diff --git a/docs/user-namespaces/README.md b/docs/user-namespaces/README.md
index 4f434f920..fc22bffb4 100644
--- a/docs/user-namespaces/README.md
+++ b/docs/user-namespaces/README.md
@@ -86,22 +86,22 @@ Different containerd versions have different limitations too, those are highligh
 ### containerd 1.7
 
 One limitation present in containerd 1.7 is that it needs to change the ownership of every file and
-directory inside the container image, during Pod startup. This means it has a storage overhead (the
-size of the container image is duplicated each time a pod is created) and can significantly impact
-the container startup latency.
+directory inside the container image, during Pod startup. This means it has a storage overhead, as
+**the size of the container image is duplicated each time a pod is created**, and can significantly
+impact the container startup latency, as doing such a copy takes time too.
 
 You can mitigate this limitation by switching `/sys/module/overlay/parameters/metacopy` to `Y`. This
 will significantly reduce the storage and performance overhead, as only the inode for each file of
 the container image will be duplicated, but not the content of the file. This means it will use less
 storage and it will be faster. However, it is not a panacea.
 
-If you change the metacopy param, make sure to do it in a way that is persistant across reboots. You
+If you change the metacopy param, make sure to do it in a way that is persistent across reboots. You
 should also be aware that this setting will be used for all containers, not just containers with
 user namespaces enabled. This will affect all the snapshots that you take manually (if you happen to
 do that). In that case, make sure to use the same value of `/sys/module/overlay/parameters/metacopy`
 when creating and restoring the snapshot.
 
-### containerd 2.0
+### containerd 2.0 and above
 
 The storage and latency limitation from containerd 1.7 are not present in container 2.0 and above,
 if you use the overlay snapshotter (this is used by default). It will not use more storage at all,
@@ -111,8 +111,36 @@ This is achieved by using the kernel feature idmap mounts with the container roo
 image). This allows an overlay file-system to expose the image with different UID/GID without copying
 the files nor the inodes, just using a bind-mount.
 
-You can check if you are using idmap mounts for the container image if you create a pod with user
-namespaces, exec into it and run:
+Containerd by default will refuse to create a container with user namespaces, if overlayfs is the
+snapshotter and the kernel running doesn't support idmap mounts for overlayfs.  This is to make sure
+before falling back to the expensive chown (in terms of storage and pod startup latency), you
+understand the implications and decide to opt-in. Please read the containerd 1.7 limitations for an
+explanation of those.
+
+If your kernel doesn't support idmap mounts for the overlayfs snapshotter, you will see an error
+like:
+
+```
+failed to create containerd container: snapshotter "overlayfs" doesn't support idmap mounts on this host, configure `slow_chown` to allow a slower and expensive fallback
+```
+
+Linux supports idmap mounts on an overlayfs since version 5.19.
+
+You can opt-in for the slow chown by adding the `slow_chown` field to your config in the overlayfs
+snapshotter section, like this:
+
+```
+  [plugins."io.containerd.snapshotter.v1.overlayfs"]
+    slow_chown = true
+```
+
+Note that only overlayfs users need to opt-in for the slow chown, as it as it is the only one that
+containerd provides a better option (only the overlayfs snapshotter supports idmap mounts in
+containerd). If you use another snapshotter, you will fall-back to the expensive chown without the
+need to opt-in.
+
+That being said, you can double check if your container is using idmap mounts for the container
+image if you create a pod with user namespaces, exec into it and run:
 
 ```
 mount | grep overlay
diff --git a/script/test/utils.sh b/script/test/utils.sh
index b49d3ac0e..a516e7031 100755
--- a/script/test/utils.sh
+++ b/script/test/utils.sh
@@ -52,6 +52,13 @@ version=2
 
 [plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri"]
   drain_exec_sync_io_timeout = "10s"
+
+# Userns requires idmap mount support for overlayfs (added in 5.19)
+# Let's opt-in for a recursive chown, so we can always test this even in old distros.
+# Note that if idmap mounts support is present, we will use that, so it is harmless to keep this
+# here.
+[plugins."io.containerd.snapshotter.v1.overlayfs"]
+    slow_chown = true
 EOF
 
   if command -v sestatus >/dev/null 2>&1; then
diff --git a/snapshots/overlay/overlay.go b/snapshots/overlay/overlay.go
index edd295778..319aa6c79 100644
--- a/snapshots/overlay/overlay.go
+++ b/snapshots/overlay/overlay.go
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ type SnapshotterConfig struct {
 	ms            MetaStore
 	mountOptions  []string
 	remapIds      bool
+	slowChown     bool
 }
 
 // Opt is an option to configure the overlay snapshotter
@@ -98,6 +99,11 @@ func WithRemapIds(config *SnapshotterConfig) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func WithSlowChown(config *SnapshotterConfig) error {
+	config.slowChown = true
+	return nil
+}
+
 type snapshotter struct {
 	root          string
 	ms            MetaStore
@@ -105,6 +111,7 @@ type snapshotter struct {
 	upperdirLabel bool
 	options       []string
 	remapIds      bool
+	slowChown     bool
 }
 
 // NewSnapshotter returns a Snapshotter which uses overlayfs. The overlayfs
@@ -161,6 +168,7 @@ func NewSnapshotter(root string, opts ...Opt) (snapshots.Snapshotter, error) {
 		upperdirLabel: config.upperdirLabel,
 		options:       config.mountOptions,
 		remapIds:      config.remapIds,
+		slowChown:     config.slowChown,
 	}, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/snapshots/overlay/plugin/plugin.go b/snapshots/overlay/plugin/plugin.go
index 645bc8c95..89adeebb2 100644
--- a/snapshots/overlay/plugin/plugin.go
+++ b/snapshots/overlay/plugin/plugin.go
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	capaRemapIds = "remap-ids"
+	capaRemapIds     = "remap-ids"
+	capaOnlyRemapIds = "only-remap-ids"
 )
 
 // Config represents configuration for the overlay plugin.
@@ -38,6 +39,11 @@ type Config struct {
 	UpperdirLabel bool   `toml:"upperdir_label"`
 	SyncRemove    bool   `toml:"sync_remove"`
 
+	// slowChown allows the plugin to fallback to a recursive chown if fast options (like
+	// idmap mounts) are not available. See more info about the overhead this can have in
+	// github.com/containerd/containerd/docs/user-namespaces/.
+	SlowChown bool `toml:"slow_chown"`
+
 	// MountOptions are options used for the overlay mount (not used on bind mounts)
 	MountOptions []string `toml:"mount_options"`
 }
@@ -76,6 +82,14 @@ func init() {
 				ic.Meta.Capabilities = append(ic.Meta.Capabilities, capaRemapIds)
 			}
 
+			if config.SlowChown {
+				oOpts = append(oOpts, overlay.WithSlowChown)
+			} else {
+				// If slowChown is false, we use capaOnlyRemapIds to signal we only
+				// allow idmap mounts.
+				ic.Meta.Capabilities = append(ic.Meta.Capabilities, capaOnlyRemapIds)
+			}
+
 			ic.Meta.Exports["root"] = root
 			return overlay.NewSnapshotter(root, oOpts...)
 		},
diff --git a/snapshotter_opts_unix.go b/snapshotter_opts_unix.go
index 2dff9b424..ac970219e 100644
--- a/snapshotter_opts_unix.go
+++ b/snapshotter_opts_unix.go
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	capabRemapIDs = "remap-ids"
+	capaRemapIDs     = "remap-ids"
+	capaOnlyRemapIds = "only-remap-ids"
 )
 
 // WithRemapperLabels creates the labels used by any supporting snapshotter
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ func resolveSnapshotOptions(ctx context.Context, client *Client, snapshotterName
 	}
 
 	for _, capab := range capabs {
-		if capab == capabRemapIDs {
+		if capab == capaRemapIDs {
 			// Snapshotter supports ID remapping, we don't need to do anything.
 			return parent, nil
 		}
@@ -72,6 +73,17 @@ func resolveSnapshotOptions(ctx context.Context, client *Client, snapshotterName
 		return parent, nil
 	}
 
+	capaOnlyRemap := false
+	for _, capa := range capabs {
+		if capa == capaOnlyRemapIds {
+			capaOnlyRemap = true
+		}
+	}
+
+	if capaOnlyRemap {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("snapshotter %q doesn't support idmap mounts on this host, configure `slow_chown` to allow a slower and expensive fallback", snapshotterName)
+	}
+
 	var ctrUID, hostUID, length uint32
 	_, err = fmt.Sscanf(uidMap, "%d:%d:%d", &ctrUID, &hostUID, &length)
 	if err != nil {