diff --git a/init/README.md b/init/README.md
index b0a73b946..b45da214a 100644
--- a/init/README.md
+++ b/init/README.md
@@ -506,6 +506,7 @@ Commands
   _resource_ is best specified using its text representation ('cpu', 'rtio', etc
   or 'RLIM_CPU', 'RLIM_RTIO', etc). It also may be specified as the int value
   that the resource enum corresponds to.
+  _cur_ and _max_ can be 'unlimited' or '-1' to indicate an infinite rlimit.
 
 `start <service>`
 > Start a service running if it is not already running.
diff --git a/init/rlimit_parser.cpp b/init/rlimit_parser.cpp
index fe1d6a724..1e0754ac0 100644
--- a/init/rlimit_parser.cpp
+++ b/init/rlimit_parser.cpp
@@ -65,12 +65,18 @@ Result<std::pair<int, rlimit>> ParseRlimit(const std::vector<std::string>& args)
     }
 
     rlimit limit;
-    if (!ParseUint(args[2], &limit.rlim_cur)) {
+    if (args[2] == "-1" || args[2] == "unlimited") {
+        limit.rlim_cur = RLIM_INFINITY;
+    } else if (!ParseUint(args[2], &limit.rlim_cur)) {
         return Error() << "Could not parse soft limit '" << args[2] << "'";
     }
-    if (!ParseUint(args[3], &limit.rlim_max)) {
+
+    if (args[3] == "-1" || args[3] == "unlimited") {
+        limit.rlim_max = RLIM_INFINITY;
+    } else if (!ParseUint(args[3], &limit.rlim_max)) {
         return Error() << "Could not parse hard limit '" << args[3] << "'";
     }
+
     return {resource, limit};
 }
 
diff --git a/init/rlimit_parser_test.cpp b/init/rlimit_parser_test.cpp
index f3f9eb4e3..659ba8acb 100644
--- a/init/rlimit_parser_test.cpp
+++ b/init/rlimit_parser_test.cpp
@@ -49,58 +49,58 @@ void TestRlimitFailure(std::vector<std::string> input, const std::string& expect
 
 TEST(rlimit, RlimitSuccess) {
     const std::vector<std::pair<std::vector<std::string>, std::pair<int, rlimit>>>
-        inputs_and_results = {
-            {{"cpu", "10", "10"}, {0, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"fsize", "10", "10"}, {1, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"data", "10", "10"}, {2, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"stack", "10", "10"}, {3, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"core", "10", "10"}, {4, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"rss", "10", "10"}, {5, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"nproc", "10", "10"}, {6, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"nofile", "10", "10"}, {7, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"memlock", "10", "10"}, {8, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"as", "10", "10"}, {9, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"locks", "10", "10"}, {10, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"sigpending", "10", "10"}, {11, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"msgqueue", "10", "10"}, {12, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"nice", "10", "10"}, {13, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"rtprio", "10", "10"}, {14, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"rttime", "10", "10"}, {15, {10, 10}}},
+            inputs_and_results = {
+                    {{"cpu", "10", "10"}, {0, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"fsize", "10", "10"}, {1, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"data", "10", "10"}, {2, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"stack", "10", "10"}, {3, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"core", "10", "10"}, {4, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"rss", "10", "10"}, {5, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"nproc", "10", "10"}, {6, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"nofile", "10", "10"}, {7, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"memlock", "10", "10"}, {8, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"as", "10", "10"}, {9, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"locks", "10", "10"}, {10, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"sigpending", "10", "10"}, {11, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"msgqueue", "10", "10"}, {12, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"nice", "10", "10"}, {13, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"rtprio", "10", "10"}, {14, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"rttime", "10", "10"}, {15, {10, 10}}},
 
-            {{"RLIM_CPU", "10", "10"}, {0, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_FSIZE", "10", "10"}, {1, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_DATA", "10", "10"}, {2, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_STACK", "10", "10"}, {3, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_CORE", "10", "10"}, {4, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_RSS", "10", "10"}, {5, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_NPROC", "10", "10"}, {6, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_NOFILE", "10", "10"}, {7, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_MEMLOCK", "10", "10"}, {8, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_AS", "10", "10"}, {9, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_LOCKS", "10", "10"}, {10, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_SIGPENDING", "10", "10"}, {11, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_MSGQUEUE", "10", "10"}, {12, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_NICE", "10", "10"}, {13, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_RTPRIO", "10", "10"}, {14, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"RLIM_RTTIME", "10", "10"}, {15, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_CPU", "10", "10"}, {0, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_FSIZE", "10", "10"}, {1, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_DATA", "10", "10"}, {2, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_STACK", "10", "10"}, {3, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_CORE", "10", "10"}, {4, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_RSS", "10", "10"}, {5, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_NPROC", "10", "10"}, {6, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_NOFILE", "10", "10"}, {7, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_MEMLOCK", "10", "10"}, {8, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_AS", "10", "10"}, {9, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_LOCKS", "10", "10"}, {10, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_SIGPENDING", "10", "10"}, {11, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_MSGQUEUE", "10", "10"}, {12, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_NICE", "10", "10"}, {13, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_RTPRIO", "10", "10"}, {14, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"RLIM_RTTIME", "10", "10"}, {15, {10, 10}}},
 
-            {{"0", "10", "10"}, {0, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"1", "10", "10"}, {1, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"2", "10", "10"}, {2, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"3", "10", "10"}, {3, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"4", "10", "10"}, {4, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"5", "10", "10"}, {5, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"6", "10", "10"}, {6, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"7", "10", "10"}, {7, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"8", "10", "10"}, {8, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"9", "10", "10"}, {9, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"10", "10", "10"}, {10, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"11", "10", "10"}, {11, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"12", "10", "10"}, {12, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"13", "10", "10"}, {13, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"14", "10", "10"}, {14, {10, 10}}},
-            {{"15", "10", "10"}, {15, {10, 10}}},
-        };
+                    {{"0", "10", "10"}, {0, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"1", "10", "10"}, {1, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"2", "10", "10"}, {2, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"3", "10", "10"}, {3, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"4", "10", "10"}, {4, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"5", "10", "10"}, {5, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"6", "10", "10"}, {6, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"7", "10", "10"}, {7, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"8", "10", "10"}, {8, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"9", "10", "10"}, {9, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"10", "10", "10"}, {10, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"11", "10", "10"}, {11, {10, 10}}},
+                    {{"12", "unlimited", "10"}, {12, {RLIM_INFINITY, 10}}},
+                    {{"13", "-1", "10"}, {13, {RLIM_INFINITY, 10}}},
+                    {{"14", "10", "unlimited"}, {14, {10, RLIM_INFINITY}}},
+                    {{"15", "10", "-1"}, {15, {10, RLIM_INFINITY}}},
+            };
 
     for (const auto& [input, expected_result] : inputs_and_results) {
         TestRlimitSuccess(input, expected_result);
@@ -109,12 +109,16 @@ TEST(rlimit, RlimitSuccess) {
 
 TEST(rlimit, RlimitFailure) {
     const std::vector<std::pair<std::vector<std::string>, std::string>> inputs_and_results = {
-        {{"-4", "10", "10"}, "Resource '-4' below the minimum resource value '0'"},
-        {{"100", "10", "10"}, "Resource '100' over the maximum resource value '16'"},
-        {{"bad_string", "10", "10"}, "Could not parse resource 'bad_string'"},
-        {{"RLIM_", "10", "10"}, "Could not parse resource 'RLIM_'"},
-        {{"cpu", "abc", "10"}, "Could not parse soft limit 'abc'"},
-        {{"cpu", "10", "abc"}, "Could not parse hard limit 'abc'"},
+            {{"-4", "10", "10"}, "Resource '-4' below the minimum resource value '0'"},
+            {{"100", "10", "10"}, "Resource '100' over the maximum resource value '16'"},
+            {{"bad_string", "10", "10"}, "Could not parse resource 'bad_string'"},
+            {{"RLIM_", "10", "10"}, "Could not parse resource 'RLIM_'"},
+            {{"cpu", "abc", "10"}, "Could not parse soft limit 'abc'"},
+            {{"cpu", "10", "abc"}, "Could not parse hard limit 'abc'"},
+            {{"cpu", "unlimit", "10"}, "Could not parse soft limit 'unlimit'"},
+            {{"cpu", "10", "unlimit"}, "Could not parse hard limit 'unlimit'"},
+            {{"cpu", "-2", "10"}, "Could not parse soft limit '-2'"},
+            {{"cpu", "10", "-2"}, "Could not parse hard limit '-2'"},
     };
 
     for (const auto& [input, expected_result] : inputs_and_results) {