diff --git a/board/aarch64/espressobin/genimage.cfg b/board/aarch64/espressobin/genimage.cfg
index ef3490c3..7da1c2cd 100644
--- a/board/aarch64/espressobin/genimage.cfg
+++ b/board/aarch64/espressobin/genimage.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-image rw.ext4 {
+image cfg.ext4 {
 	ext4 {
-		label = "infix-rw"
+		label = "cfg"
 	}
 	empty = true
 	size = 16M
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ image sdcard.img {
 		image = "rootfs.ext4"
 	}
 
-	partition rw {
+	partition cfg {
 		partition-type = 0x83
-		image = "rw.ext4"
+		image = "cfg.ext4"
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/board/amd64/genimage.cfg b/board/amd64/genimage.cfg
index 52c471ab..50a1e3e5 100644
--- a/board/amd64/genimage.cfg
+++ b/board/amd64/genimage.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-image rw.ext4 {
+image cfg.ext4 {
 	ext4 {
-		label = "infix-rw"
+		label = "cfg"
 	}
 	empty = true
 	size = 16M
diff --git a/board/common/mkgns3a.sh b/board/common/mkgns3a.sh
index 5cdf230b..14334d42 100755
--- a/board/common/mkgns3a.sh
+++ b/board/common/mkgns3a.sh
@@ -33,9 +33,9 @@ cat <<EOF >"$BINARIES_DIR/infix.gns3a"
             "version": "0.0"
         },
         {
-            "filename": "rw.ext4",
-            "filesize": $(stat --printf='%s' "$BINARIES_DIR/rw.ext4"),
-            "md5sum": "$(md5sum "$BINARIES_DIR/rw.ext4" | awk '{print $1}')",
+            "filename": "cfg.ext4",
+            "filesize": $(stat --printf='%s' "$BINARIES_DIR/cfg.ext4"),
+            "md5sum": "$(md5sum "$BINARIES_DIR/cfg.ext4" | awk '{print $1}')",
             "version": "0.0"
         }
     ],
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ cat <<EOF >"$BINARIES_DIR/infix.gns3a"
             "name": "0.0",
             "images": {
                 "cdrom_image": "rootfs.iso9660",
-                "hda_disk_image": "rw.ext4"
+                "hda_disk_image": "cfg.ext4"
             }
         }
     ]
diff --git a/board/common/rootfs/rw/.empty b/board/common/rootfs/cfg/.empty
similarity index 100%
rename from board/common/rootfs/rw/.empty
rename to board/common/rootfs/cfg/.empty
diff --git a/board/common/rootfs/etc/fstab b/board/common/rootfs/etc/fstab
index 7c7239e7..d1d24a5a 100644
--- a/board/common/rootfs/etc/fstab
+++ b/board/common/rootfs/etc/fstab
@@ -14,26 +14,10 @@ cfgfs		/config		configfs	nofail,noauto		0	0
 # Optional host share when running in Qemu
 hostfs		/host		9p		nofail,cache=none,msize=16384	0	0
 
-# Use persistent storage if available, fallback to ramdisk otherwise
-LABEL=infix-rw	/rw		auto		noatime,nodiratime,noauto	0	0
-tmpfs-rw	/rw		tmpfs		noatime,nodiratime,noauto	0	0
-/lib/infix/mount-rw# /rw	helper		none				0	0
-
-# Ensure that all overlay directories are available
-mkdir#-p#-m0755	/tmp/infix/var.u	helper	none	0	0
-mkdir#-p#-m0755	/tmp/infix/var.w	helper	none	0	0
-mkdir#-p#-m0755	/rw/infix/varlib.u	helper	none	0	0
-mkdir#-p#-m0755	/rw/infix/varlib.w	helper	none	0	0
-mkdir#-p#-m0755	/rw/infix/etc.u		helper	none	0	0
-mkdir#-p#-m0755	/rw/infix/etc.w		helper	none	0	0
-mkdir#-p#-m0700	/rw/infix/root.u	helper	none	0	0
-mkdir#-p#-m0700	/rw/infix/root.w	helper	none	0	0
-mkdir#-p#-m0700	/rw/infix/home.u	helper	none	0	0
-mkdir#-p#-m0700	/rw/infix/home.w	helper	none	0	0
-
-# Overlay selected parts of the fileinfix with persistent storage
-rw-var	/var		overlay	lowerdir=/var,upperdir=/tmp/infix/var.u,workdir=/tmp/infix/var.w		0	0
-rw-vlib	/var/lib	overlay	lowerdir=/var/lib,upperdir=/rw/infix/varlib.u,workdir=/rw/infix/varlib.w	0	0
-rw-etc	/etc		overlay	lowerdir=/etc,upperdir=/rw/infix/etc.u,workdir=/rw/infix/etc.w			0	0
-rw-root	/root		overlay	lowerdir=/root,upperdir=/rw/infix/root.u,workdir=/rw/infix/root.w		0	0
-rw-home	/home		overlay	lowerdir=/home,upperdir=/rw/infix/home.u,workdir=/rw/infix/home.w		0	0
+# The chosen backing storage for the overlays placed on /cfg, /etc,
+# /home, /root, and /var, are determined dynamically by /lib/infix/mnt
+# depending on the available devices.
+mnttmp		/mnt/tmp	tmpfs		defaults			0	0
+LABEL=var	/mnt/var	auto		noatime,nodiratime,noauto	0	0
+LABEL=cfg	/mnt/cfg	auto		noatime,nodiratime,noauto	0	0
+/lib/infix/mnt# /cfg		helper		none				0	0
diff --git a/board/common/rootfs/etc/profile.d/factory.sh b/board/common/rootfs/etc/profile.d/factory.sh
index e4f586a5..90bf3a2d 100755
--- a/board/common/rootfs/etc/profile.d/factory.sh
+++ b/board/common/rootfs/etc/profile.d/factory.sh
@@ -1 +1 @@
-alias factory='read -N 1 -p "Factory reset requires a reboot, continue (y/N)? " yorn; echo; if [ "$yorn" = "y" ]; then touch /rw/infix/.reset; reboot; fi'
+alias factory='read -N 1 -p "Factory reset requires a reboot, continue (y/N)? " yorn; echo; if [ "$yorn" = "y" ]; then touch /mnt/cfg/infix/.reset; reboot; fi'
diff --git a/board/common/rootfs/lib/infix/mnt b/board/common/rootfs/lib/infix/mnt
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..95cf2f1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/board/common/rootfs/lib/infix/mnt
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Called from /etc/fstab to ensure we have something writable mounted
+# at /cfg, /etc, /home, /root, and /var.
+#
+# /mnt/cfg is used to store device modifications made to /etc, /home,
+# /root.
+#
+# /mnt/var is used as the backins store for /var. If /mnt/var is not
+# available, /mnt/cfg will still be be used to persist /var/lib.
+#
+# If a disk partiion with the corresponding label ("cfg"/"var") is
+# available, that is used to persist changes to the aforementioned
+# directories. Otherwise fall back to a tmpfs based RAM disk. This
+# effectively brings up the system with the default configuration, but
+# obviously any subsequent configuration is ephemeral.
+
+set -e
+
+nm=$(basename $0)
+err=0
+opt="-k"
+
+mount_rw()
+{
+    # If something is already setup, leave it be.
+    mountpoint -q /$1 && return 0
+
+    # TODO: Also look for UBI partitions
+    mount LABEL=$1 && return 0
+
+    return 1
+}
+
+mount_overlay()
+{
+    local tag=$1
+    local src=$2
+    local dst=$3
+    local u=$src/infix/$tag.u
+    local w=$src/infix/$tag.w
+
+    mkdir -p -m 0755 $u
+    mkdir -p -m 0755 $w
+
+    mount -t overlay $tag-overlay $dst \
+	  -o lowerdir=$dst,upperdir=$u,workdir=$w
+}
+
+use_etc()
+{
+    # Finit's condition system is not yet bootstrapped when /etc/fstab
+    # is parsed, so we have to manually check for the boot/etc
+    # condition.
+    cat /proc/1/cmdline | awk '
+	$0 == "finit.cond" {
+		cond=1;
+		next;
+	}
+	cond == 1 {
+		exit(index($0, "etc") == 0);
+	}
+    '
+}
+
+# Fall back to console logging if sysklogd is too old
+if ! logger -? |grep -q "Log to kernel"; then
+    opt="-c"
+fi
+
+varsrc=/mnt/var
+if ! mount_rw var >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    logger $opt -p user.warn -t "$nm" \
+	   "No persistent storage found for /var, only /var/lib is persisted."
+    varsrc=/mnt/tmp
+    vlibsrc=/mnt/cfg
+fi
+
+cfgsrc=/mnt/cfg
+etcsrc=/mnt/tmp
+if ! mount_rw cfg; then
+    err=1
+
+    logger $opt -p user.crit -t "$nm" \
+	   "No persistent storage found for /cfg, falling back to tmpfs."
+
+    cfgsrc=/mnt/tmp
+
+    # Even if /mnt/var isn't available, if /mnt/cfg isn't either, then
+    # there's no point in overlaying one ramdisk on top of another.
+    vlibsrc=
+else
+    if use_etc; then
+	etcsrc=/mnt/cfg
+    fi
+
+    # Check for factory reset
+    if [ -f /mnt/cfg/infix/.reset ]; then
+	logger $opt -p user.crit -t "$nm" "Resetting to factory defaults."
+	rm -rf /mnt/cfg/infix /mnt/var/infix
+	sync
+    fi
+
+    # Ensure that all users in wheel can create the .reset file
+    mkdir -p /mnt/cfg/infix
+    chgrp wheel /mnt/cfg/infix
+fi
+
+
+mount_overlay cfg  $cfgsrc /cfg
+mount_overlay etc  $etcsrc /etc
+mount_overlay home $cfgsrc /home
+mount_overlay root $cfgsrc /root
+mount_overlay var  $varsrc /var
+
+[ "$vlibsrc" ] && mount_overlay vlib $vlibsrc /var/lib
+
+exit $err
diff --git a/board/common/rootfs/lib/infix/mount-rw b/board/common/rootfs/lib/infix/mount-rw
deleted file mode 100755
index 9aaba710..00000000
--- a/board/common/rootfs/lib/infix/mount-rw
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-
-# Called from /etc/fstab to ensure we have something writable mounted
-# at /rw, which is used by Infix to store device modifications made
-# to /etc, /home, /root, and /var/lib.
-#
-# If a disk partiion labeled "infix-rw" is available, that is used to
-# persist changes to the aforementioned directories. Otherwise fall
-# back to a tmpfs based RAM disk. This effectively brings up the
-# system with the default configuration, but obviously any subsequent
-# configuration is ephemeral.
-
-set -e
-
-nm=$(basename $0)
-err=0
-opt="-k"
-
-mount_rw()
-{
-    # If something is already setup, leave it be.
-    mountpoint -q /rw && return 0
-
-    # TODO: Also look for UBI partitions
-    mount $tab LABEL=infix-rw && return 0
-
-    return 1
-}
-
-if ! mount_rw; then
-    err=1
-
-    logger $opt -p user.crit -t "$nm" \
-	   "No persistent storage found for /rw, falling back to tmpfs."
-
-    mount tmpfs-rw
-fi
-
-# fall back to console logging if sysklogd is too old
-if ! logger -? |grep -q "Log to kernel"; then
-    opt="-c"
-fi
-
-# Allow users in wheel group to write to /rw
-chgrp wheel /rw && chmod g+w   /rw
-
-# Check for factory reset
-if [ -f /rw/infix/.reset ]; then
-	logger $opt -p user.crit -t "$nm" "Resetting to factory defaults."
-	rm -rf /rw/infix/* /rw/infix/.reset
-	sync
-fi
-
-exit $err
diff --git a/board/common/rootfs/mnt/cfg/.empty b/board/common/rootfs/mnt/cfg/.empty
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/board/common/rootfs/mnt/tmp/.empty b/board/common/rootfs/mnt/tmp/.empty
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/board/common/rootfs/mnt/var/.empty b/board/common/rootfs/mnt/var/.empty
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/qemu/Config.in b/qemu/Config.in
index e5ba5a8b..d9f348fd 100644
--- a/qemu/Config.in
+++ b/qemu/Config.in
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ config QEMU_ROOTFS
 
 config QEMU_RW
 	string "Writable layer"
-	default "images/rw.ext4"
+	default "images/cfg.ext4"
 
 config QEMU_CONSOLE
 	string
diff --git a/qemu/qemu.sh b/qemu/qemu.sh
index 74be3aa5..db82ed6d 100755
--- a/qemu/qemu.sh
+++ b/qemu/qemu.sh
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ rw_args()
 
     if ! [ -f "$QEMU_RW" ]; then
 	dd if=/dev/zero of="$QEMU_RW" bs=16M count=1 >/dev/null 2>&1
-	mkfs.ext4 -L infix-rw "$QEMU_RW"             >/dev/null 2>&1
+	mkfs.ext4 -L cfg "$QEMU_RW"             >/dev/null 2>&1
     fi
 
     echo -n "-drive file=$QEMU_RW,if=virtio,format=raw,bus=0,unit=1 "