diff --git a/docs/reset.md b/docs/reset.md
index a243e4bdfee2..41c004b079e0 100644
--- a/docs/reset.md
+++ b/docs/reset.md
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ following:
 * Processes and containers: Terminates all running k0s processes to ensure that
   there are no active components left. This includes all container processes
   managed by the Container Runtime.
+* Mounts under k0s data directory: In order to prevent persistent data to be
+  deleted, all mount points under k0s' data directory will be unmounted. If an
+  unmount fails, it will be unmounted lazy.
 * Data stored on the node: Deletes the whole k0s data directory, which includes
   * all k0s-related configuration files, including those used for cluster setup
     and node-specific settings,
@@ -23,8 +26,8 @@ following:
   reboot the host after a reset to ensure that there are no k0s remnants in the
   host's network configuration.
 * Registration with the host's init system: Reverts the registration done by
-  `k0s install`. After a reset, k0s won't be automatically started when the host
-  boots.
+  `k0s install`. After a reset, k0s won't be automatically started when the
+  host boots.
 
 After a successful reset, the k0s binary itself remains. It can then be used to
 join another cluster or create a new one.
diff --git a/pkg/cleanup/directories.go b/pkg/cleanup/directories.go
index 540a9f928a95..4a155d6e559f 100644
--- a/pkg/cleanup/directories.go
+++ b/pkg/cleanup/directories.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"k8s.io/mount-utils"
@@ -46,15 +47,39 @@ func (d *directories) Run() error {
 
 	var dataDirMounted bool
 
-	// search and unmount kubelet volume mounts
-	for _, v := range procMounts {
-		if v.Path == filepath.Join(d.Config.dataDir, "kubelet") {
+	// ensure that we don't delete any persistent data volumes that may be
+	// mounted by kubernetes by unmount every mount point under DataDir.
+	//
+	// Unmount in the reverse order it was mounted so we handle recursive
+	// bind mounts and over mounts properly. If we for any reason are not
+	// able to unmount, fall back to lazy unmount and if that also fails
+	// bail out and don't delete anything.
+	//
+	// Note that if there are any shared bind mounts under k0s data
+	// directory, we may end up unmounting stuff outside the k0s DataDir.
+	// If someone has set a bind mount to be shared, we assume that is the
+	// desired behavior. See MS_SHARED and NOTES:
+	//  - https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/mount.2.html
+	//  - https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/umount.2.html#NOTES
+	for i := len(procMounts) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
+		v := procMounts[i]
+		// avoid unmount datadir if its mounted on separate partition
+		// k0s didn't mount it so leave it alone
+		if v.Path == d.Config.k0sVars.DataDir {
+			dataDirMounted = true
+			continue
+		}
+		if isUnderPath(v.Path, filepath.Join(d.Config.dataDir, "kubelet")) || isUnderPath(v.Path, d.Config.k0sVars.DataDir) {
 			logrus.Debugf("%v is mounted! attempting to unmount...", v.Path)
 			if err = mounter.Unmount(v.Path); err != nil {
-				logrus.Warningf("failed to unmount %v", v.Path)
+				// if we fail to unmount, try lazy unmount so
+				// we don't end up deleting stuff that we
+				// shouldn't
+				logrus.Warningf("lazy unmounting %v", v.Path)
+				if err = UnmountLazy(v.Path); err != nil {
+					return fmt.Errorf("failed unmount %v", v.Path)
+				}
 			}
-		} else if v.Path == d.Config.dataDir {
-			dataDirMounted = true
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -81,7 +106,13 @@ func (d *directories) Run() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// this is for checking if the error retrned by os.RemoveAll is due to
+// test if the path is a directory equal to or under base
+func isUnderPath(path, base string) bool {
+	rel, err := filepath.Rel(base, path)
+	return err == nil && !strings.HasPrefix(rel, "..") && !filepath.IsAbs(rel)
+}
+
+// this is for checking if the error returned by os.RemoveAll is due to
 // it being a mount point. if it is, we can ignore the error. this way
 // we can't rely on os.RemoveAll instead of recursively deleting the
 // contents of the directory
diff --git a/pkg/cleanup/unmount_unix.go b/pkg/cleanup/unmount_unix.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e02ab43996ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cleanup/unmount_unix.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+//go:build unix
+
+/*
+Copyright 2024 k0s authors
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package cleanup
+
+import (
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+)
+
+func UnmountLazy(path string) error {
+	return unix.Unmount(path, unix.MNT_DETACH)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/cleanup/unmount_windows.go b/pkg/cleanup/unmount_windows.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8e936605b7f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cleanup/unmount_windows.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2024 k0s authors
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package cleanup
+
+import "fmt"
+
+func UnmountLazy(path string) error {
+	return fmt.Errorf("lazy unmount is not supported on Windows for path: %s", path)
+}