diff --git a/src/confd/src/core.c b/src/confd/src/core.c
index 8dd041a2..cfc5091e 100644
--- a/src/confd/src/core.c
+++ b/src/confd/src/core.c
@@ -9,7 +9,12 @@ static uint32_t hook_prio = CB_PRIO_PASSIVE;
 static int num_changes;
 static int cur_change;
 
-static int startup_save_hook(sr_session_ctx_t *session, uint32_t sub_id, const char *module,
+uint32_t core_hook_prio(void)
+{
+	return hook_prio--;
+}
+
+int core_startup_save(sr_session_ctx_t *session, uint32_t sub_id, const char *module,
 	const char *xpath, sr_event_t event, unsigned request_id, void *priv)
 {
 	if (systemf("sysrepocfg -X/cfg/startup-config.cfg -d startup -f json"))
@@ -18,11 +23,6 @@ static int startup_save_hook(sr_session_ctx_t *session, uint32_t sub_id, const c
 	return SR_ERR_OK;
 }
 
-uint32_t core_hook_prio(void)
-{
-	return hook_prio--;
-}
-
 /*
  * Run on UPDATE to see how many modules have changes in the inbound changeset
  * Run on DONE, after the last module callback has run, to activate changes.
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ static const struct srx_module_requirement core_reqs[] = {
 
 int sr_plugin_init_cb(sr_session_ctx_t *session, void **priv)
 {
-	sr_session_ctx_t *startup;
 	int rc = SR_ERR_SYS;
 
 	openlog("confd", LOG_USER, 0);
@@ -80,6 +79,11 @@ int sr_plugin_init_cb(sr_session_ctx_t *session, void **priv)
 	if (!confd.conn)
 		goto err;
 
+	/* The startup datastore is used for the core_startup_save() hook */
+	rc = sr_session_start(confd.conn, SR_DS_STARTUP, &confd.startup);
+	if (rc)
+		goto err;
+
 	confd.aug = aug_init(NULL, "", 0);
 	if (!confd.aug)
 		goto err;
@@ -93,18 +97,6 @@ int sr_plugin_init_cb(sr_session_ctx_t *session, void **priv)
 
 	/* YOUR_INIT GOES HERE */
 
-	/* Set up hook to save startup-config to persistent backend store */
-	rc = sr_session_start(confd.conn, SR_DS_STARTUP, &startup);
-	if (rc)
-		goto err;
-
-	rc = sr_module_change_subscribe(startup, "ietf-system", "/ietf-system:system//.",
-		startup_save_hook, NULL, CB_PRIO_PASSIVE, SR_SUBSCR_PASSIVE | SR_SUBSCR_DONE_ONLY, &confd.sub);
-	if (rc) {
-		ERROR("failed setting up startup-config hook: %s", sr_strerror(rc));
-		goto err;
-	}
-
 	rc = srx_require_modules(confd.conn, core_reqs);
 	if (rc)
 		goto err;
diff --git a/src/confd/src/core.h b/src/confd/src/core.h
index b0970268..2e913fa3 100644
--- a/src/confd/src/core.h
+++ b/src/confd/src/core.h
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@ static inline void print_val(sr_val_t *val)
 		goto fail
 
 struct confd {
-	sr_session_ctx_t       *session;
+	sr_session_ctx_t       *session; /* running datastore */
+	sr_session_ctx_t       *startup; /* startup datastore */
 	sr_conn_ctx_t          *conn;
 	sr_subscription_ctx_t  *sub;
 
@@ -70,23 +71,39 @@ struct confd {
 	struct dagger		netdag;
 };
 
-uint32_t core_hook_prio(void);
-
-int core_commit_done(sr_session_ctx_t *session, uint32_t sub_id, const char *module,
-	const char *xpath, sr_event_t event, unsigned request_id, void *priv);
+uint32_t core_hook_prio    (void);
+int      core_commit_done  (sr_session_ctx_t *, uint32_t, const char *, const char *, sr_event_t, unsigned, void *);
+int      core_startup_save (sr_session_ctx_t *, uint32_t, const char *, const char *, sr_event_t, unsigned, void *);
 
 static inline int register_change(sr_session_ctx_t *session, const char *module, const char *xpath,
 	int flags, sr_module_change_cb cb, void *arg, sr_subscription_ctx_t **sub)
 {
 	int hook_flags = SR_SUBSCR_UPDATE | SR_SUBSCR_DONE_ONLY | SR_SUBSCR_PASSIVE;
-	int rc = sr_module_change_subscribe(session, module, xpath, cb, arg,
+	struct confd *confd = (struct confd *)arg;
+	int rc;
+
+	rc = sr_module_change_subscribe(session, module, xpath, cb, arg,
 				CB_PRIO_PRIMARY, flags | SR_SUBSCR_DEFAULT, sub);
-	if (rc)
+	if (rc) {
 		ERROR("failed subscribing to changes of %s: %s", xpath, sr_strerror(rc));
-	else if (!flags)
-		sr_module_change_subscribe(session, module, xpath, core_commit_done, NULL,
+		return rc;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * For standard subscribtions we hook into the callback chain
+	 * for all modules to figure out, per changeset, which of the
+	 * callbacks is the last one.  This is where we want to call the
+	 * global commit-done hook for candidate -> running changes and
+	 * the startup-save hook for running -> startup copying.
+	 */
+	if (!flags) {
+		sr_module_change_subscribe(confd->session, module, xpath, core_commit_done, NULL,
 				core_hook_prio(), hook_flags, sub);
-	return rc;
+		sr_module_change_subscribe(confd->startup, module, xpath, core_startup_save, NULL,
+				core_hook_prio(), hook_flags, sub);
+	}
+
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static inline int register_oper(sr_session_ctx_t *session, const char *module, const char *xpath,