diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-2-init.sh b/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-2-init.sh
index 936077b9df1e..50ee0b8841e5 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-2-init.sh
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-2-init.sh
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ exec {logOutFd}>&- {logErrFd}>&-
 
 # Start systemd.
 echo "starting systemd..."
+
 PATH=/run/current-system/systemd/lib/systemd:@fsPackagesPath@ \
-    LOCALE_ARCHIVE=/run/current-system/sw/lib/locale/locale-archive \
+    LOCALE_ARCHIVE=/run/current-system/sw/lib/locale/locale-archive @systemdUnitPathEnvVar@ \
     exec @systemdExecutable@
diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-2.nix b/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-2.nix
index 94bc34fea0db..f6b6a8e4b0b4 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-2.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-2.nix
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ let
     src = ./stage-2-init.sh;
     shellDebug = "${pkgs.bashInteractive}/bin/bash";
     shell = "${pkgs.bash}/bin/bash";
-    inherit (config.boot) systemdExecutable;
+    inherit (config.boot) systemdExecutable extraSystemdUnitPaths;
     isExecutable = true;
     inherit (config.nix) readOnlyStore;
     inherit useHostResolvConf;
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ let
       pkgs.util-linux
     ] ++ lib.optional useHostResolvConf pkgs.openresolv);
     fsPackagesPath = lib.makeBinPath config.system.fsPackages;
+    systemdUnitPathEnvVar = lib.optionalString (config.boot.extraSystemdUnitPaths != [])
+      ("SYSTEMD_UNIT_PATH="
+      + builtins.concatStringsSep ":" config.boot.extraSystemdUnitPaths
+      + ":"); # If SYSTEMD_UNIT_PATH ends with an empty component (":"), the usual unit load path will be appended to the contents of the variable
     postBootCommands = pkgs.writeText "local-cmds"
       ''
         ${config.boot.postBootCommands}
@@ -82,6 +86,15 @@ in
           PATH.
         '';
       };
+
+      extraSystemdUnitPaths = mkOption {
+        default = [];
+        type = types.listOf types.str;
+        description = ''
+          Additional paths that get appended to the SYSTEMD_UNIT_PATH environment variable
+          that can contain mutable unit files.
+        '';
+      };
     };
 
   };
diff --git a/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix b/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
index 3ce71b0abe6d..4c5a2b39bd98 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
@@ -393,6 +393,7 @@ in
   systemd-networkd-vrf = handleTest ./systemd-networkd-vrf.nix {};
   systemd-nspawn = handleTest ./systemd-nspawn.nix {};
   systemd-timesyncd = handleTest ./systemd-timesyncd.nix {};
+  systemd-unit-path = handleTest ./systemd-unit-path.nix {};
   taskserver = handleTest ./taskserver.nix {};
   telegraf = handleTest ./telegraf.nix {};
   tiddlywiki = handleTest ./tiddlywiki.nix {};
diff --git a/nixos/tests/systemd-unit-path.nix b/nixos/tests/systemd-unit-path.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..5998a187188a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nixos/tests/systemd-unit-path.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import ./make-test-python.nix ({ pkgs, ... }:
+
+let
+  exampleScript = pkgs.writeTextFile {
+    name = "example.sh";
+    text = ''
+      #! ${pkgs.runtimeShell} -e
+
+      while true; do
+          echo "Example script running" >&2
+          ${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/sleep 1
+      done
+    '';
+    executable = true;
+  };
+
+  unitFile = pkgs.writeTextFile {
+    name = "example.service";
+    text = ''
+      [Unit]
+      Description=Example systemd service unit file
+
+      [Service]
+      ExecStart=${exampleScript}
+
+      [Install]
+      WantedBy=multi-user.target
+    '';
+  };
+in
+{
+  name = "systemd-unit-path";
+
+  machine = { pkgs, lib, ... }: {
+    boot.extraSystemdUnitPaths = [ "/etc/systemd-rw/system" ];
+  };
+
+  testScript = ''
+    machine.wait_for_unit("multi-user.target")
+    machine.succeed("mkdir -p /etc/systemd-rw/system")
+    machine.succeed(
+        "cp ${unitFile} /etc/systemd-rw/system/example.service"
+    )
+    machine.succeed("systemctl start example.service")
+    machine.succeed("systemctl status example.service | grep 'Active: active'")
+  '';
+})