diff --git a/man/rpm-ostreed.conf.xml b/man/rpm-ostreed.conf.xml
index f06e83bb39..418c60abf4 100644
--- a/man/rpm-ostreed.conf.xml
+++ b/man/rpm-ostreed.conf.xml
@@ -71,15 +71,22 @@ Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
         <term><varname>AutomaticUpdatePolicy=</varname></term>
 
         <listitem>
-        <para>Controls the automatic update policy. Currently "none", "check", or "stage".
+        <para>Controls the automatic update policy. Currently "none", "check", "stage", "apply".
         "none" disables automatic updates. "check" downloads just enough metadata to check
         for updates and display them in <command>rpm-ostree status</command>. Defaults to
         "none". The <citerefentry><refentrytitle>rpm-ostreed-automatic.timer</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
         unit determines the actual frequency of updates.</para>
-        <para>Finally, the "stage" policy downloads and unpacks the update, performing
-        any package layering.  Only a small amount of work is left to be performed at
+        <para>The "stage" policy downloads and unpacks the update, queuing it for the next boot.
+        This leaves initiating a reboot to other automation tools.
+        Only a small amount of work is left to be performed at
         shutdown time via the <literal>ostree-finalize-staged.service</literal> systemd unit.
         </para>
+        <para>Finally, the "apply" policy will currently always initiate a reboot.  However,
+        in the future it may apply userspace-only fixes without a physical reboot.
+        Any reboots initiated via rpm-ostree will default to honoring active systemd inhibitors.
+        For example, to temporarily suppress automatic "apply" updates while debugging a system,
+        you can use <literal>systemd-inhibit bash</literal>; exiting the shell will lift the inhibitor.
+        </para>
         </listitem>
       </varlistentry>
       <varlistentry>
diff --git a/src/daemon/rpmostreed-os.cxx b/src/daemon/rpmostreed-os.cxx
index 8b15159ba4..8137fdd4cf 100644
--- a/src/daemon/rpmostreed-os.cxx
+++ b/src/daemon/rpmostreed-os.cxx
@@ -725,6 +725,13 @@ os_handle_automatic_update_trigger (RPMOSTreeOS *interface, GDBusMethodInvocatio
         }
     }
 
+  /* if output-to-self is not explicitly set, default to TRUE */
+  g_autoptr (GVariant) arg_options_owned = NULL;
+  if (!g_variant_dict_contains (&dict, "output-to-self"))
+    {
+      g_variant_dict_insert (&dict, "output-to-self", "b", TRUE);
+    }
+
   /* Now we translate policy into flags the deploy transaction understands. But avoid
    * starting it at all if we're not even on. The benefit of this approach is that we keep
    * the Deploy transaction simpler. */
@@ -744,17 +751,16 @@ os_handle_automatic_update_trigger (RPMOSTreeOS *interface, GDBusMethodInvocatio
       break;
     case RPMOSTREED_AUTOMATIC_UPDATE_POLICY_STAGE:
       break;
+    case RPMOSTREED_AUTOMATIC_UPDATE_POLICY_APPLY:
+      // For now, we always reboot for any change.  In the future, we may start e.g. detecting
+      // the case where there are no kernel changes, and doing a fast userspace apply via systemd.
+      g_variant_dict_insert (&dict, "reboot", "b", TRUE);
+      break;
     default:
       g_assert_not_reached ();
     }
 
-  /* if output-to-self is not explicitly set, default to TRUE */
-  g_autoptr (GVariant) arg_options_owned = NULL;
-  if (!g_variant_dict_contains (&dict, "output-to-self"))
-    {
-      g_variant_dict_insert (&dict, "output-to-self", "b", TRUE);
-      arg_options = arg_options_owned = g_variant_ref_sink (g_variant_dict_end (&dict));
-    }
+  arg_options = arg_options_owned = g_variant_ref_sink (g_variant_dict_end (&dict));
   (void)arg_options_owned; /* Pacify static analysis */
 
   return os_merge_or_start_deployment_txn (interface, invocation, dfault, arg_options, NULL, NULL,
diff --git a/src/libpriv/rpmostree-types.h b/src/libpriv/rpmostree-types.h
index 903fddd6ff..5c400f2ab3 100644
--- a/src/libpriv/rpmostree-types.h
+++ b/src/libpriv/rpmostree-types.h
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ typedef enum
   RPMOSTREED_AUTOMATIC_UPDATE_POLICY_NONE,
   RPMOSTREED_AUTOMATIC_UPDATE_POLICY_CHECK,
   RPMOSTREED_AUTOMATIC_UPDATE_POLICY_STAGE,
+  RPMOSTREED_AUTOMATIC_UPDATE_POLICY_APPLY,
 } RpmostreedAutomaticUpdatePolicy;
 
 typedef enum
diff --git a/src/libpriv/rpmostree-util.cxx b/src/libpriv/rpmostree-util.cxx
index 8ee6943d7c..7aa2a84f20 100644
--- a/src/libpriv/rpmostree-util.cxx
+++ b/src/libpriv/rpmostree-util.cxx
@@ -1031,6 +1031,8 @@ rpmostree_auto_update_policy_to_str (RpmostreedAutomaticUpdatePolicy policy, GEr
       return "check";
     case RPMOSTREED_AUTOMATIC_UPDATE_POLICY_STAGE:
       return "stage";
+    case RPMOSTREED_AUTOMATIC_UPDATE_POLICY_APPLY:
+      return "apply";
     default:
       return (char *)glnx_null_throw (error, "Invalid policy value %u", policy);
     }
@@ -1047,6 +1049,8 @@ rpmostree_str_to_auto_update_policy (const char *str, RpmostreedAutomaticUpdateP
     *out_policy = RPMOSTREED_AUTOMATIC_UPDATE_POLICY_CHECK;
   else if (g_str_equal (str, "stage") || g_str_equal (str, "ex-stage") /* backcompat */)
     *out_policy = RPMOSTREED_AUTOMATIC_UPDATE_POLICY_STAGE;
+  else if (g_str_equal (str, "apply"))
+    *out_policy = RPMOSTREED_AUTOMATIC_UPDATE_POLICY_APPLY;
   else
     return glnx_throw (error, "Invalid value for AutomaticUpdatePolicy: '%s'", str);
   return TRUE;
diff --git a/tests/kolainst/destructive/container-image b/tests/kolainst/destructive/container-image
index 598fbef52a..e1358e0b1c 100755
--- a/tests/kolainst/destructive/container-image
+++ b/tests/kolainst/destructive/container-image
@@ -183,11 +183,20 @@ EOF
     ! rpm -q nano
     rpmostree_assert_status ".deployments[0][\"container-image-reference\"] == \"ostree-unverified-image:oci:$image_dir:derived\""
 
+    # We'll test the "apply" automatic updates policy here
+    systemctl stop rpm-ostreed
+    cp /usr/etc/rpm-ostreed.conf /etc
+    echo -e "[Daemon]\nAutomaticUpdatePolicy=apply" > /etc/rpm-ostreed.conf
+    rpm-ostree reload
+
     # Now revert back to the base image, but keep our layered package foo
     rm "${image_dir}" -rf
-    skopeo copy containers-storage:localhost/fcos ${image}:latest
-    rpm-ostree rebase ostree-unverified-image:${image}:latest
-    /tmp/autopkgtest-reboot 4
+    timeout 5m skopeo copy containers-storage:localhost/fcos ${image}:derived
+    /tmp/autopkgtest-reboot-prepare 4
+    cursor=$(journalctl -o json -n 1 | jq -r '.["__CURSOR"]')
+    systemctl start --no-block rpm-ostreed-automatic.service
+    echo "Blocking for reboot initiation"
+    journalctl --after-cursor="$cursor" -f -u rpm-ostreed
     ;;
   4) 
     # This should carry over
@@ -198,7 +207,7 @@ EOF
         fatal "found $p"
       fi
     done
-    rpmostree_assert_status ".deployments[0][\"container-image-reference\"] == \"ostree-unverified-image:oci:$image_dir:latest\""
+    rpmostree_assert_status ".deployments[0][\"container-image-reference\"] == \"ostree-unverified-image:oci:$image_dir:derived\""
     ;;
   *) echo "unexpected mark: ${AUTOPKGTEST_REBOOT_MARK}"; exit 1;;
 esac