diff --git a/overlay.d/35coreos-iptables/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/35coreos-iptables/coreos-enable-iptables-legacy.service b/overlay.d/35coreos-iptables/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/35coreos-iptables/coreos-enable-iptables-legacy.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a59bc10531
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlay.d/35coreos-iptables/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/35coreos-iptables/coreos-enable-iptables-legacy.service
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=CoreOS Enable iptables-legacy
+ConditionPathExists=/etc/initrd-release
+DefaultDependencies=false
+ConditionPathExists=/sysroot/etc/coreos/iptables-legacy.stamp
+
+# On first boot, allow Ignition config to install stamp file.
+After=ignition-files.service
+
+# On subsequent boots, just make sure the deployment is accessible.
+After=ostree-prepare-root.service
+
+Before=initrd.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=oneshot
+RemainAfterExit=yes
+ExecStart=/usr/sbin/coreos-enable-iptables-legacy
diff --git a/overlay.d/35coreos-iptables/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/35coreos-iptables/coreos-enable-iptables-legacy.sh b/overlay.d/35coreos-iptables/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/35coreos-iptables/coreos-enable-iptables-legacy.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..4f364510bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlay.d/35coreos-iptables/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/35coreos-iptables/coreos-enable-iptables-legacy.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+declare -A SYMLINKS=(
+    [ip6tables]=ip6tables-legacy
+    [ip6tables-restore]=ip6tables-legacy-restore
+    [ip6tables-save]=ip6tables-legacy-save
+    [iptables]=iptables-legacy
+    [iptables-restore]=iptables-legacy-restore
+    [iptables-save]=iptables-legacy-save
+)
+
+STAMP=/sysroot/etc/coreos/iptables-legacy.stamp
+IGNITION_RESULT=/sysroot/etc/.ignition-result.json
+
+# sanity-check the stamp file is present
+if [ ! -e "${STAMP}" ]; then
+    echo "File ${STAMP} not found; exiting."
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+# We only want to run once.
+rm "${STAMP}"
+
+# Ignore firstboot. We don't want the stamp file to be a long-term
+# provisioning-time API for moving to iptables-legacy, so explicitly check for
+# this and don't support it. We use the Ignition report file because it's less
+# hacky than parsing the kernel commandline for `ignition.firstboot`.
+if [ -e "${IGNITION_RESULT}" ]; then
+    ignition_boot=$(jq -r .provisioningBootID "${IGNITION_RESULT}")
+    if [ "$(cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/boot_id)" = "${ignition_boot}" ]; then
+        echo "First boot detected; exiting."
+        exit 0
+    fi
+fi
+
+# if legacy doesn't exist on the host anymore, do nothing
+for legacy in "${SYMLINKS[@]}"; do
+    path=/sysroot/usr/sbin/$legacy
+    if [ ! -e "$path" ]; then
+        echo "Executable $path no longer present; exiting."
+        exit 0
+    fi
+done
+
+symlink_is_default() {
+    local symlinkpath=$1; shift
+    # check that the deployment is still using the symlink (i.e. the user didn't
+    # do something funky), and that the OSTree default is still symlink-based
+    # (i.e. that we didn't change strategy and forgot to update this script)
+    if [ ! -L "/sysroot/$symlinkpath" ] || [ ! -L "/sysroot/usr/$symlinkpath" ]; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+    # compare symlink targets between deployment and OSTree default
+    if [ "$(readlink "/sysroot/$symlinkpath")" != "$(readlink "/sysroot/usr/$symlinkpath")" ]; then
+        return 1
+    fi
+    # it's the default
+    return 0
+}
+
+# If there are any modifications to the symlinks, do nothing. This is basically
+# like `ostree admin config-diff` but more focused and lighter/safer than doing
+# a bwrap call and grepping output.
+for symlink in "${!SYMLINKS[@]}"; do
+    symlinkpath=/etc/alternatives/$symlink
+    if ! symlink_is_default "$symlinkpath"; then
+        echo "Symlink $symlinkpath is not default; exiting without modifying."
+        exit 0
+    fi
+done
+
+# Update symlinks for legacy backend!
+for symlink in "${!SYMLINKS[@]}"; do
+    target=${SYMLINKS[$symlink]}
+    symlink=/etc/alternatives/$symlink
+    ln -vsf "/usr/sbin/$target" "/sysroot/$symlink"
+    # symlink labels don't matter, but relabel to appease unlabeled_t scanners
+    coreos-relabel "$symlink"
+done
+
+echo "Updated /sysroot to use iptables-legacy."
diff --git a/overlay.d/35coreos-iptables/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/35coreos-iptables/module-setup.sh b/overlay.d/35coreos-iptables/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/35coreos-iptables/module-setup.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..677f3f6188
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlay.d/35coreos-iptables/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/35coreos-iptables/module-setup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+install_and_enable_unit() {
+    unit="$1"; shift
+    target="$1"; shift
+    inst_simple "$moddir/$unit" "$systemdsystemunitdir/$unit"
+    # note we `|| exit 1` here so we error out if e.g. the units are missing
+    # see https://github.com/coreos/fedora-coreos-config/issues/799
+    systemctl -q --root="$initdir" add-requires "$target" "$unit" || exit 1
+}
+
+install() {
+    inst_simple readlink
+
+    inst_simple "$moddir/coreos-enable-iptables-legacy.sh" \
+        "/usr/sbin/coreos-enable-iptables-legacy"
+    install_and_enable_unit "coreos-enable-iptables-legacy.service" \
+        "initrd.target"
+}
diff --git a/overlay.d/README.md b/overlay.d/README.md
index 4213f2c0b2..61a989718a 100644
--- a/overlay.d/README.md
+++ b/overlay.d/README.md
@@ -46,3 +46,16 @@ Add static chrony configuration for NTP servers provided on platforms
 such as `azure`, `aws`, `gcp`. The chrony config for these NTP servers
 should override other chrony configuration (e.g. DHCP-provided)
 configuration.
+
+35coreos-iptables
+-----------------
+
+Contains systemd service and script for remaining on iptables-nft after
+the migration to nft.
+
+Split out because (1) it will roll out to next first, and (2) it can
+more easily be deleted after the barrier release.
+
+For more details, see:
+https://github.com/coreos/fedora-coreos-tracker/issues/676
+https://github.com/coreos/fedora-coreos-config/pull/1324