diff --git a/man/org.freedesktop.login1.xml b/man/org.freedesktop.login1.xml
index 867662e057..5f7b711aaa 100644
--- a/man/org.freedesktop.login1.xml
+++ b/man/org.freedesktop.login1.xml
@@ -156,6 +156,8 @@ node /org/freedesktop/login1 {
       SeatRemoved(s seat_id,
                   o object_path);
       PrepareForShutdown(b start);
+      PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata(b start,
+                                     a{sv} metadata);
       PrepareForSleep(b start);
     properties:
       @org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("false")
@@ -402,6 +404,8 @@ node /org/freedesktop/login1 {
 
     <variablelist class="dbus-signal" generated="True" extra-ref="PrepareForShutdown"/>
 
+    <variablelist class="dbus-signal" generated="True" extra-ref="PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata"/>
+
     <variablelist class="dbus-signal" generated="True" extra-ref="PrepareForSleep"/>
 
     <variablelist class="dbus-property" generated="True" extra-ref="EnableWallMessages"/>
@@ -674,15 +678,20 @@ node /org/freedesktop/login1 {
       logs in or out, or a seat is added or removed. They each contain the ID of the object plus the object
       path.</para>
 
-      <para>The <function>PrepareForShutdown()</function> and <function>PrepareForSleep()</function> signals
-      are sent right before (with the argument <literal>true</literal>) or after (with the argument
+      <para>The <function>PrepareForShutdown</function>,
+      <function>PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata</function>, and <function>PrepareForSleep</function>
+      signals are sent right before (with the argument <literal>true</literal>) or after (with the argument
       <literal>false</literal>) the system goes down for reboot/poweroff and suspend/hibernate,
       respectively. This may be used by applications to save data on disk, release memory, or do other jobs
       that should be done shortly before shutdown/sleep, in conjunction with delay inhibitor locks. After
       completion of this work they should release their inhibition locks in order to not delay the operation
       any further. For more information see
-      <ulink url="https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/inhibit">Inhibitor Locks</ulink>.
-      </para>
+      <ulink url="https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/inhibit">Inhibitor Locks</ulink>. The
+      <function>PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata()</function> signal additionally sends a list of key/value
+      pair metadata fields. Currently it sends a <varname>type</varname> string which defines the type of
+      shutdown. The type can be one of <literal>power-off</literal>, <literal>reboot</literal>,
+      <literal>halt</literal>, <literal>kexec</literal> or <literal>soft-reboot</literal>. This signal is
+      sent first, followed by <function>PrepareForShutdown</function> (for backward compatibility).</para>
     </refsect2>
 
     <refsect2>
diff --git a/src/login/logind-action.c b/src/login/logind-action.c
index 650fce6a7a..4eaf6a7817 100644
--- a/src/login/logind-action.c
+++ b/src/login/logind-action.c
@@ -281,6 +281,8 @@ static const char* const handle_action_verb_table[_HANDLE_ACTION_MAX] = {
 
 DEFINE_STRING_TABLE_LOOKUP_TO_STRING(handle_action_verb, HandleAction);
 
+/* These strings are sent out by PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata signals as metadata, so the values cannot
+ * change as they are public APIs. */
 static const char* const handle_action_table[_HANDLE_ACTION_MAX] = {
         [HANDLE_IGNORE]                 = "ignore",
         [HANDLE_POWEROFF]               = "poweroff",
diff --git a/src/login/logind-dbus.c b/src/login/logind-dbus.c
index 1e453205aa..e35005e262 100644
--- a/src/login/logind-dbus.c
+++ b/src/login/logind-dbus.c
@@ -1548,18 +1548,43 @@ int manager_set_lid_switch_ignore(Manager *m, usec_t until) {
         return r;
 }
 
-static int send_prepare_for(Manager *m, InhibitWhat w, bool _active) {
-        int active = _active;
+static int send_prepare_for(Manager *m, const HandleActionData *a, bool _active) {
+        int k = 0, r, active = _active;
 
         assert(m);
-        assert(IN_SET(w, INHIBIT_SHUTDOWN, INHIBIT_SLEEP));
+        assert(a);
+        assert(IN_SET(a->inhibit_what, INHIBIT_SHUTDOWN, INHIBIT_SLEEP));
 
-        return sd_bus_emit_signal(m->bus,
-                                  "/org/freedesktop/login1",
-                                  "org.freedesktop.login1.Manager",
-                                  w == INHIBIT_SHUTDOWN ? "PrepareForShutdown" : "PrepareForSleep",
-                                  "b",
-                                  active);
+        /* We need to send both old and new signal for backward compatibility. The newer one allows clients
+         * to know which type of reboot is going to happen, as they might be doing different actions (e.g.:
+         * on soft-reboot), and it is sent first, so that clients know that if they receive the old one
+         * first then they don't have to wait for the new one, as it means it's not supported. So, do not
+         * change the order here, as it is an API. */
+        if (a->inhibit_what == INHIBIT_SHUTDOWN) {
+                k = sd_bus_emit_signal(m->bus,
+                                       "/org/freedesktop/login1",
+                                       "org.freedesktop.login1.Manager",
+                                       "PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata",
+                                       "ba{sv}",
+                                       active,
+                                       1,
+                                       "type",
+                                       "s",
+                                       handle_action_to_string(a->handle));
+                if (k < 0)
+                        log_debug_errno(k, "Failed to emit PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata(): %m");
+        }
+
+        r = sd_bus_emit_signal(m->bus,
+                               "/org/freedesktop/login1",
+                               "org.freedesktop.login1.Manager",
+                               a->inhibit_what == INHIBIT_SHUTDOWN ? "PrepareForShutdown" : "PrepareForSleep",
+                               "b",
+                               active);
+        if (r < 0)
+                log_debug_errno(r, "Failed to emit PrepareForShutdown(): %m");
+
+        return RET_GATHER(k, r);
 }
 
 static int execute_shutdown_or_sleep(
@@ -1604,7 +1629,7 @@ static int execute_shutdown_or_sleep(
 
 error:
         /* Tell people that they now may take a lock again */
-        (void) send_prepare_for(m, a->inhibit_what, false);
+        (void) send_prepare_for(m, a, false);
 
         return r;
 }
@@ -1712,7 +1737,7 @@ int bus_manager_shutdown_or_sleep_now_or_later(
                                         a->target, load_state);
 
         /* Tell everybody to prepare for shutdown/sleep */
-        (void) send_prepare_for(m, a->inhibit_what, true);
+        (void) send_prepare_for(m, a, true);
 
         delayed =
                 m->inhibit_delay_max > 0 &&
@@ -3708,6 +3733,9 @@ static const sd_bus_vtable manager_vtable[] = {
         SD_BUS_SIGNAL_WITH_ARGS("PrepareForShutdown",
                                 SD_BUS_ARGS("b", start),
                                 0),
+        SD_BUS_SIGNAL_WITH_ARGS("PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata",
+                                SD_BUS_ARGS("b", start, "a{sv}", metadata),
+                                0),
         SD_BUS_SIGNAL_WITH_ARGS("PrepareForSleep",
                                 SD_BUS_ARGS("b", start),
                                 0),
@@ -3763,7 +3791,7 @@ int match_job_removed(sd_bus_message *message, void *userdata, sd_bus_error *err
                 log_info("Operation '%s' finished.", inhibit_what_to_string(m->delayed_action->inhibit_what));
 
                 /* Tell people that they now may take a lock again */
-                (void) send_prepare_for(m, m->delayed_action->inhibit_what, false);
+                (void) send_prepare_for(m, m->delayed_action, false);
 
                 m->action_job = mfree(m->action_job);
                 m->delayed_action = NULL;
diff --git a/test/units/testsuite-82.sh b/test/units/testsuite-82.sh
index 0bbab330f4..d13fe1b76f 100755
--- a/test/units/testsuite-82.sh
+++ b/test/units/testsuite-82.sh
@@ -76,6 +76,9 @@ elif [ -f /run/testsuite82.touch ]; then
     read -r x <&3
     test "$x" = "wuffwuff"
 
+    # Check that we got a PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata signal with the right type
+    test "$(jq .payload.data[1].type.data </run/testsuite82.signal)" = "\"soft-reboot\""
+
     # Upload another entry
     T="/dev/shm/fdstore.$RANDOM"
     echo "miaumiau" >"$T"
@@ -138,9 +141,17 @@ EOF
     systemd-run -p Type=notify -p DefaultDependencies=no -p IgnoreOnIsolate=yes --unit=testsuite-82-survive.service "$T"
     systemd-run -p Type=exec -p DefaultDependencies=no -p IgnoreOnIsolate=yes --unit=testsuite-82-nosurvive.service sleep infinity
 
+    # Check that we can set up an inhibitor, and that busctl monitor sees the
+    # PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata signal and that it says 'soft-reboot'.
+    systemd-run --unit busctl.service --property StandardOutput=file:/run/testsuite82.signal \
+        busctl monitor --json=pretty --match 'sender=org.freedesktop.login1,path=/org/freedesktop/login1,interface=org.freedesktop.login1.Manager,member=PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata,type=signal'
+    systemd-run --unit inhibit.service \
+        systemd-inhibit --what=shutdown --who=test --why=test --mode=delay \
+            sleep infinity
+
     # Now issue the soft reboot. We should be right back soon.
     touch /run/testsuite82.touch
-    systemctl --no-block soft-reboot
+    systemctl --no-block --check-inhibitors=yes soft-reboot
 
     # Now block until the soft-boot killing spree kills us
     exec sleep infinity