diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index b63682ab31a..18649ef1860 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ ARG REPO
 ARG GRUB_SET_PRIVATE_VAR
 ARG SYSTEMD_NETWORKD
 ARG UNIFIED_CGROUP_HIERARCHY
+ARG XFS_DATA_PARTITION
 ENV SYSTEMD_NETWORKD=${SYSTEMD_NETWORKD}
 ENV VARIANT=${VARIANT}
 WORKDIR /home/builder
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@ RUN rpmdev-setuptree \
    && echo -e -n "${GRUB_SET_PRIVATE_VAR:+%bcond_without grub_set_private_var\n}" >> .bconds \
    && echo -e -n "${SYSTEMD_NETWORKD:+%bcond_without systemd_networkd\n}" >> .bconds \
    && echo -e -n "${UNIFIED_CGROUP_HIERARCHY:+%bcond_without unified_cgroup_hierarchy\n}" >> .bconds \
+   && echo -e -n "${XFS_DATA_PARTITION:+%bcond_without xfs_data_partition\n}" >> .bconds \
    && cat .bconds ${PACKAGE}.spec >> rpmbuild/SPECS/${PACKAGE}.spec \
    && find . -maxdepth 1 -not -path '*/\.*' -type f -exec mv {} rpmbuild/SOURCES/ \; \
    && echo ${NOCACHE}
@@ -197,6 +199,7 @@ ARG OS_IMAGE_PUBLISH_SIZE_GIB
 ARG DATA_IMAGE_PUBLISH_SIZE_GIB
 ARG KERNEL_PARAMETERS
 ARG GRUB_SET_PRIVATE_VAR
+ARG XFS_DATA_PARTITION
 ENV VARIANT=${VARIANT} VERSION_ID=${VERSION_ID} BUILD_ID=${BUILD_ID} \
     PRETTY_NAME=${PRETTY_NAME} IMAGE_NAME=${IMAGE_NAME} \
     KERNEL_PARAMETERS=${KERNEL_PARAMETERS}
@@ -214,6 +217,7 @@ RUN --mount=target=/host \
       --data-image-publish-size-gib="${DATA_IMAGE_PUBLISH_SIZE_GIB}" \
       --partition-plan="${PARTITION_PLAN}" \
       --ovf-template="/host/variants/${VARIANT}/template.ovf" \
+      ${XFS_DATA_PARTITION:+--xfs-data-partition=yes} \
       ${GRUB_SET_PRIVATE_VAR:+--with-grub-set-private-var=yes} \
     && echo ${NOCACHE}
 
diff --git a/packages/release/Cargo.toml b/packages/release/Cargo.toml
index 572be221d02..b4e55012190 100644
--- a/packages/release/Cargo.toml
+++ b/packages/release/Cargo.toml
@@ -47,3 +47,4 @@ selinux-policy = { path = "../selinux-policy" }
 systemd = { path = "../systemd" }
 util-linux = { path = "../util-linux" }
 wicked = { path = "../wicked" }
+xfsprogs = { path = "../xfsprogs" }
diff --git a/packages/release/local.mount b/packages/release/local.mount
index 05fa4b54331..1bedf0e00bd 100644
--- a/packages/release/local.mount
+++ b/packages/release/local.mount
@@ -7,9 +7,10 @@ After=prepare-local-fs.service
 Requires=prepare-local-fs.service
 
 [Mount]
+EnvironmentFile=/usr/share/bottlerocket/image-features.env
 What=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/BOTTLEROCKET-DATA
 Where=/local
-Type=ext4
+Type=${DATA_PARTITION_FILESYSTEM}
 # "noexec" omitted to allow containers and migrations to run
 Options=defaults,nosuid,nodev,noatime,private
 
diff --git a/packages/release/prepare-local-fs.service b/packages/release/prepare-local-fs.service
index 4d58c2c0b73..eebbee1ac9d 100644
--- a/packages/release/prepare-local-fs.service
+++ b/packages/release/prepare-local-fs.service
@@ -10,8 +10,9 @@ RefuseManualStop=true
 [Service]
 Type=oneshot
 
+EnvironmentFile=/usr/share/bottlerocket/image-features.env
 # Create the filesystem on the partition, if it doesn't exist.
-ExecStart=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-makefs ext4 /dev/disk/by-partlabel/BOTTLEROCKET-DATA
+ExecStart=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-makefs ${DATA_PARTITION_FILESYSTEM} /dev/disk/by-partlabel/BOTTLEROCKET-DATA
 
 # Stop and mask the repart-data-* oneshots in case they're waiting on non-existent data partitions.
 # 'BOTTLEROCKET-DATA' already exists so we can move on.
diff --git a/packages/xfsprogs/Cargo.toml b/packages/xfsprogs/Cargo.toml
index be7bb6523e0..a781c5513b7 100644
--- a/packages/xfsprogs/Cargo.toml
+++ b/packages/xfsprogs/Cargo.toml
@@ -23,4 +23,4 @@ util-linux = { path = "../util-linux" }
 
 # RPM Requires
 [dependencies]
-# none - will likely change
+# none
diff --git a/tools/buildsys/src/manifest.rs b/tools/buildsys/src/manifest.rs
index bf4ac68f006..1ee01d8bcdc 100644
--- a/tools/buildsys/src/manifest.rs
+++ b/tools/buildsys/src/manifest.rs
@@ -214,6 +214,13 @@ line arguments set in the boot configuration.
 [package.metadata.build-variant.image-features]
 unified-cgroup-hierarchy = true
 ```
+
+`xfs-data-partition` changes the filesystem for the data partition from ext4 to xfs. The
+default will remain ext4 and xfs is opt-in.
+
+```ignore
+[package.metadata.build-variant.image-features]
+xfs-data-partition = true
 */
 
 mod error;
@@ -505,6 +512,7 @@ pub enum ImageFeature {
     GrubSetPrivateVar,
     SystemdNetworkd,
     UnifiedCgroupHierarchy,
+    XfsDataPartition,
 }
 
 impl TryFrom<String> for ImageFeature {
@@ -514,6 +522,7 @@ impl TryFrom<String> for ImageFeature {
             "grub-set-private-var" => Ok(ImageFeature::GrubSetPrivateVar),
             "systemd-networkd" => Ok(ImageFeature::SystemdNetworkd),
             "unified-cgroup-hierarchy" => Ok(ImageFeature::UnifiedCgroupHierarchy),
+            "xfs-data-partition" => Ok(ImageFeature::XfsDataPartition),
             _ => error::ParseImageFeatureSnafu { what: s }.fail()?,
         }
     }
@@ -525,6 +534,7 @@ impl fmt::Display for ImageFeature {
             ImageFeature::GrubSetPrivateVar => write!(f, "GRUB_SET_PRIVATE_VAR"),
             ImageFeature::SystemdNetworkd => write!(f, "SYSTEMD_NETWORKD"),
             ImageFeature::UnifiedCgroupHierarchy => write!(f, "UNIFIED_CGROUP_HIERARCHY"),
+            ImageFeature::XfsDataPartition => write!(f, "XFS_DATA_PARTITION"),
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tools/rpm2img b/tools/rpm2img
index 3841c7970ee..f0915d78445 100755
--- a/tools/rpm2img
+++ b/tools/rpm2img
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ BUILDER_ARCH="$(uname -m)"
 OVF_TEMPLATE=""
 
 GRUB_SET_PRIVATE_VAR="no"
+XFS_DATA_PARTITION="no"
 
 for opt in "$@"; do
    optarg="$(expr "${opt}" : '[^=]*=\(.*\)')"
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ for opt in "$@"; do
       --partition-plan=*) PARTITION_PLAN="${optarg}" ;;
       --ovf-template=*) OVF_TEMPLATE="${optarg}" ;;
       --with-grub-set-private-var=*) GRUB_SET_PRIVATE_VAR="${optarg}" ;;
+      --xfs-data-partition=*) XFS_DATA_PARTITION="${optarg}" ;;
    esac
 done
 
@@ -277,6 +279,13 @@ SUPPORT_URL="https://github.com/bottlerocket-os/bottlerocket/discussions"
 BUG_REPORT_URL="https://github.com/bottlerocket-os/bottlerocket/issues"
 EOF
 
+# Set the BOTTLEROCKET-DATA Filesystem for creating/mounting
+if [ "${XFS_DATA_PARTITION}" == "yes" ] ; then
+  printf "%s\n" "DATA_PARTITION_FILESYSTEM=xfs" >> "${ROOT_MOUNT}/${SYS_ROOT}/usr/share/bottlerocket/image-features.env"
+else
+  printf "%s\n" "DATA_PARTITION_FILESYSTEM=ext4" >> "${ROOT_MOUNT}/${SYS_ROOT}/usr/share/bottlerocket/image-features.env"
+fi
+
 # BOTTLEROCKET-ROOT-A
 mkdir -p "${ROOT_MOUNT}/lost+found"
 ROOT_LABELS=$(setfiles -n -d -F -m -r "${ROOT_MOUNT}" \
@@ -408,8 +417,28 @@ mkfs_data() {
   target="${1:?}"
   size="${2:?}"
   offset="${3:?}"
-  mkfs.ext4 -m 0 -d "${DATA_MOUNT}" "${BOTTLEROCKET_DATA}" "${size}"
-  echo "${UNLABELED}" | debugfs -w -f - "${BOTTLEROCKET_DATA}"
+  # Create an XFS filesystem if requested
+  if [ "${XFS_DATA_PARTITION}" == "yes" ] ; then
+    echo "writing XFS filesystem for DATA"
+    # Create a file to write the filesystem to first
+    dd if=/dev/zero of="${BOTTLEROCKET_DATA}" bs=1M count=${size%?}
+    # block size of 4096, directory block size of 16384
+    # enable inotbtcount, bigtime, and reflink
+    # use an internal log with starting size of 64m
+    # use the minimal 2 Allocation groups, this still overprovisions when expanded
+    # set strip units of 512k and sectsize to make EBS volumes align
+    mkfs.xfs \
+      -b size=4096 -n size=16384 \
+      -m inobtcount=1,bigtime=1,reflink=1 \
+      -l internal,size=64m \
+      -d agcount=2,su=512k,sw=1,sectsize=4096 \
+      -f "${BOTTLEROCKET_DATA}"
+  else
+    # default to ext4
+    echo "writing ext4 filesystem for DATA"
+    mkfs.ext4 -m 0 -d "${DATA_MOUNT}" "${BOTTLEROCKET_DATA}" "${size}"
+    echo "${UNLABELED}" | debugfs -w -f - "${BOTTLEROCKET_DATA}"
+  fi
   dd if="${BOTTLEROCKET_DATA}" of="${target}" conv=notrunc bs=1M seek="${offset}"
 }
 
diff --git a/variants/aws-dev/Cargo.toml b/variants/aws-dev/Cargo.toml
index bc644d101ad..0c126d53efb 100644
--- a/variants/aws-dev/Cargo.toml
+++ b/variants/aws-dev/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ exclude = ["README.md"]
 [package.metadata.build-variant.image-features]
 grub-set-private-var = true
 unified-cgroup-hierarchy = true
+xfs-data-partition = true
 
 [package.metadata.build-variant]
 kernel-parameters = [
diff --git a/variants/metal-dev/Cargo.toml b/variants/metal-dev/Cargo.toml
index c60f1bb33b0..05ef42e8093 100644
--- a/variants/metal-dev/Cargo.toml
+++ b/variants/metal-dev/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ partition-plan = "unified"
 [package.metadata.build-variant.image-features]
 grub-set-private-var = true
 unified-cgroup-hierarchy = true
+xfs-data-partition = true
 
 [package.metadata.build-variant]
 image-format = "raw"
diff --git a/variants/vmware-dev/Cargo.toml b/variants/vmware-dev/Cargo.toml
index de0536262d1..4138395d186 100644
--- a/variants/vmware-dev/Cargo.toml
+++ b/variants/vmware-dev/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ partition-plan = "unified"
 [package.metadata.build-variant.image-features]
 grub-set-private-var = true
 unified-cgroup-hierarchy = true
+xfs-data-partition = true
 
 [package.metadata.build-variant]
 image-format = "vmdk"