diff --git a/cmd/podman/early_init_linux.go b/cmd/podman/early_init_linux.go
index 1298fad40118..e42fcd867dfd 100644
--- a/cmd/podman/early_init_linux.go
+++ b/cmd/podman/early_init_linux.go
@@ -4,22 +4,16 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"syscall"
-
-	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/libpod/define"
 )
 
 func setRLimits() error {
 	rlimits := new(syscall.Rlimit)
-	rlimits.Cur = define.RLimitDefaultValue
-	rlimits.Max = define.RLimitDefaultValue
+	if err := syscall.Getrlimit(syscall.RLIMIT_NOFILE, rlimits); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("getting rlimits: %w", err)
+	}
+	rlimits.Cur = rlimits.Max
 	if err := syscall.Setrlimit(syscall.RLIMIT_NOFILE, rlimits); err != nil {
-		if err := syscall.Getrlimit(syscall.RLIMIT_NOFILE, rlimits); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("getting rlimits: %w", err)
-		}
-		rlimits.Cur = rlimits.Max
-		if err := syscall.Setrlimit(syscall.RLIMIT_NOFILE, rlimits); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("setting new rlimits: %w", err)
-		}
+		return fmt.Errorf("setting new rlimits: %w", err)
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/test/system/030-run.bats b/test/system/030-run.bats
index 117e90cc4857..cb983373de2f 100644
--- a/test/system/030-run.bats
+++ b/test/system/030-run.bats
@@ -1303,6 +1303,32 @@ EOF
     is "$output" "Error: ulimit option \"core=-1:1000\" requires name=SOFT:HARD, failed to be parsed: ulimit soft limit must be less than or equal to hard limit: soft: -1 (unlimited), hard: 1000"
 }
 
+# bats test_tags=ci:parallel
+@test "podman run - can use maximum ulimit value" {
+    skip_if_remote "cannot check local ulimits with podman remote"
+    run ulimit -n -H
+    max=$output
+    run_podman run --rm --ulimit=nofile=$max:$max $IMAGE sh -c 'ulimit -n -H'
+    is "$output" "$max" "wrong ulimit value"
+
+    run_podman run --rm $IMAGE sh -c 'ulimit -n -H'
+    default_value=$output
+
+    # Set the current ulimit smaller than the default value
+    ulimit -n -H $((default_value - 1))
+
+    run_podman run --rm $IMAGE sh -c 'ulimit -n -H'
+
+    if is_rootless; then
+        # verify that the value was clamped to the maximum allowed
+        is "$output" "$(ulimit -n -H)" "wrong ulimit value"
+    else
+        # when running as root check that the current environment does not affect
+        # the ulimit set inside the container.
+        is "$output" "$default_value" "wrong ulimit value"
+    fi
+}
+
 # bats test_tags=ci:parallel
 @test "podman run bad --name" {
     randomname=c_$(safename)