diff --git a/libpod/kube.go b/libpod/kube.go
index b376f9ef8f..e841419153 100644
--- a/libpod/kube.go
+++ b/libpod/kube.go
@@ -512,7 +512,32 @@ func (p *Pod) podWithContainers(ctx context.Context, containers []*Container, po
 	sort.Slice(containers, func(i, j int) bool { return containers[i].CreatedTime().Before(containers[j].CreatedTime()) })
 
 	for _, ctr := range containers {
-		if !ctr.IsInfra() {
+		if ctr.IsInfra() {
+			// If there is an user namespace for the infra container, then register it for the entire pod.
+			if v, found := ctr.config.Spec.Annotations[define.UserNsAnnotation]; found {
+				podAnnotations[define.UserNsAnnotation] = v
+			}
+			_, _, infraDNS, _, err := containerToV1Container(ctx, ctr, getService)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			if infraDNS != nil {
+				if servers := infraDNS.Nameservers; len(servers) > 0 {
+					dnsInfo.Nameservers = servers
+				}
+				if searches := infraDNS.Searches; len(searches) > 0 {
+					dnsInfo.Searches = searches
+				}
+				if options := infraDNS.Options; len(options) > 0 {
+					dnsInfo.Options = options
+				}
+			}
+			// If the infraName is not the podID-infra, that means the user set another infra name using
+			// --infra-name during pod creation
+			if infraName != "" && infraName != p.ID()[:12]+"-infra" {
+				podAnnotations[define.InfraNameAnnotation] = infraName
+			}
+		} else {
 			for k, v := range ctr.config.Spec.Annotations {
 				if !podmanOnly && (define.IsReservedAnnotation(k)) {
 					continue
@@ -574,27 +599,6 @@ func (p *Pod) podWithContainers(ctx context.Context, containers []*Container, po
 				vol := vol
 				deDupPodVolumes[vol.Name] = &vol
 			}
-		} else {
-			_, _, infraDNS, _, err := containerToV1Container(ctx, ctr, getService)
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil, err
-			}
-			if infraDNS != nil {
-				if servers := infraDNS.Nameservers; len(servers) > 0 {
-					dnsInfo.Nameservers = servers
-				}
-				if searches := infraDNS.Searches; len(searches) > 0 {
-					dnsInfo.Searches = searches
-				}
-				if options := infraDNS.Options; len(options) > 0 {
-					dnsInfo.Options = options
-				}
-			}
-			// If the infraName is not the podID-infra, that means the user set another infra name using
-			// --infra-name during pod creation
-			if infraName != "" && infraName != p.ID()[:12]+"-infra" {
-				podAnnotations[define.InfraNameAnnotation] = infraName
-			}
 		}
 	}
 	podVolumes := []v1.Volume{}
diff --git a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/pods.go b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/pods.go
index 8bc081f160..1c2ee28505 100644
--- a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/pods.go
+++ b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/pods.go
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ func PodCreate(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		infraOptions.Net = &entities.NetOptions{}
 		infraOptions.Devices = psg.Devices
 		infraOptions.SecurityOpt = psg.SecurityOpt
+		if !psg.Userns.IsDefault() {
+			infraOptions.UserNS = psg.Userns.String()
+		}
 		if psg.ShareParent == nil {
 			t := true
 			psg.ShareParent = &t
diff --git a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/play.go b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/play.go
index ec5c1a1fc3..6374f212ba 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/play.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/play.go
@@ -603,10 +603,15 @@ func (ic *ContainerEngine) playKubePod(ctx context.Context, podName string, podY
 	if options.Userns == "" {
 		if v, ok := annotations[define.UserNsAnnotation]; ok {
 			options.Userns = v
+		} else if v, ok := annotations[define.UserNsAnnotation+"/"+podName]; ok {
+			options.Userns = v
+		} else if podYAML.Spec.HostUsers != nil && !*podYAML.Spec.HostUsers {
+			options.Userns = "auto"
 		} else {
 			options.Userns = "host"
 		}
-		if podYAML.Spec.HostUsers != nil && !*podYAML.Spec.HostUsers {
+		// FIXME: how to deal with explicit mappings?
+		if options.Userns == "private" {
 			options.Userns = "auto"
 		}
 	} else if podYAML.Spec.HostUsers != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/specgenutil/specgen.go b/pkg/specgenutil/specgen.go
index c9dc0775d5..6cb1f154d5 100644
--- a/pkg/specgenutil/specgen.go
+++ b/pkg/specgenutil/specgen.go
@@ -516,6 +516,10 @@ func FillOutSpecGen(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, c *entities.ContainerCreateOptions
 	if len(s.Annotations) == 0 {
 		s.Annotations = annotations
 	}
+	// Add the user namespace configuration to the annotations
+	if c.UserNS != "" {
+		s.Annotations[define.UserNsAnnotation] = c.UserNS
+	}
 
 	if len(c.StorageOpts) > 0 {
 		opts := make(map[string]string, len(c.StorageOpts))
diff --git a/pkg/specgenutil/specgenutil_test.go b/pkg/specgenutil/specgenutil_test.go
index c0e93316f8..c714dc446b 100644
--- a/pkg/specgenutil/specgenutil_test.go
+++ b/pkg/specgenutil/specgenutil_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/containers/common/pkg/machine"
+	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/libpod/define"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/domain/entities"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/specgen"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -216,3 +217,16 @@ func TestGenRlimits(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err = GenRlimits([]string{"nofile=bar:buzz"})
 	assert.Error(t, err, "err is not nil")
 }
+
+func TestFillOutSpecGenRecorsUserNs(t *testing.T) {
+	sg := specgen.NewSpecGenerator("nothing", false)
+	err := FillOutSpecGen(sg, &entities.ContainerCreateOptions{
+		ImageVolume: "ignore",
+		UserNS:      "keep-id",
+	}, []string{})
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	v, ok := sg.Annotations[define.UserNsAnnotation]
+	assert.True(t, ok, "UserNsAnnotation is set")
+	assert.Equal(t, "keep-id", v, "UserNsAnnotation is keep-id")
+}
diff --git a/test/system/700-play.bats b/test/system/700-play.bats
index 6229a858d4..337108f817 100644
--- a/test/system/700-play.bats
+++ b/test/system/700-play.bats
@@ -1037,3 +1037,33 @@ spec:
     run_podman kube down $fname
     run_podman rmi $imgname
 }
+
+@test "podman kube restore user namespace" {
+    if ! is_rootless; then
+        grep -E -q "^containers:" /etc/subuid || skip "no IDs allocated for user 'containers'"
+    fi
+
+    run_podman pod create --userns auto --name usernspod
+    run_podman create --pod usernspod $IMAGE true
+
+    run_podman pod inspect --format {{.InfraContainerID}} usernspod
+    infraID="$output"
+
+    run_podman inspect --format '{{index .Config.Annotations "io.podman.annotations.userns"}}' $infraID
+    assert "$output" == "auto" "user namespace should be kept"
+
+    YAML=$PODMAN_TMPDIR/test.yml
+
+    # Make sure the same setting is restored if the pod is recreated from the yaml
+    run_podman kube generate usernspod -f $YAML
+    cat $YAML
+    run_podman kube play --replace $YAML
+
+    run_podman pod inspect --format {{.InfraContainerID}} usernspod
+    infraID="$output"
+
+    run_podman inspect --format '{{index .Config.Annotations "io.podman.annotations.userns"}}' $infraID
+    assert "$output" == "auto" "user namespace should be kept"
+
+    run_podman pod rm -f usernspod
+}