diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/systemd-warn-on-chroot.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/systemd-warn-on-chroot.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..148db8a5f01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/systemd-warn-on-chroot.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - systemd - warn when exeuting in a chroot environment rather than failing (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/43904)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/system/systemd.py b/lib/ansible/modules/system/systemd.py
index 6f1eba0afc1..1cd45df761c 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/system/systemd.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/system/systemd.py
@@ -254,6 +254,7 @@ status:
 '''  # NOQA
 
 from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule
+from ansible.module_utils.facts.system.chroot import is_chroot
 from ansible.module_utils.service import sysv_exists, sysv_is_enabled, fail_if_missing
 from ansible.module_utils._text import to_native
 
@@ -493,6 +494,9 @@ def main():
                         (rc, out, err) = module.run_command("%s %s '%s'" % (systemctl, action, unit))
                         if rc != 0:
                             module.fail_json(msg="Unable to %s service %s: %s" % (action, unit, err))
+            # check for chroot
+            elif is_chroot():
+                module.warn("Target is a chroot. This can lead to false positives or prevent the init system tools from working.")
             else:
                 # this should not happen?
                 module.fail_json(msg="Service is in unknown state", status=result['status'])