diff --git a/boot/boot-stage-2-init.sh b/boot/boot-stage-2-init.sh
index 9645586b4f5..7e0bee2cdc6 100644
--- a/boot/boot-stage-2-init.sh
+++ b/boot/boot-stage-2-init.sh
@@ -105,6 +105,10 @@ udevtrigger
 udevsettle # wait for udev to finish
 
 
+# !!! Hack - should be done with udev rules.
+chmod 666 /dev/null
+
+
 # Enable a password-less root login.
 source @accounts@
 
@@ -164,7 +168,7 @@ cat > /etc/profile <<EOF
 export PATH=$PATH
 export MODULE_DIR=$MODULE_DIR
 export NIX_CONF_DIR=/nix/etc/nix
-if test "\$HOME" != root; then
+if test "\$USER" != root; then
     export NIX_REMOTE=daemon
 fi
 
diff --git a/configuration/boot-environment.nix b/configuration/boot-environment.nix
index bb82b9787f5..df445fb12db 100644
--- a/configuration/boot-environment.nix
+++ b/configuration/boot-environment.nix
@@ -135,6 +135,11 @@ rec {
         inherit (pkgs) openssh;
       })
 
+      # Nix daemon - required for multi-user Nix.
+      (import ../upstart-jobs/nix-daemon.nix {
+        inherit nix;
+      })
+
       # X server.
       (import ../upstart-jobs/xserver.nix {
         inherit (pkgs) genericSubstituter;
diff --git a/upgrade.sh b/upgrade.sh
index 97dc4fa4826..857b5dc0155 100755
--- a/upgrade.sh
+++ b/upgrade.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 #! /bin/sh
 set -e
-nix-env -p /nix/var/nix/profiles/system -f system-configuration.nix -i -A systemConfiguration
+nix-env -p /nix/var/nix/profiles/system -f configuration/system-configuration.nix -i -A systemConfiguration
 /nix/var/nix/profiles/system/bin/switch-to-configuration
diff --git a/upstart-jobs/nix-daemon.nix b/upstart-jobs/nix-daemon.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a730c9e4d84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/upstart-jobs/nix-daemon.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{nix}:
+
+{
+  name = "nix-daemon";
+  
+  job = "
+    start on startup
+    stop on shutdown
+    set NIX_CONF_DIR=/nix/etc/nix
+    respawn ${nix}/bin/nix-worker --daemon > /dev/null 2>&1
+  ";
+
+}