diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 4582f2a26..f25b71eaa 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -185,6 +185,13 @@ dependencies = [
  "tracing",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bootc-initramfs-setup"
+version = "0.1.0"
+dependencies = [
+ "anyhow",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bootc-internal-blockdev"
 version = "0.0.0"
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 3515f73e3..09d3dec67 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ EORUN
 # bootc binaries in /out. The intention is that the target rootfs is extracted from /out
 # back into a final stae (without the build deps etc) below.
 FROM base as build
+# Flip this on to enable initramfs code
+ARG initramfs=0
 # This installs our package dependencies, and we want to cache it independently of the rest.
 # Basically we don't want changing a .rs file to blow out the cache of packages. So we only
 # copy files necessary
@@ -59,8 +61,14 @@ COPY --from=src /src /src
 WORKDIR /src
 # See https://www.reddit.com/r/rust/comments/126xeyx/exploring_the_problem_of_faster_cargo_docker/
 # We aren't using the full recommendations there, just the simple bits.
-RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/build/target --mount=type=cache,target=/var/roothome \
-    make && make install-all DESTDIR=/out
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/build/target --mount=type=cache,target=/var/roothome <<EORUN
+set -xeuo pipefail
+make
+make install-all DESTDIR=/out
+if test "${initramfs:-}" = 1; then
+  make install-initramfs-dracut DESTDIR=/out
+fi
+EORUN
 
 # This "build" just runs our unit tests
 FROM build as units
@@ -74,6 +82,10 @@ FROM base
 COPY --from=build /out/ /
 RUN <<EORUN
 set -xeuo pipefail
+if test -x /usr/lib/bootc/initramfs-setup; then
+   kver=$(cd /usr/lib/modules && echo *);
+   env DRACUT_NO_XATTR=1 dracut -vf /usr/lib/modules/$kver/initramfs.img $kver
+fi
 # Only in this containerfile, inject a file which signifies
 # this comes from this development image. This can be used in
 # tests to know we're doing upstream CI.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b0ef7b3d5..d31c75c4e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -53,9 +53,19 @@ install-ostree-hooks:
 	  ln -sf ../../../bin/bootc $(DESTDIR)$(prefix)/libexec/libostree/ext/$$x; \
 	done
 
+# Install code in the initramfs, off by default except in builds from git main right now
+# Also the systemd unit hardcodes /usr so we give up the farce of supporting $(prefix)
+install-initramfs:
+	install -D -m 0644 -t $(DESTDIR)/usr/lib/systemd/system crates/initramfs/*.service
+	install -D -m 0755 target/release/bootc-initramfs-setup $(DESTDIR)/usr/lib/bootc/initramfs-setup
+
+# Install initramfs files, including dracut module
+install-initramfs-dracut: install-initramfs
+	install -D -m 0755 -t $(DESTDIR)/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/51bootc crates/initramfs/dracut/module-setup.sh
+
 # Install the main binary, the ostree hooks, and the integration test suite.
 install-all: install install-ostree-hooks
-	install -D -m 0755 target/release/tests-integration $(DESTDIR)$(prefix)/bin/bootc-integration-tests 
+	install -D -m 0755 target/release/tests-integration $(DESTDIR)$(prefix)/bin/bootc-integration-tests
 
 bin-archive: all
 	$(MAKE) install DESTDIR=tmp-install && $(TAR_REPRODUCIBLE) --zstd -C tmp-install -cf target/bootc.tar.zst . && rm tmp-install -rf
diff --git a/crates/initramfs/Cargo.toml b/crates/initramfs/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..81bd62973
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/initramfs/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+[package]
+name = "bootc-initramfs-setup"
+version = "0.1.0"
+license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0"
+edition = "2021"
+publish = false
+
+[dependencies]
+anyhow.workspace = true
+
+[lints]
+workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/initramfs/bootc-root-setup.service b/crates/initramfs/bootc-root-setup.service
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aab7de785
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/initramfs/bootc-root-setup.service
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=bootc setup root
+Documentation=man:bootc(1)
+DefaultDependencies=no
+# For now
+ConditionKernelCommandLine=ostree
+ConditionPathExists=/etc/initrd-release
+After=sysroot.mount
+After=ostree-prepare-root.service
+Requires=sysroot.mount
+Before=initrd-root-fs.target
+
+OnFailure=emergency.target
+OnFailureJobMode=isolate
+
+[Service]
+Type=oneshot
+ExecStart=/usr/lib/bootc/initramfs-setup setup-root
+StandardInput=null
+StandardOutput=journal
+StandardError=journal+console
+RemainAfterExit=yes
diff --git a/crates/initramfs/dracut/module-setup.sh b/crates/initramfs/dracut/module-setup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..39dfe2388
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/initramfs/dracut/module-setup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+installkernel() {
+    instmods erofs overlay
+}
+check() {
+    require_binaries /usr/lib/bootc/initramfs-setup || return 1
+}
+depends() {
+    return 0
+}
+install() {
+    local service=bootc-root-setup.service
+    dracut_install /usr/lib/bootc/initramfs-setup
+    inst_simple "${systemdsystemunitdir}/${service}"
+    mkdir -p "${initdir}${systemdsystemconfdir}/initrd-root-fs.target.wants"
+    ln_r "${systemdsystemunitdir}/${service}" \
+        "${systemdsystemconfdir}/initrd-root-fs.target.wants/${service}"
+}
diff --git a/crates/initramfs/src/main.rs b/crates/initramfs/src/main.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..51b5f551d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/initramfs/src/main.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+//! Code for bootc that goes into the initramfs.
+//! At the current time, this is mostly just a no-op.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 OR MIT
+
+use anyhow::Result;
+
+fn setup_root() -> Result<()> {
+    let _ = std::fs::metadata("/sysroot/usr")?;
+    println!("setup OK");
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn main() -> Result<()> {
+    let v = std::env::args().collect::<Vec<_>>();
+    let args = match v.as_slice() {
+        [] => anyhow::bail!("Missing argument".to_string()),
+        [_, rest @ ..] => rest,
+    };
+    match args {
+        [] => anyhow::bail!("Missing argument".to_string()),
+        [s] if s == "setup-root" => setup_root(),
+        [o, ..] => anyhow::bail!(format!("Unknown command {o}")),
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tmt/tests/booted/readonly/051-test-initramfs.nu b/tmt/tests/booted/readonly/051-test-initramfs.nu
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..150054eee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tmt/tests/booted/readonly/051-test-initramfs.nu
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+use std assert
+use tap.nu
+
+tap begin "initramfs"
+
+if (not ("/usr/lib/bootc/initramfs-setup" | path exists)) {
+    print "No initramfs support"
+    exit 0
+}
+
+journalctl -b -t bootc-root-setup.service --grep=OK
+
+tap ok