diff --git a/tests/suites/os/suite.js b/tests/suites/os/suite.js
index 5f2fdb97c7..cb6bc672eb 100644
--- a/tests/suites/os/suite.js
+++ b/tests/suites/os/suite.js
@@ -480,5 +480,6 @@ module.exports = {
 		'./tests/disk-watchdog',
 		'./tests/extra-firmware',
 		'./tests/recover-sshd-socket',
+		'./tests/systemd-ordering',
 	],
 };
diff --git a/tests/suites/os/tests/systemd-ordering/index.js b/tests/suites/os/tests/systemd-ordering/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..debbf64999
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/suites/os/tests/systemd-ordering/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+'use strict';
+
+/*
+ * Regression guard for systemd ordering cycles in the boot transaction.
+ *
+ * A cycle linked the fake-hwclock / resin-state chain to the early filesystem
+ * units:
+ *
+ *   resin-state-reset.service -> var-volatile.mount -> local-fs-pre.target
+ *     -> systemd-remount-fs.service -> systemd-fsck-root.service
+ *     -> fake-hwclock.service -> etc-fake-hwclock.mount -> resin-state-reset.service
+ *
+ * plus a second loop closed only by the implicit After=local-fs-pre.target that
+ * etc-fake-hwclock.mount inherited as a local mount. systemd breaks a cycle by
+ * deleting one job, and the victim is randomly seeded per boot. On unlucky
+ * boots var-volatile.mount was deleted: no /var/volatile tmpfs, dangling
+ * /var/log, crash-looping supervisor, device offline until the next reboot.
+ *
+ * When a cycle is present systemd detects and breaks it on *every* boot, so a
+ * single fresh boot journal is a deterministic signal. We reboot first to make
+ * sure the boot-transaction lines are in the journal we inspect (journald is
+ * volatile and can rotate early lines away on a long-lived boot).
+ */
+module.exports = {
+	title: 'systemd ordering tests',
+	tests: [
+		{
+			title: 'boot transaction is free of ordering cycles',
+			run: async function(test) {
+				test.comment('rebooting to capture a fresh boot transaction...');
+				await this.worker.rebootDut(this.link);
+
+				// grep exits 1 when there is no match (the healthy case);
+				// `|| true` keeps executeCommandInHostOS from retrying it as a
+				// failed command.
+				const offenders = await this.worker.executeCommandInHostOS(
+					`journalctl -b --no-pager | grep -E 'ordering cycle|deleted to break ordering cycle' || true`,
+					this.link,
+				);
+				test.is(
+					offenders,
+					'',
+					'Boot journal should not report any broken systemd ordering cycle',
+				);
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			// Supplementary invariant. Not a deterministic reproduction of the
+			// bug (the cycle deletes a random victim, so a buggy build only
+			// trips this on some boots), but it pins the catastrophic symptom
+			// independently of journal retention.
+			title: 'var-volatile.mount is active with a tmpfs at /var/volatile',
+			run: async function(test) {
+				const active = await this.worker.executeCommandInHostOS(
+					`systemctl is-active var-volatile.mount`,
+					this.link,
+				);
+				test.is(active, 'active', 'var-volatile.mount should be active');
+
+				const fstype = await this.worker.executeCommandInHostOS(
+					`findmnt -n -o FSTYPE /var/volatile`,
+					this.link,
+				);
+				test.is(fstype, 'tmpfs', '/var/volatile should be backed by a tmpfs');
+			},
+		},
+	],
+};