diff --git a/Makefile-tests.am b/Makefile-tests.am
index 9198eb3183..350209dedb 100644
--- a/Makefile-tests.am
+++ b/Makefile-tests.am
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ _installed_or_uninstalled_test_scripts = \
 	tests/test-pull-mirrorlist.sh \
 	tests/test-summary-update.sh \
 	tests/test-summary-view.sh \
+	tests/test-no-initramfs.sh \
 	$(NULL)
 
 experimental_test_scripts = \
diff --git a/src/boot/grub2/ostree-grub-generator b/src/boot/grub2/ostree-grub-generator
index ad8c2b8301..97ef4d69fb 100644
--- a/src/boot/grub2/ostree-grub-generator
+++ b/src/boot/grub2/ostree-grub-generator
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-# To use a custom script for generating grub.cfg, set the --with-grub2-mkconfig=no
-# configure switch when configuring and building OSTree.
+# The builtin grub.cfg generator.
 #
 # This script is called by ostree/src/libostree/ostree-bootloader-grub2.c whenever
 # boot loader configuration file needs to be updated. It can be used as a template
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@ entries_path=$(dirname $new_grub2_cfg)/entries
 
 read_config()
 {
-    config_file=${entries_path}/${1}
+    config_file=${1}
     title=""
     initrd=""
     options=""
@@ -67,11 +66,13 @@ populate_menu()
     else
         boot_prefix="${OSTREE_BOOT_PARTITION}"
     fi
-    for config in $(ls ${entries_path}); do
+    for config in $(ls $entries_path/*.conf); do
         read_config ${config}
         menu="${menu}menuentry '${title}' {\n"
         menu="${menu}\t linux ${boot_prefix}${linux} ${options}\n"
-        menu="${menu}\t initrd ${boot_prefix}${initrd}\n"
+        if [ -n "${initrd}" ] ; then
+            menu="${menu}\t initrd ${boot_prefix}${initrd}\n"
+        fi
         menu="${menu}}\n\n"
     done
     # The printf command seems to be more reliable across shells for special character (\n, \t) evaluation
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c
index 29c90ea7f5..5dc5bde074 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c
@@ -1700,21 +1700,29 @@ install_deployment_kernel (OstreeSysroot   *sysroot,
   g_autofree char * boot_relpath = g_strconcat ("/", bootcsumdir, "/", kernel_layout->kernel_namever, NULL);
   ostree_bootconfig_parser_set (bootconfig, "linux", boot_relpath);
 
+  val = ostree_bootconfig_parser_get (bootconfig, "options");
+  g_autoptr(OstreeKernelArgs) kargs = _ostree_kernel_args_from_string (val);
+
   if (kernel_layout->initramfs_namever)
     {
       g_autofree char * boot_relpath = g_strconcat ("/", bootcsumdir, "/", kernel_layout->initramfs_namever, NULL);
       ostree_bootconfig_parser_set (bootconfig, "initrd", boot_relpath);
     }
-
-  val = ostree_bootconfig_parser_get (bootconfig, "options");
+  else
+    {
+      g_autofree char *prepare_root_arg = NULL;
+      prepare_root_arg = g_strdup_printf ("init=/ostree/boot.%d/%s/%s/%d/usr/lib/ostree/ostree-prepare-root",
+                                             new_bootversion, osname, bootcsum,
+                                             ostree_deployment_get_bootserial (deployment));
+      _ostree_kernel_args_replace_take (kargs, g_steal_pointer (&prepare_root_arg));
+    }
 
   /* Note this is parsed in ostree-impl-system-generator.c */
   g_autofree char *ostree_kernel_arg = g_strdup_printf ("ostree=/ostree/boot.%d/%s/%s/%d",
                                        new_bootversion, osname, bootcsum,
                                        ostree_deployment_get_bootserial (deployment));
-  g_autoptr(OstreeKernelArgs) kargs = _ostree_kernel_args_from_string (val);
-  _ostree_kernel_args_replace_take (kargs, ostree_kernel_arg);
-  ostree_kernel_arg = NULL;
+  _ostree_kernel_args_replace_take (kargs, g_steal_pointer (&ostree_kernel_arg));
+
   g_autofree char *options_key = _ostree_kernel_args_to_string (kargs);
   ostree_bootconfig_parser_set (bootconfig, "options", options_key);
 
diff --git a/src/ostree/ot-admin-builtin-deploy.c b/src/ostree/ot-admin-builtin-deploy.c
index 83550331d4..8da9dbc3eb 100644
--- a/src/ostree/ot-admin-builtin-deploy.c
+++ b/src/ostree/ot-admin-builtin-deploy.c
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ static char **opt_kernel_argv_append;
 static gboolean opt_kernel_proc_cmdline;
 static char *opt_osname;
 static char *opt_origin_path;
+static gboolean opt_kernel_arg_none;
 
 /* ATTENTION:
  * Please remember to update the bash-completion script (bash/ostree) and
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ static GOptionEntry options[] = {
   { "karg-proc-cmdline", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &opt_kernel_proc_cmdline, "Import current /proc/cmdline", NULL },
   { "karg", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING_ARRAY, &opt_kernel_argv, "Set kernel argument, like root=/dev/sda1; this overrides any earlier argument with the same name", "NAME=VALUE" },
   { "karg-append", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING_ARRAY, &opt_kernel_argv_append, "Append kernel argument; useful with e.g. console= that can be used multiple times", "NAME=VALUE" },
+  { "karg-none", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &opt_kernel_arg_none, "Do not import kernel arguments", NULL },
   { NULL }
 };
 
@@ -79,6 +81,12 @@ ot_admin_builtin_deploy (int argc, char **argv, OstreeCommandInvocation *invocat
       return FALSE;
     }
 
+  if (opt_kernel_proc_cmdline && opt_kernel_arg_none)
+  {
+    ot_util_usage_error (context, "Can't specify both --karg-proc-cmdline and --karg-none", error);
+    return FALSE;
+  }
+
   const char *refspec = argv[1];
 
   OstreeRepo *repo = ostree_sysroot_repo (sysroot);
@@ -130,7 +138,7 @@ ot_admin_builtin_deploy (int argc, char **argv, OstreeCommandInvocation *invocat
       if (!_ostree_kernel_args_append_proc_cmdline (kargs, cancellable, error))
         return FALSE;
     }
-  else if (merge_deployment)
+  else if (merge_deployment && !opt_kernel_arg_none)
     {
       OstreeBootconfigParser *bootconfig = ostree_deployment_get_bootconfig (merge_deployment);
       g_auto(GStrv) previous_args = g_strsplit (ostree_bootconfig_parser_get (bootconfig, "options"), " ", -1);
diff --git a/src/switchroot/ostree-prepare-root.c b/src/switchroot/ostree-prepare-root.c
index 9b8c33818e..43e15fcc3d 100644
--- a/src/switchroot/ostree-prepare-root.c
+++ b/src/switchroot/ostree-prepare-root.c
@@ -102,10 +102,16 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
   struct stat stbuf;
   int we_mounted_proc = 0;
 
-  if (argc < 2)
-    root_arg = "/";
+  if (getpid() == 1)
+    {
+      root_arg = "/";
+    }
   else
-    root_arg = argv[1];
+    {
+      if (argc < 2)
+        err (EXIT_FAILURE, "usage: ostree-prepare-root SYSROOT");
+      root_arg = argv[1];
+    }
 
   if (stat ("/proc/cmdline", &stbuf) < 0)
     {
diff --git a/tests/test-no-initramfs.sh b/tests/test-no-initramfs.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..7c23a3e754
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-no-initramfs.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+. $(dirname $0)/libtest.sh
+
+echo "1..7"
+
+setup_os_repository "archive-z2" "uboot"
+
+cd ${test_tmpdir}
+
+${CMD_PREFIX} ostree --repo=sysroot/ostree/repo remote add --set=gpg-verify=false testos $(cat httpd-address)/ostree/testos-repo
+${CMD_PREFIX} ostree --repo=sysroot/ostree/repo pull testos testos/buildmaster/x86_64-runtime
+${CMD_PREFIX} ostree admin deploy --karg=root=LABEL=rootfs --os=testos testos:testos/buildmaster/x86_64-runtime
+
+assert_file_has_content sysroot/boot/loader/entries/ostree-testos-0.conf 'root=LABEL=rootfs'
+assert_not_file_has_content sysroot/boot/loader/entries/ostree-testos-0.conf 'init='
+
+echo "ok deployment with initramfs"
+
+pull_test_tree() {
+    kernel_contents=$1
+    initramfs_contents=$2
+
+    printf "TEST SETUP:\n    kernel: %s\n    initramfs: %s\n    layout: %s\n" \
+        "$kernel_contents" "$initramfs_contents" "$layout"
+
+    rm -rf ${test_tmpdir}/osdata/usr/lib/modules/3.6.0/{initramfs.img,vmlinuz} \
+           ${test_tmpdir}/osdata/usr/lib/ostree-boot \
+           ${test_tmpdir}/osdata/boot
+    if [ "$layout" = "/usr/lib/modules" ]; then
+        # Fedora compatible layout
+        cd ${test_tmpdir}/osdata/usr/lib/modules/3.6.0
+        echo -n "$kernel_contents" > vmlinuz
+        [ -n "$initramfs_contents" ] && echo -n "$initramfs_contents" > initramfs.img
+    elif [ "$layout" = "/usr/lib/ostree-boot" ] || [ "$layout" = "/boot" ]; then
+        # "Legacy" layout
+        mkdir -p "${test_tmpdir}/osdata/$layout"
+        cd "${test_tmpdir}/osdata/$layout"
+        bootcsum=$(echo -n "$kernel_contents$initramfs_contents" \
+                   | sha256sum | cut -f 1 -d ' ')
+        echo -n "$kernel_contents" > vmlinuz-${bootcsum}
+        [ -n "$initramfs_contents" ] && echo -n "$initramfs_contents" > initramfs-${bootcsum}
+    else
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    cd -
+    ${CMD_PREFIX} ostree --repo=${test_tmpdir}/testos-repo commit --tree=dir=osdata/ -b testos/buildmaster/x86_64-runtime
+    ${CMD_PREFIX} ostree pull testos:testos/buildmaster/x86_64-runtime
+}
+
+get_key_from_bootloader_conf() {
+    conffile=$1
+    key=$2
+
+    assert_file_has_content "$conffile" "^$key"
+    awk "/^$key/ { print \$2 }" "$conffile"
+}
+
+for layout in /usr/lib/modules /usr/lib/ostree-boot /boot;
+do
+    pull_test_tree "the kernel only"
+    ${CMD_PREFIX} ostree admin deploy --os=testos --karg=root=/dev/sda2 --karg=rootwait testos:testos/buildmaster/x86_64-runtime
+    assert_file_has_content sysroot/boot/loader/entries/ostree-testos-0.conf 'rootwait'
+    assert_file_has_content sysroot/boot/loader/entries/ostree-testos-0.conf 'init='
+    assert_not_file_has_content sysroot/boot/loader/entries/ostree-testos-0.conf 'initrd'
+
+    echo "ok switching to bootdir with no initramfs layout=$layout"
+
+    pull_test_tree "the kernel" "initramfs to assist the kernel"
+    ${CMD_PREFIX} ostree admin deploy --os=testos --karg-none --karg=root=LABEL=rootfs testos:testos/buildmaster/x86_64-runtime
+    assert_file_has_content sysroot/boot/loader/entries/ostree-testos-0.conf 'initrd'
+    assert_file_has_content sysroot/boot/$(get_key_from_bootloader_conf sysroot/boot/loader/entries/ostree-testos-0.conf "initrd") "initramfs to assist the kernel"
+    assert_file_has_content sysroot/boot/loader/entries/ostree-testos-0.conf 'root=LABEL=rootfs'
+    assert_not_file_has_content sysroot/boot/loader/entries/ostree-testos-0.conf 'rootwait'
+    assert_not_file_has_content sysroot/boot/loader/entries/ostree-testos-0.conf 'init='
+
+    echo "ok switching from no initramfs to initramfs enabled sysroot layout=$layout"
+done