diff --git a/bind-mount.c b/bind-mount.c
index a2e1ac6c..a7a729dd 100644
--- a/bind-mount.c
+++ b/bind-mount.c
@@ -476,6 +476,15 @@ bind_mount (int           proc_fd,
                  be safe to ignore because its not something the user can access. */
               if (errno != EACCES)
                 {
+                  /* And if we don't need a security boundary, we can also
+                   * ignore other remount errors for submounts. */
+                  if (options & BIND_FAIL_OPEN)
+                    {
+                      warn ("Can't remount %s submount (%s), ignoring error",
+                            mount_tab[i].mountpoint, strerror (errno));
+                      continue;
+                    }
+
                   if (failing_path != NULL)
                     *failing_path = xstrdup (mount_tab[i].mountpoint);
 
diff --git a/bind-mount.h b/bind-mount.h
index 8a361fbd..8f2d5108 100644
--- a/bind-mount.h
+++ b/bind-mount.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ typedef enum {
   BIND_READONLY = (1 << 0),
   BIND_DEVICES = (1 << 2),
   BIND_RECURSIVE = (1 << 3),
+  BIND_FAIL_OPEN = (1 << 4),
 } bind_option_t;
 
 typedef enum
diff --git a/bubblewrap.c b/bubblewrap.c
index 2fb926c4..3b9719c4 100644
--- a/bubblewrap.c
+++ b/bubblewrap.c
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ static int opt_tmp_overlay_count = 0;
 static int next_perms = -1;
 static size_t next_size_arg = 0;
 static int next_overlay_src_count = 0;
+static bool opt_not_a_security_boundary = false;
 
 #define CAP_TO_MASK_0(x) (1L << ((x) & 31))
 #define CAP_TO_MASK_1(x) CAP_TO_MASK_0(x - 32)
@@ -350,6 +351,8 @@ usage (int ecode, FILE *out)
            "    --perms OCTAL                Set permissions of next argument (--bind-data, --file, etc.)\n"
            "    --size BYTES                 Set size of next argument (only for --tmpfs)\n"
            "    --chmod OCTAL PATH           Change permissions of PATH (must already exist)\n"
+           "    --not-a-security-boundary    Do not fail hard when some sandbox setup steps fail;\n"
+           "                                 use only when the sandbox is not a security boundary\n"
           );
   exit (ecode);
 }
@@ -1003,9 +1006,18 @@ setup_newroot (bool unshare_pid)
           else if (ensure_file (dest, 0444) != 0)
             die_with_error ("Can't create file at %s", op->dest);
 
-          setup_op_bind_mount ((op->type == SETUP_RO_BIND_MOUNT ? BIND_READONLY : 0) |
-                               (op->type == SETUP_DEV_BIND_MOUNT ? BIND_DEVICES : 0),
-                               source, dest);
+          bind_option_t bind_flags = 0;
+
+          if (opt_not_a_security_boundary)
+            bind_flags |= BIND_FAIL_OPEN;
+
+          if (op->type == SETUP_RO_BIND_MOUNT)
+            bind_flags |= BIND_READONLY;
+
+          if (op->type == SETUP_DEV_BIND_MOUNT)
+            bind_flags |= BIND_DEVICES;
+
+          setup_op_bind_mount (bind_flags, source, dest);
 
           if (op->fd >= 0)
             {
@@ -2427,6 +2439,10 @@ parse_args_recurse (int          *argcp,
           argv += 2;
           argc -= 2;
         }
+      else if (strcmp (arg, "--not-a-security-boundary") == 0)
+        {
+          opt_not_a_security_boundary = true;
+        }
       else if (strcmp (arg, "--") == 0)
         {
           argv += 1;
diff --git a/bwrap.xml b/bwrap.xml
index 61fb0445..ea9d118d 100644
--- a/bwrap.xml
+++ b/bwrap.xml
@@ -614,6 +614,33 @@
         command line.  Please be careful to the order they are specified.
       </para></listitem>
     </varlistentry>
+    <varlistentry>
+      <term><option>--not-a-security-boundary</option></term>
+      <listitem>
+        <para>
+          Declare that this invocation of <command>bwrap</command> is not
+          intended to create a security boundary between the sandbox and the
+          host system.  When this option is given, certain non-fatal sandbox
+          setup failures (such as a bind mount failing because an automounter
+          did not respond in time) will produce a warning and will be skipped,
+          rather than causing <command>bwrap</command> to exit with an error.
+          The effect of this option might be extended to make other sandbox
+          setup operations non-fatal in future releases of bubblewrap.
+        </para>
+        <para>
+          This option is intended for callers such as
+          <application>xdg-dbus-proxy</application> or Steam that use
+          <command>bwrap</command> to adjust the filesystem layout for a
+          process, but do not rely on it to create a security boundary.
+        </para>
+        <para>
+          Other operations that are fundamental to establishing the sandbox
+          (creating namespaces, <function>pivot_root</function>,
+          dropping capabilities) will still cause a hard failure
+          regardless of this option.
+        </para>
+      </listitem>
+    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
 </refsect1>
 
diff --git a/tests/test-run.sh b/tests/test-run.sh
index 1003e8c4..2d0d307d 100755
--- a/tests/test-run.sh
+++ b/tests/test-run.sh
@@ -689,4 +689,13 @@ else
     fi
 fi
 
+# Smoke-test --not-a-security-boundary
+#
+# Setting up an unavailable automount and triggering the right conditions is
+# complicated to do here, but we can at least check that the option is there,
+# and that it stays there.
+
+$RUN --not-a-security-boundary true
+ok "Accepts --not-a-security-boundary"
+
 done_testing