diff --git a/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/ignition-ostree-growfs.sh b/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/ignition-ostree-growfs.sh
index ab40b519c1..7dec920e2e 100755
--- a/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/ignition-ostree-growfs.sh
+++ b/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/ignition-ostree-growfs.sh
@@ -145,5 +145,6 @@ case "${ROOTFS_TYPE}" in
     btrfs) btrfs filesystem resize max ${path} ;;
 esac
 
-# this is useful for tests
+# The ignition-ostree-transposefs-xfsauto.service unit needs to know if we
+# actually run. This is also useful for tests.
 touch /run/ignition-ostree-growfs.stamp
diff --git a/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/ignition-ostree-transposefs-autosave-xfs.service b/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/ignition-ostree-transposefs-autosave-xfs.service
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b914e98c72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/ignition-ostree-transposefs-autosave-xfs.service
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Ignition OSTree: Autosave XFS Rootfs Partition
+DefaultDependencies=false
+After=ignition-disks.service
+# Avoid racing with UUID regeneration
+After=ignition-ostree-uuid-root.service
+After=ignition-ostree-growfs.service
+Before=ignition-ostree-transposefs-restore.service
+OnFailure=emergency.target
+OnFailureJobMode=isolate
+
+ConditionKernelCommandLine=ostree
+# only run if ignition-ostree-growfs ran since that's when pathological cases occur
+ConditionPathExists=/run/ignition-ostree-growfs.stamp
+
+[Service]
+Type=oneshot
+RemainAfterExit=yes
+ExecStart=/usr/libexec/ignition-ostree-transposefs autosave-xfs
diff --git a/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/ignition-ostree-transposefs.sh b/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/ignition-ostree-transposefs.sh
index 1b68fc14b1..ced6cf9dce 100755
--- a/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/ignition-ostree-transposefs.sh
+++ b/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/ignition-ostree-transposefs.sh
@@ -127,6 +127,27 @@ mount_and_save_filesystem_by_label() {
     fi
 }
 
+# This implements https://github.com/coreos/fedora-coreos-tracker/issues/1183.
+should_autosave_rootfs() {
+    local fstype
+    fstype=$(lsblk -no FSTYPE "${root_part}")
+    if [ "$fstype" != xfs ]; then
+        echo "Filesystem is not XFS (found $fstype); skipping"
+        return 1
+    fi
+    local agcount
+    eval $(xfs_info "${root_part}" | grep -o 'agcount=[0-9]*')
+    # Semi-arbitrarily chosen: this is roughly ~64G currently (based on initial
+    # ag sizing at build time) which seems like a good rootfs size at which to
+    # discriminate between "throwaway/short-lived systems" and "long-running
+    # workload systems". It's not like XFS performance is way worse at 128.
+    if [ "$agcount" -lt 128 ]; then
+        echo "Filesystem agcount is $agcount; skipping"
+        return 1
+    fi
+    return 0
+}
+
 ensure_zram_dev() {
     if test -d "${saved_data}"; then
         return 0
@@ -219,6 +240,22 @@ case "${1:-}" in
             mkdir "${saved_prep}"
         fi
         ;;
+    autosave-xfs)
+        if should_autosave_rootfs; then
+            wipes_root=1
+            ensure_zram_dev
+            # in the in-place reprovisioning case, the rootfs was already saved
+            if [ ! -d "${saved_root}" ]; then
+                mkdir "${saved_root}"
+                echo "Moving rootfs to RAM..."
+                mount_and_save_filesystem_by_label root "${saved_root}"
+                print_zram_mm_stat
+            fi
+            mkfs.xfs "${root_part}" -L root -f
+            # for tests
+            touch /run/ignition-ostree-autosaved-xfs.stamp
+        fi
+        ;;
     save)
         # Mounts happen in a private mount namespace since we're not "offically" mounting
         if [ -d "${saved_root}" ]; then
diff --git a/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/module-setup.sh b/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/module-setup.sh
index d0a4c89a9b..f8450b38c0 100755
--- a/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/module-setup.sh
+++ b/overlay.d/05core/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/40ignition-ostree/module-setup.sh
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ install() {
         systemd-sysusers \
         systemd-tmpfiles \
         sort \
+        xfs_info \
+        xfs_spaceman \
         uniq
 
     if [[ $(uname -m) = s390x ]]; then
@@ -81,7 +83,7 @@ install() {
 
     inst_multiple jq chattr
     inst_script "$moddir/ignition-ostree-transposefs.sh" "/usr/libexec/ignition-ostree-transposefs"
-    for x in detect save restore; do
+    for x in detect save autosave-xfs restore; do
         install_ignition_unit ignition-ostree-transposefs-${x}.service
     done