diff --git a/src/shared/binfmt-util.c b/src/shared/binfmt-util.c
index d21fd10136..0faca59663 100644
--- a/src/shared/binfmt-util.c
+++ b/src/shared/binfmt-util.c
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ int binfmt_mounted_and_writable(void) {
         fd = RET_NERRNO(open("/proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc", O_CLOEXEC | O_DIRECTORY | O_PATH));
         if (fd == -ENOENT)
                 return false;
+        /* ELOOP happens when binfmt_misc is an automount point under a read-only bind mount of /proc —
+         * the kernel cannot trigger the automount and returns ELOOP instead. Common in mock/Koji buildroots. */
+        if (fd == -ELOOP || ERRNO_IS_NEG_PRIVILEGE(fd)) {
+                log_debug_errno(fd, "Failed to open /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc, ignoring: %m");
+                return false;
+        }
         if (fd < 0)
                 return fd;