diff --git a/modules/installer/cd-dvd/iso-image.nix b/modules/installer/cd-dvd/iso-image.nix
index 15ac3449207..8117d8631f5 100644
--- a/modules/installer/cd-dvd/iso-image.nix
+++ b/modules/installer/cd-dvd/iso-image.nix
@@ -174,11 +174,9 @@ in
   # Closures to be copied to the Nix store on the CD, namely the init
   # script and the top-level system configuration directory.
   isoImage.storeContents =
-    [ config.system.build.bootStage2
-      config.system.build.toplevel
-    ] ++ 
-    (optional config.isoImage.includeSystemBuildDependencies
-      config.system.build.toplevel.drvPath);
+    [ config.system.build.toplevel ] ++ 
+    optional config.isoImage.includeSystemBuildDependencies
+      config.system.build.toplevel.drvPath;
 
   # Create the squashfs image that contains the Nix store.
   system.build.squashfsStore = import ../../../lib/make-squashfs.nix {
@@ -220,7 +218,7 @@ in
   boot.loader.grub.extraEntries =
     ''
       menuentry "NixOS Installer / Rescue" {
-        linux /boot/bzImage init=${config.system.build.bootStage2} systemConfig=${config.system.build.toplevel} ${toString config.boot.kernelParams}
+        linux /boot/bzImage init=${config.system.build.toplevel}/init ${toString config.boot.kernelParams}
         initrd /boot/initrd
       }
 
diff --git a/modules/installer/cd-dvd/system-tarball.nix b/modules/installer/cd-dvd/system-tarball.nix
index 70bb12eac00..5ca6b0e9fef 100644
--- a/modules/installer/cd-dvd/system-tarball.nix
+++ b/modules/installer/cd-dvd/system-tarball.nix
@@ -34,8 +34,7 @@ let
   # A clue for the uboot loading
   ubootKernelParams = pkgs.writeText "uboot-kernel-params.txt" ''
     Kernel Parameters:
-      init=${config.system.build.bootStage2}
-      systemConfig=${config.system.build.toplevel}
+      init=${config.system.build.toplevel}/init
       ${toString config.boot.kernelParams}
   '';
 
@@ -70,12 +69,7 @@ in
   # Closures to be copied to the Nix store on the CD, namely the init
   # script and the top-level system configuration directory.
   tarball.storeContents =
-    [ {
-        object = config.system.build.bootStage2;
-        symlink = "none";
-      }
-      {
-        object = config.system.build.toplevel;
+    [ { object = config.system.build.toplevel;
         symlink = "/var/run/current-system";
       }
     ];
diff --git a/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix b/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix
index 36f8b05c9d2..92615c78f32 100644
--- a/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix
+++ b/modules/system/activation/top-level.nix
@@ -103,13 +103,15 @@ let
         ln -s $grub $out/grub
       fi
       
-      ln -s ${config.system.build.bootStage2} $out/init
       ln -s ${config.system.build.initialRamdisk}/initrd $out/initrd
       
       echo "$activationScript" > $out/activate
       substituteInPlace $out/activate --subst-var out
       chmod u+x $out/activate
       unset activationScript
+
+      cp ${config.system.build.bootStage2} $out/init
+      substituteInPlace $out/init --subst-var-by systemConfig $out
       
       ln -s ${config.system.build.etc}/etc $out/etc
       ln -s ${config.system.path} $out/sw
diff --git a/modules/system/boot/stage-2-init.sh b/modules/system/boot/stage-2-init.sh
index 9a1d49c981c..b00baf8a075 100644
--- a/modules/system/boot/stage-2-init.sh
+++ b/modules/system/boot/stage-2-init.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #! @shell@
 
-# !!! copied from stage 1; remove duplication
+systemConfig=@systemConfig@
 
 
 # Print a greeting.
@@ -56,11 +56,6 @@ rm -f /etc/mtab* # not that we care about stale locks
 cat /proc/mounts > /etc/mtab
 
 
-# If no `systemConfig' parameter is specified on the kernel command
-# line, use a fallback.
-systemConfig=/nix/var/nix/profiles/system
-
-
 # Process the kernel command line.
 for o in $(cat /proc/cmdline); do
     case $o in
@@ -79,10 +74,6 @@ for o in $(cat /proc/cmdline); do
         safemode)
             safeMode=1
             ;;
-        systemConfig=*)
-            set -- $(IFS==; echo $o)
-            systemConfig=$2
-            ;;
         resume=*)
             set -- $(IFS==; echo $o)
             resumeDevice=$2
@@ -90,8 +81,6 @@ for o in $(cat /proc/cmdline); do
     esac
 done
 
-systemConfig="$(readlink -f "$systemConfig")"
-
 
 # More special file systems, initialise required directories.
 mkdir -m 0777 /dev/shm
@@ -153,19 +142,16 @@ fi
 # Run the script that performs all configuration activation that does
 # not have to be done at boot time.
 echo "running activation script..."
-"$systemConfig"/activate
+$systemConfig/activate
 
 
 # Record the boot configuration.
-if test -n "$systemConfig"; then
-    ln -sfn "$systemConfig" /var/run/booted-system
+ln -sfn "$systemConfig" /var/run/booted-system
 
-    # Prevent the booted system form being garbage-collected
-    # If it weren't a gcroot, if we were running a different kernel,
-    # switched system, and garbage collected all, we could not load
-    # kernel modules anymore.
-    ln -sfn /var/run/booted-system /nix/var/nix/gcroots/booted-system
-fi
+# Prevent the booted system form being garbage-collected If it weren't
+# a gcroot, if we were running a different kernel, switched system,
+# and garbage collected all, we could not load kernel modules anymore.
+ln -sfn /var/run/booted-system /nix/var/nix/gcroots/booted-system
 
 
 # Ensure that the module tools can find the kernel modules.
diff --git a/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix b/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix
index cac221d8c22..005e4ebfb54 100644
--- a/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix
+++ b/modules/virtualisation/qemu-vm.nix
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ let
             -drive file=$NIX_DISK_IMAGE,if=virtio,boot=on,cache=writeback,werror=report \
             -kernel ${config.system.build.toplevel}/kernel \
             -initrd ${config.system.build.toplevel}/initrd \
-            -append "$(cat ${config.system.build.toplevel}/kernel-params) init=${config.system.build.bootStage2} systemConfig=${config.system.build.toplevel} regInfo=${regInfo} ${kernelConsole} $QEMU_KERNEL_PARAMS" \
+            -append "$(cat ${config.system.build.toplevel}/kernel-params) init=${config.system.build.toplevel}/init regInfo=${regInfo} ${kernelConsole} $QEMU_KERNEL_PARAMS" \
           ''} \
           ${qemuGraphics} \
           $QEMU_OPTS \