diff --git a/Makefile-ostree.am b/Makefile-ostree.am
index 2bff6c9f..d4649c5c 100644
--- a/Makefile-ostree.am
+++ b/Makefile-ostree.am
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ ostree_SOURCES = src/ostree/main.c \
 # Admin subcommand
 ostree_SOURCES += \
 	src/ostree/ot-admin-builtin-init.c \
+	src/ostree/ot-admin-builtin-init-fs.c \
 	src/ostree/ot-admin-builtin-diff.c \
 	src/ostree/ot-admin-builtin-deploy.c \
 	src/ostree/ot-admin-builtin-prune.c \
diff --git a/src/libgsystem b/src/libgsystem
index 56d72734..a98e4be8 160000
--- a/src/libgsystem
+++ b/src/libgsystem
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 56d727341706c82742c5427bef35cdde00c3713a
+Subproject commit a98e4be8ef5c57b8f79f896b7bf13142499a17c3
diff --git a/src/ostree/ot-admin-builtin-init-fs.c b/src/ostree/ot-admin-builtin-init-fs.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..52a4dcda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ostree/ot-admin-builtin-init-fs.c
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/* -*- mode: C; c-file-style: "gnu"; indent-tabs-mode: nil; -*-
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 Colin Walters <walters@verbum.org>
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the
+ * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
+ * Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+ *
+ * Author: Colin Walters <walters@verbum.org>
+ */
+
+#include "config.h"
+
+#include "ot-admin-builtins.h"
+#include "ot-admin-functions.h"
+#include "otutil.h"
+
+#include <glib/gi18n.h>
+
+static GOptionEntry options[] = {
+  { NULL }
+};
+
+gboolean
+ot_admin_builtin_init_fs (int argc, char **argv, GFile *ostree_dir, GError **error)
+{
+  GOptionContext *context;
+  gboolean ret = FALSE;
+  ot_lobj GFile *dir = NULL;
+  ot_lobj GFile *child = NULL;
+  guint i;
+  const char *normal_toplevels[] = {"boot", "dev", "home", "proc", "run", "sys"};
+  GCancellable *cancellable = NULL;
+
+  context = g_option_context_new ("PATH - Initialize a root filesystem");
+  g_option_context_add_main_entries (context, options, NULL);
+
+  if (!g_option_context_parse (context, &argc, &argv, error))
+    goto out;
+
+  if (argc < 2)
+    {
+      ot_util_usage_error (context, "PATH must be specified", error);
+      goto out;
+    }
+
+  dir = g_file_new_for_path (argv[1]);
+
+  for (i = 0; i < G_N_ELEMENTS(normal_toplevels); i++)
+    {
+      child = g_file_get_child (dir, normal_toplevels[i]);
+      if (!gs_file_ensure_directory_mode (child, 0755, cancellable, error))
+        goto out;
+      g_clear_object (&child);
+    }
+
+  child = g_file_get_child (dir, "root");
+  if (!gs_file_ensure_directory_mode (child, 0700, cancellable, error))
+    goto out;
+  g_clear_object (&child);
+
+  child = g_file_get_child (dir, "tmp");
+  if (!gs_file_ensure_directory_mode (child, 01777, cancellable, error))
+    goto out;
+  g_clear_object (&child);
+
+  child = g_file_get_child (dir, "ostree");
+  if (!ot_admin_ensure_initialized (child, cancellable, error))
+    goto out;
+
+  ret = TRUE;
+ out:
+  if (context)
+    g_option_context_free (context);
+  return ret;
+}
diff --git a/src/ostree/ot-admin-builtins.h b/src/ostree/ot-admin-builtins.h
index 743c4c67..6994c96f 100644
--- a/src/ostree/ot-admin-builtins.h
+++ b/src/ostree/ot-admin-builtins.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 G_BEGIN_DECLS
 
 gboolean ot_admin_builtin_init (int argc, char **argv, GFile *ostree_dir, GError **error);
+gboolean ot_admin_builtin_init_fs (int argc, char **argv, GFile *ostree_dir, GError **error);
 gboolean ot_admin_builtin_deploy (int argc, char **argv, GFile *ostree_dir, GError **error);
 gboolean ot_admin_builtin_prune (int argc, char **argv, GFile *ostree_dir, GError **error);
 gboolean ot_admin_builtin_pull_deploy (int argc, char **argv, GFile *ostree_dir, GError **error);
diff --git a/src/ostree/ot-builtin-admin.c b/src/ostree/ot-builtin-admin.c
index 869a1348..2f2340e9 100644
--- a/src/ostree/ot-builtin-admin.c
+++ b/src/ostree/ot-builtin-admin.c
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ typedef struct {
 
 static OstreeAdminCommand admin_subcommands[] = {
   { "init", ot_admin_builtin_init },
+  { "init-fs", ot_admin_builtin_init_fs },
   { "deploy", ot_admin_builtin_deploy },
   { "pull-deploy", ot_admin_builtin_pull_deploy },
   { "prune", ot_admin_builtin_prune },