diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/netfilter/nft_flowtable.sh b/tools/testing/selftests/netfilter/nft_flowtable.sh
index c336e6c148d1..e31d3d68a251 100755
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/netfilter/nft_flowtable.sh
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/netfilter/nft_flowtable.sh
@@ -24,8 +24,7 @@ nsr2="nsr2-$sfx"
 ksft_skip=4
 ret=0
 
-ns1in=""
-ns2in=""
+nsin=""
 ns1out=""
 ns2out=""
 
@@ -53,8 +52,7 @@ cleanup() {
 	ip netns del $nsr1
 	ip netns del $nsr2
 
-	rm -f "$ns1in" "$ns1out"
-	rm -f "$ns2in" "$ns2out"
+	rm -f "$nsin" "$ns1out"
 
 	[ $log_netns -eq 0 ] && sysctl -q net.netfilter.nf_log_all_netns=$log_netns
 }
@@ -165,36 +163,20 @@ table inet filter {
      devices = { veth0, veth1 }
    }
 
+   counter routed_orig { }
+   counter routed_repl { }
+
    chain forward {
       type filter hook forward priority 0; policy drop;
 
       # flow offloaded? Tag ct with mark 1, so we can detect when it fails.
-      meta oif "veth1" tcp dport 12345 flow offload @f1 counter
-
-      # use packet size to trigger 'should be offloaded by now'.
-      # otherwise, if 'flow offload' expression never offloads, the
-      # test will pass.
-      tcp dport 12345 meta length gt 200 ct mark set 1 counter
-
-      # this turns off flow offloading internally, so expect packets again
-      tcp flags fin,rst ct mark set 0 accept
-
-      # this allows large packets from responder, we need this as long
-      # as PMTUd is off.
-      # This rule is deleted for the last test, when we expect PMTUd
-      # to kick in and ensure all packets meet mtu requirements.
-      meta length gt $lmtu accept comment something-to-grep-for
+      meta oif "veth1" tcp dport 12345 ct mark set 1 flow add @f1 counter name routed_orig accept
 
-      # next line blocks connection w.o. working offload.
-      # we only do this for reverse dir, because we expect packets to
-      # enter slow path due to MTU mismatch of veth0 and veth1.
-      tcp sport 12345 ct mark 1 counter log prefix "mark failure " drop
+      # count packets supposedly offloaded as per direction.
+      ct mark 1 counter name ct direction map { original : routed_orig, reply : routed_repl } accept
 
       ct state established,related accept
 
-      # for packets that we can't offload yet, i.e. SYN (any ct that is not confirmed)
-      meta length lt 200 oif "veth1" tcp dport 12345 counter accept
-
       meta nfproto ipv4 meta l4proto icmp accept
       meta nfproto ipv6 meta l4proto icmpv6 accept
    }
@@ -221,16 +203,16 @@ if [ $ret -eq 0 ];then
 	echo "PASS: netns routing/connectivity: $ns1 can reach $ns2"
 fi
 
-ns1in=$(mktemp)
+nsin=$(mktemp)
 ns1out=$(mktemp)
-ns2in=$(mktemp)
 ns2out=$(mktemp)
 
 make_file()
 {
 	name=$1
 
-	SIZE=$((RANDOM % (1024 * 8)))
+	SIZE=$((RANDOM % (1024 * 128)))
+	SIZE=$((SIZE + (1024 * 8)))
 	TSIZE=$((SIZE * 1024))
 
 	dd if=/dev/urandom of="$name" bs=1024 count=$SIZE 2> /dev/null
@@ -241,6 +223,38 @@ make_file()
 	dd if=/dev/urandom conf=notrunc of="$name" bs=1 count=$SIZE 2> /dev/null
 }
 
+check_counters()
+{
+	local what=$1
+	local ok=1
+
+	local orig=$(ip netns exec $nsr1 nft reset counter inet filter routed_orig | grep packets)
+	local repl=$(ip netns exec $nsr1 nft reset counter inet filter routed_repl | grep packets)
+
+	local orig_cnt=${orig#*bytes}
+	local repl_cnt=${repl#*bytes}
+
+	local fs=$(du -sb $nsin)
+	local max_orig=${fs%%/*}
+	local max_repl=$((max_orig/4))
+
+	if [ $orig_cnt -gt $max_orig ];then
+		echo "FAIL: $what: original counter $orig_cnt exceeds expected value $max_orig" 1>&2
+		ret=1
+		ok=0
+	fi
+
+	if [ $repl_cnt -gt $max_repl ];then
+		echo "FAIL: $what: reply counter $repl_cnt exceeds expected value $max_repl" 1>&2
+		ret=1
+		ok=0
+	fi
+
+	if [ $ok -eq 1 ]; then
+		echo "PASS: $what"
+	fi
+}
+
 check_transfer()
 {
 	in=$1
@@ -265,11 +279,11 @@ test_tcp_forwarding_ip()
 	local dstport=$4
 	local lret=0
 
-	ip netns exec $nsb nc -w 5 -l -p 12345 < "$ns2in" > "$ns2out" &
+	ip netns exec $nsb nc -w 5 -l -p 12345 < "$nsin" > "$ns2out" &
 	lpid=$!
 
 	sleep 1
-	ip netns exec $nsa nc -w 4 "$dstip" "$dstport" < "$ns1in" > "$ns1out" &
+	ip netns exec $nsa nc -w 4 "$dstip" "$dstport" < "$nsin" > "$ns1out" &
 	cpid=$!
 
 	sleep 3
@@ -284,11 +298,11 @@ test_tcp_forwarding_ip()
 
 	wait
 
-	if ! check_transfer "$ns1in" "$ns2out" "ns1 -> ns2"; then
+	if ! check_transfer "$nsin" "$ns2out" "ns1 -> ns2"; then
 		lret=1
 	fi
 
-	if ! check_transfer "$ns2in" "$ns1out" "ns1 <- ns2"; then
+	if ! check_transfer "$nsin" "$ns1out" "ns1 <- ns2"; then
 		lret=1
 	fi
 
@@ -305,23 +319,40 @@ test_tcp_forwarding()
 test_tcp_forwarding_nat()
 {
 	local lret
+	local pmtu
 
 	test_tcp_forwarding_ip "$1" "$2" 10.0.2.99 12345
 	lret=$?
 
+	pmtu=$3
+	what=$4
+
 	if [ $lret -eq 0 ] ; then
+		if [ $pmtu -eq 1 ] ;then
+			check_counters "flow offload for ns1/ns2 with masquerade and pmtu discovery $what"
+		else
+			echo "PASS: flow offload for ns1/ns2 with masquerade $what"
+		fi
+
 		test_tcp_forwarding_ip "$1" "$2" 10.6.6.6 1666
 		lret=$?
+		if [ $pmtu -eq 1 ] ;then
+			check_counters "flow offload for ns1/ns2 with dnat and pmtu discovery $what"
+		elif [ $lret -eq 0 ] ; then
+			echo "PASS: flow offload for ns1/ns2 with dnat $what"
+		fi
 	fi
 
 	return $lret
 }
 
-make_file "$ns1in"
-make_file "$ns2in"
+make_file "$nsin"
 
 # First test:
 # No PMTU discovery, nsr1 is expected to fragment packets from ns1 to ns2 as needed.
+# Due to MTU mismatch in both directions, all packets (except small packets like pure
+# acks) have to be handled by normal forwarding path.  Therefore, packet counters
+# are not checked.
 if test_tcp_forwarding $ns1 $ns2; then
 	echo "PASS: flow offloaded for ns1/ns2"
 else
@@ -338,7 +369,8 @@ ip -net $ns2 route del default via dead:2::1
 ip -net $ns2 route add 192.168.10.1 via 10.0.2.1
 
 # Second test:
-# Same, but with NAT enabled.
+# Same, but with NAT enabled.  Same as in first test: we expect normal forward path
+# to handle most packets.
 ip netns exec $nsr1 nft -f - <<EOF
 table ip nat {
    chain prerouting {
@@ -353,29 +385,27 @@ table ip nat {
 }
 EOF
 
-if test_tcp_forwarding_nat $ns1 $ns2; then
-	echo "PASS: flow offloaded for ns1/ns2 with NAT"
-else
+if ! test_tcp_forwarding_nat $ns1 $ns2 0 ""; then
 	echo "FAIL: flow offload for ns1/ns2 with NAT" 1>&2
 	ip netns exec $nsr1 nft list ruleset
 	ret=1
 fi
 
 # Third test:
-# Same as second test, but with PMTU discovery enabled.
-handle=$(ip netns exec $nsr1 nft -a list table inet filter | grep something-to-grep-for | cut -d \# -f 2)
-
-if ! ip netns exec $nsr1 nft delete rule inet filter forward $handle; then
-	echo "FAIL: Could not delete large-packet accept rule"
-	exit 1
-fi
-
+# Same as second test, but with PMTU discovery enabled. This
+# means that we expect the fastpath to handle packets as soon
+# as the endpoints adjust the packet size.
 ip netns exec $ns1 sysctl net.ipv4.ip_no_pmtu_disc=0 > /dev/null
 ip netns exec $ns2 sysctl net.ipv4.ip_no_pmtu_disc=0 > /dev/null
 
-if test_tcp_forwarding_nat $ns1 $ns2; then
-	echo "PASS: flow offloaded for ns1/ns2 with NAT and pmtu discovery"
-else
+# reset counters.
+# With pmtu in-place we'll also check that nft counters
+# are lower than file size and packets were forwarded via flowtable layer.
+# For earlier tests (large mtus), packets cannot be handled via flowtable
+# (except pure acks and other small packets).
+ip netns exec $nsr1 nft reset counters table inet filter >/dev/null
+
+if ! test_tcp_forwarding_nat $ns1 $ns2 1 ""; then
 	echo "FAIL: flow offload for ns1/ns2 with NAT and pmtu discovery" 1>&2
 	ip netns exec $nsr1 nft list ruleset
 fi
@@ -408,14 +438,13 @@ table ip nat {
 }
 EOF
 
-if test_tcp_forwarding_nat $ns1 $ns2; then
-	echo "PASS: flow offloaded for ns1/ns2 with bridge NAT"
-else
+if ! test_tcp_forwarding_nat $ns1 $ns2 1 "on bridge"; then
 	echo "FAIL: flow offload for ns1/ns2 with bridge NAT" 1>&2
 	ip netns exec $nsr1 nft list ruleset
 	ret=1
 fi
 
+
 # Another test:
 # Add bridge interface br0 to Router1, with NAT and VLAN.
 ip -net $nsr1 link set veth0 nomaster
@@ -433,9 +462,7 @@ ip -net $ns1 addr add 10.0.1.99/24 dev eth0.10
 ip -net $ns1 route add default via 10.0.1.1
 ip -net $ns1 addr add dead:1::99/64 dev eth0.10
 
-if test_tcp_forwarding_nat $ns1 $ns2; then
-	echo "PASS: flow offloaded for ns1/ns2 with bridge NAT and VLAN"
-else
+if ! test_tcp_forwarding_nat $ns1 $ns2 1 "bridge and VLAN"; then
 	echo "FAIL: flow offload for ns1/ns2 with bridge NAT and VLAN" 1>&2
 	ip netns exec $nsr1 nft list ruleset
 	ret=1
@@ -502,7 +529,7 @@ ip -net $ns2 route add default via 10.0.2.1
 ip -net $ns2 route add default via dead:2::1
 
 if test_tcp_forwarding $ns1 $ns2; then
-	echo "PASS: ipsec tunnel mode for ns1/ns2"
+	check_counters "ipsec tunnel mode for ns1/ns2"
 else
 	echo "FAIL: ipsec tunnel mode for ns1/ns2"
 	ip netns exec $nsr1 nft list ruleset 1>&2
