadonlyRootfs:  r.ReadOnly,
 		NetworkMode:     container.NetworkMode(r.NetworkMode),
+		Sysctls:         r.Sysctls,
 		Resources: container.Resources{
 			Memory:     int64(r.Memory), // In bytes.
 			CpusetCpus: r.CpusetCpus,
diff --git a/runsc/boot/loader.go b/runsc/boot/loader.go
index f78dfcb7b..90d2d3582 100644
--- a/runsc/boot/loader.go
+++ b/runsc/boot/loader.go
@@ -647,6 +647,11 @@ func (l *Loader) run() error {
 		// Delay host network configuration to this point because network namespace
 		// is configured after the loader is created and before Run() is called.
 		log.Debugf("Configuring host network")
+
+		// Apply any net-related sysctls to the host kernel in our
+		// network namespace now.
+		specutils.ApplySysctls(l.root.spec, "net.")
+
 		s := l.k.RootNetworkNamespace().Stack().(*hostinet.Stack)
 		if err := s.Configure(l.root.conf.EnableRaw); err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/runsc/specutils/specutils.go b/runsc/specutils/specutils.go
index 703c27385..9f2f3c957 100644
--- a/runsc/specutils/specutils.go
+++ b/runsc/specutils/specutils.go
@@ -698,3 +698,24 @@ func ResolveEnvs(envs ...[]string) ([]string, error) {
 func FaqErrorMsg(anchor, msg string) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%s; see https://gvisor.dev/faq#%s for more details", msg, anchor)
 }
+
+// ApplySysctls applies the sysctls from the spec with the given prefix to the
+// host kernel. Falures are not fatal, but a warning is logged.
+func ApplySysctls(spec *specs.Spec, prefix string) {
+	if spec.Linux == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	for k, v := range spec.Linux.Sysctl {
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(k, prefix) {
+			continue
+		}
+		// Turn the sysctl name into corresponding proc file. We will
+		// write to the proc file directly, rather than rely on the
+		// sysctl binary which might not exist in our filesystem
+		pFile := path.Join("/proc/sys", strings.ReplaceAll(k, ".", "/"))
+		log.Infof("Applying sysctl name=%q value=%q", k, v)
+		if err := os.WriteFile(pFile, []byte(v), 0644); err != nil {
+			log.Warningf("Failed to set sysctl name=%q (%s)  value=%q: %v", k, pFile, v, err)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/test/e2e/integration_test.go b/test/e2e/integration_test.go
index 60b94bbf0..4e89005cc 100644
--- a/test/e2e/integration_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/integration_test.go
@@ -510,18 +510,27 @@ func TestPing4Loopback(t *testing.T) {
 // This test ensures we can enable ipv6 on loopback and run ping6 without
 // errors.
 func TestPing6Loopback(t *testing.T) {
-	if testutil.IsRunningWithHostNet() {
-		// TODO(gvisor.dev/issue/5011): support ICMP sockets in hostnet and enable
-		// this test.
-		t.Skip("hostnet only supports TCP/UDP sockets, so ping6 is not supported.")
-	}
+	// We must set sysctl net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=0 to enable ipv6
+	// inside Docker. Sometimes that's still not enough to get the loopback
+	// device, so the test tries to add it with 'ip' tool, requiring
+	// CAP_NET_ADMIN.
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	d := dockerutil.MakeContainer(ctx, t)
+	defer d.CleanUp(ctx)
 
-	// The CAP_NET_ADMIN capability is required to use the `ip` utility, which
-	// we use to enable ipv6 on loopback.
-	//
-	// By default, ipv6 loopback is not enabled by runsc, because docker does
-	// not assign an ipv6 address to the test container.
-	runIntegrationTest(t, []string{"NET_ADMIN"}, "./ping6.sh")
+	opts := dockerutil.RunOpts{
+		Image:   "basic/integrationtest",
+		WorkDir: "/root",
+		CapAdd:  []string{"NET_ADMIN"},
+		Sysctls: map[string]string{
+			"net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6": "0",
+		},
+	}
+	if got, err := d.Run(ctx, opts, "./ping6.sh"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("docker run failed: %v", err)
+	} else if got != "" {
+		t.Errorf("test failed:\n%s", got)
+	}
 }
 
 // This test checks that the owner of the sticky directory can delete files