diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-core.c b/src/libostree/ostree-core.c
index 87f29108..2d70e226 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-core.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-core.c
@@ -1348,11 +1348,22 @@ get_delta_path (const char *from,
                 const char *target)
 {
   char prefix[3];
-  prefix[0] = from[0];
-  prefix[1] = from[1];
-  prefix[2] = '\0';
-  from += 2;
-  return g_strconcat ("deltas/", prefix, "/", from, "-", to, "/", target, NULL);
+  if (from == NULL)
+    {
+      prefix[0] = to[0];
+      prefix[1] = to[1];
+      prefix[2] = '\0';
+      to += 2;
+      return g_strconcat ("deltas/", prefix, "/", to, "/", target, NULL);
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      prefix[0] = from[0];
+      prefix[1] = from[1];
+      prefix[2] = '\0';
+      from += 2;
+      return g_strconcat ("deltas/", prefix, "/", from, "-", to, "/", target, NULL);
+    }
 }
 
 char *
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-diff.c b/src/libostree/ostree-diff.c
index 6749b654..150d3345 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-diff.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-diff.c
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ diff_add_dir_recurse (GFile          *d,
 /**
  * ostree_diff_dirs:
  * @flags: Flags
- * @a: First directory path
+ * @a: First directory path, or %NULL
  * @b: First directory path
  * @modified: (element-type OstreeDiffItem): Modified files
  * @removed: (element-type Gio.File): Removed files
@@ -231,6 +231,15 @@ ostree_diff_dirs (OstreeDiffFlags flags,
   gs_unref_object GFileInfo *child_a_info = NULL;
   gs_unref_object GFileInfo *child_b_info = NULL;
 
+  if (a == NULL)
+    {
+      if (!diff_add_dir_recurse (b, added, cancellable, error))
+        goto out;
+
+      ret = TRUE;
+      goto out;
+    }
+
   child_a_info = g_file_query_info (a, OSTREE_GIO_FAST_QUERYINFO,
                                     G_FILE_QUERY_INFO_NOFOLLOW_SYMLINKS,
                                     cancellable, error);
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-pull.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-pull.c
index f3b8253a..2cd40a3b 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-pull.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-pull.c
@@ -1446,7 +1446,7 @@ process_one_static_delta (OtPullData   *pull_data,
       if (have_all)
         {
           g_debug ("Have all objects from static delta %s-%s part %u",
-                   from_revision, to_revision,
+                   from_revision ? from_revision : "empty", to_revision,
                    i);
           continue;
         }
@@ -1912,7 +1912,7 @@ ostree_repo_pull_with_options (OstreeRepo             *self,
                                     &from_revision, error))
         goto out;
 
-      if (from_revision && g_strcmp0 (from_revision, to_revision) != 0)
+      if (from_revision == NULL || g_strcmp0 (from_revision, to_revision) != 0)
         {
           if (!request_static_delta_superblock_sync (pull_data, from_revision, to_revision,
                                                      &delta_superblock, cancellable, error))
@@ -1921,14 +1921,14 @@ ostree_repo_pull_with_options (OstreeRepo             *self,
           
       if (!delta_superblock)
         {
-          g_debug ("no delta superblock for %s-%s", from_revision, to_revision);
+          g_debug ("no delta superblock for %s-%s", from_revision ? from_revision : "empty", to_revision);
           if (!scan_one_metadata_object (pull_data, to_revision, OSTREE_OBJECT_TYPE_COMMIT,
                                          0, pull_data->cancellable, error))
             goto out;
         }
       else
         {
-          g_debug ("processing delta superblock for %s-%s", from_revision, to_revision);
+          g_debug ("processing delta superblock for %s-%s", from_revision ? from_revision : "empty", to_revision);
           if (!process_one_static_delta (pull_data, from_revision, to_revision,
                                          delta_superblock,
                                          cancellable, error))
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-static-delta-compilation.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-static-delta-compilation.c
index 5aca367e..5f082156 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-static-delta-compilation.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-static-delta-compilation.c
@@ -203,9 +203,12 @@ generate_delta_lowlatency (OstreeRepo                       *repo,
   gs_unref_hashtable GHashTable *modified_content_objects = NULL;
   gs_unref_hashtable GHashTable *content_object_to_size = NULL;
 
-  if (!ostree_repo_read_commit (repo, from, &root_from, NULL,
-                                cancellable, error))
-    goto out;
+  if (from != NULL)
+    {
+      if (!ostree_repo_read_commit (repo, from, &root_from, NULL,
+                                    cancellable, error))
+        goto out;
+    }
   if (!ostree_repo_read_commit (repo, to, &root_to, NULL,
                                 cancellable, error))
     goto out;
@@ -231,9 +234,12 @@ generate_delta_lowlatency (OstreeRepo                       *repo,
       g_hash_table_add (modified_content_objects, objname);
     }
 
-  if (!ostree_repo_traverse_commit (repo, from, 0, &from_reachable_objects,
-                                    cancellable, error))
-    goto out;
+  if (from)
+    {
+      if (!ostree_repo_traverse_commit (repo, from, 0, &from_reachable_objects,
+                                        cancellable, error))
+        goto out;
+    }
 
   if (!ostree_repo_traverse_commit (repo, to, 0, &to_reachable_objects,
                                     cancellable, error))
@@ -249,7 +255,7 @@ generate_delta_lowlatency (OstreeRepo                       *repo,
       const char *checksum;
       OstreeObjectType objtype;
 
-      if (g_hash_table_contains (from_reachable_objects, serialized_key))
+      if (from_reachable_objects && g_hash_table_contains (from_reachable_objects, serialized_key))
         continue;
 
       ostree_object_name_deserialize (serialized_key, &checksum, &objtype);
@@ -412,17 +418,17 @@ get_fallback_headers (OstreeRepo               *self,
  * ostree_repo_static_delta_generate:
  * @self: Repo
  * @opt: High level optimization choice
- * @from: ASCII SHA256 checksum of origin
+ * @from: ASCII SHA256 checksum of origin, or %NULL
  * @to: ASCII SHA256 checksum of target
  * @metadata: (allow-none): Optional metadata
  * @params: (allow-none): Parameters, see below
  * @cancellable: Cancellable
  * @error: Error
  *
- * Generate a lookaside "static delta" from @from which can generate
- * the objects in @to.  This delta is an optimization over fetching
- * individual objects, and can be conveniently stored and applied
- * offline.
+ * Generate a lookaside "static delta" from @from (%NULL means
+ * from-empty) which can generate the objects in @to.  This delta is
+ * an optimization over fetching individual objects, and can be
+ * conveniently stored and applied offline.
  *
  * The @params argument should be an a{sv}.  The following attributes
  * are known:
@@ -590,9 +596,10 @@ ostree_repo_static_delta_generate (OstreeRepo                   *self,
   {
     GDateTime *now = g_date_time_new_now_utc ();
     /* floating */ GVariant *from_csum_v =
-      ostree_checksum_to_bytes_v (from);
+      from ? ostree_checksum_to_bytes_v (from) : ot_gvariant_new_bytearray ((guchar *)"", 0);
     /* floating */ GVariant *to_csum_v =
       ostree_checksum_to_bytes_v (to);
+
     delta_descriptor = g_variant_new ("(@(a(ss)a(say))t@ay@ay@" OSTREE_COMMIT_GVARIANT_STRING "ay"
                                       "a" OSTREE_STATIC_DELTA_META_ENTRY_FORMAT
                                       "@a" OSTREE_STATIC_DELTA_FALLBACK_FORMAT ")",
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
index 4d93a89b..22abe914 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
@@ -3069,7 +3069,7 @@ out:
 /**
  * ostree_repo_sign_delta:
  * @self: Self
- * @from_commit: SHA256 of starting commit to sign
+ * @from_commit: SHA256 of starting commit to sign, or %NULL
  * @to_commit: SHA256 of target commit to sign
  * @key_id: Use this GPG key id
  * @homedir: (allow-none): GPG home directory, or %NULL
diff --git a/src/ostree/ot-builtin-static-delta.c b/src/ostree/ot-builtin-static-delta.c
index b133c4c3..45ba6b67 100644
--- a/src/ostree/ot-builtin-static-delta.c
+++ b/src/ostree/ot-builtin-static-delta.c
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ static char *opt_to_rev;
 static char **opt_key_ids;
 static char *opt_gpg_homedir;
 static char *opt_max_usize;
+static gboolean opt_empty;
 
 #define BUILTINPROTO(name) static gboolean ot_static_delta_builtin_ ## name (int argc, char **argv, GCancellable *cancellable, GError **error)
 
@@ -50,6 +51,7 @@ static OstreeCommand static_delta_subcommands[] = {
 
 static GOptionEntry generate_options[] = {
   { "from", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING, &opt_from_rev, "Create delta from revision REV", "REV" },
+  { "empty", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &opt_empty, "Create delta from scratch", NULL },
   { "to", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING, &opt_to_rev, "Create delta to revision REV", "REV" },
   { "gpg-sign", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING_ARRAY, &opt_key_ids, "GPG Key ID to sign the delta with", "key-id"},
   { "gpg-homedir", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING, &opt_gpg_homedir, "GPG Homedir to use when looking for keyrings", "homedir"},
@@ -153,7 +155,11 @@ ot_static_delta_builtin_generate (int argc, char **argv, GCancellable *cancellab
 
       g_assert (opt_to_rev);
 
-      if (opt_from_rev == NULL)
+      if (opt_empty)
+        {
+          from_source = NULL;
+        }
+      else if (opt_from_rev == NULL)
         {
           from_parent_str = g_strconcat (opt_to_rev, "^", NULL);
           from_source = from_parent_str;
@@ -163,8 +169,11 @@ ot_static_delta_builtin_generate (int argc, char **argv, GCancellable *cancellab
           from_source = opt_from_rev;
         }
 
-      if (!ostree_repo_resolve_rev (repo, from_source, FALSE, &from_resolved, error))
-        goto out;
+      if (from_source)
+        {
+          if (!ostree_repo_resolve_rev (repo, from_source, FALSE, &from_resolved, error))
+            goto out;
+        }
       if (!ostree_repo_resolve_rev (repo, opt_to_rev, FALSE, &to_resolved, error))
         goto out;
 
@@ -174,7 +183,7 @@ ot_static_delta_builtin_generate (int argc, char **argv, GCancellable *cancellab
                                "max-usize", g_variant_new_uint32 (g_ascii_strtoull (opt_max_usize, NULL, 10)));
 
       g_print ("Generating static delta:\n");
-      g_print ("  From: %s\n", from_resolved);
+      g_print ("  From: %s\n", from_resolved ? from_resolved : "empty");
       g_print ("  To:   %s\n", to_resolved);
       if (!ostree_repo_static_delta_generate (repo, OSTREE_STATIC_DELTA_GENERATE_OPT_MAJOR,
                                               from_resolved, to_resolved, NULL,
diff --git a/tests/test-delta.sh b/tests/test-delta.sh
index 175daec2..c5981861 100755
--- a/tests/test-delta.sh
+++ b/tests/test-delta.sh
@@ -55,17 +55,23 @@ function permuteDirectory() {
     done
 }
 
+origrev=$(ostree --repo=repo rev-parse test)
+
+ostree --repo=repo static-delta generate --empty --to=${origrev}
+ostree --repo=repo static-delta list | grep ${origrev} || exit 1
+
 permuteDirectory 1 files
 ostree --repo=repo commit -b test -s test --tree=dir=files
-ostree --repo=repo static-delta list
 
-origrev=$(ostree --repo=repo rev-parse test^)
 newrev=$(ostree --repo=repo rev-parse test)
 ostree --repo=repo static-delta generate --from=${origrev} --to=${newrev}
 
+ostree --repo=repo static-delta list | grep ${origrev}-${newrev} || exit 1
+
 origstart=$(echo ${origrev} | dd bs=1 count=2 2>/dev/null)
 origend=$(echo ${origrev} | dd bs=1 skip=2 2>/dev/null)
 assert_has_dir repo/deltas/${origstart}/${origend}-${newrev}
+assert_has_dir repo/deltas/${origstart}/${origend}
 
 mkdir repo2
 ostree --repo=repo2 init --mode=archive-z2
@@ -74,3 +80,9 @@ ostree --repo=repo2 pull-local repo ${origrev}
 ostree --repo=repo2 static-delta apply-offline repo/deltas/${origstart}/${origend}-${newrev}
 ostree --repo=repo2 fsck
 ostree --repo=repo2 show ${newrev}
+
+mkdir repo3
+ostree --repo=repo3 init --mode=archive-z2
+ostree --repo=repo3 static-delta apply-offline repo/deltas/${origstart}/${origend}
+ostree --repo=repo3 fsck
+ostree --repo=repo3 show ${origrev}