diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f10d3c5..a16a97f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 /lkvm
+/lkvm-static
 /vm
 *.o
 *.d
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ include/common-cmds.h
 tests/boot/boot_test.iso
 tests/boot/rootfs/
 guest/init
+guest/pre_init
 guest/init_stage2
 KVMTOOLS-VERSION-FILE
 /x86/bios/bios.bin
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 290a6b6..81d98de 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -15,9 +15,7 @@ include config/utilities.mak
 include config/feature-tests.mak
 
 CC	:= $(CROSS_COMPILE)gcc
-CFLAGS	:=
 LD	:= $(CROSS_COMPILE)ld
-LDFLAGS	:=
 
 FIND	:= find
 CSCOPE	:= cscope
@@ -110,6 +108,7 @@ endif
 ifeq ($(ARCH),x86_64)
 	ARCH         := x86
 	DEFINES      += -DCONFIG_X86_64
+	ARCH_PRE_INIT = x86/init.S
 endif
 
 ### Arch-specific stuff
@@ -161,7 +160,7 @@ ifeq ($(ARCH), arm)
 	OBJS		+= arm/aarch32/kvm-cpu.o
 	ARCH_INCLUDE	:= $(HDRS_ARM_COMMON)
 	ARCH_INCLUDE	+= -Iarm/aarch32/include
-	CFLAGS		+= -march=armv7-a
+	override CFLAGS	+= -march=armv7-a
 
 	ARCH_WANT_LIBFDT := y
 endif
@@ -197,12 +196,12 @@ endif
 # On a given system, some libs may link statically, some may not; so, check
 # both and only build those that link!
 
-ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_STRLCPY),$(CFLAGS),),y)
+ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_STRLCPY),$(CFLAGS),$(LDFLAGS)),y)
 	CFLAGS_DYNOPT	+= -DHAVE_STRLCPY
 	CFLAGS_STATOPT	+= -DHAVE_STRLCPY
 endif
 
-ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_BFD),$(CFLAGS),-lbfd -static),y)
+ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_BFD),$(CFLAGS),$(LDFLAGS) -lbfd -static),y)
 	CFLAGS_STATOPT	+= -DCONFIG_HAS_BFD
 	OBJS_STATOPT	+= symbol.o
 	LIBS_STATOPT	+= -lbfd
@@ -213,7 +212,7 @@ endif
 ifeq (y,$(ARCH_HAS_FRAMEBUFFER))
 	CFLAGS_GTK3 := $(shell pkg-config --cflags gtk+-3.0 2>/dev/null)
 	LDFLAGS_GTK3 := $(shell pkg-config --libs gtk+-3.0 2>/dev/null)
-	ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_GTK3),$(CFLAGS) $(CFLAGS_GTK3),$(LDFLAGS_GTK3)),y)
+	ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_GTK3),$(CFLAGS) $(CFLAGS_GTK3),$(LDFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS_GTK3)),y)
 		OBJS_DYNOPT	+= ui/gtk3.o
 		CFLAGS_DYNOPT	+= -DCONFIG_HAS_GTK3 $(CFLAGS_GTK3)
 		LIBS_DYNOPT	+= $(LDFLAGS_GTK3)
@@ -221,67 +220,74 @@ ifeq (y,$(ARCH_HAS_FRAMEBUFFER))
 		NOTFOUND	+= GTK3
 	endif
 
-	ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_VNCSERVER),$(CFLAGS),-lvncserver),y)
+	ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_VNCSERVER),$(CFLAGS),$(LDFLAGS) -lvncserver),y)
 		OBJS_DYNOPT	+= ui/vnc.o
 		CFLAGS_DYNOPT	+= -DCONFIG_HAS_VNCSERVER
 		LIBS_DYNOPT	+= -lvncserver
 	else
 		NOTFOUND	+= vncserver
 	endif
-	ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_VNCSERVER),$(CFLAGS),-lvncserver -static),y)
+	ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_VNCSERVER),$(CFLAGS),$(LDFLAGS) -lvncserver -static),y)
 		OBJS_STATOPT	+= ui/vnc.o
 		CFLAGS_STATOPT	+= -DCONFIG_HAS_VNCSERVER
 		LIBS_STATOPT	+= -lvncserver
 	endif
 
-	ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_SDL),$(CFLAGS),-lSDL),y)
+	ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_SDL),$(CFLAGS),$(LDFLAGS) -lSDL),y)
 		OBJS_DYNOPT	+= ui/sdl.o
 		CFLAGS_DYNOPT	+= -DCONFIG_HAS_SDL
 		LIBS_DYNOPT	+= -lSDL
 	else
 		NOTFOUND	+= SDL
 	endif
-	ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_SDL),$(CFLAGS),-lSDL -static), y)
+	ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_SDL),$(CFLAGS),$(LDFLAGS) -lSDL -static), y)
 		OBJS_STATOPT	+= ui/sdl.o
 		CFLAGS_STATOPT	+= -DCONFIG_HAS_SDL
 		LIBS_STATOPT	+= -lSDL
 	endif
 endif
 
-ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_ZLIB),$(CFLAGS),-lz),y)
+ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_ZLIB),$(CFLAGS),$(LDFLAGS) -lz),y)
 	CFLAGS_DYNOPT	+= -DCONFIG_HAS_ZLIB
 	LIBS_DYNOPT	+= -lz
 else
 	NOTFOUND	+= zlib
 endif
-ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_ZLIB),$(CFLAGS),-lz -static),y)
+ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_ZLIB),$(CFLAGS),$(LDFLAGS) -lz -static),y)
 	CFLAGS_STATOPT	+= -DCONFIG_HAS_ZLIB
 	LIBS_STATOPT	+= -lz
 endif
 
-ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_AIO),$(CFLAGS),-laio),y)
+ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_AIO),$(CFLAGS),$(LDFLAGS) -laio),y)
 	CFLAGS_DYNOPT	+= -DCONFIG_HAS_AIO
 	LIBS_DYNOPT	+= -laio
 else
 	NOTFOUND	+= aio
 endif
-ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_AIO),$(CFLAGS),-laio -static),y)
+ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_AIO),$(CFLAGS),$(LDFLAGS) -laio -static),y)
 	CFLAGS_STATOPT	+= -DCONFIG_HAS_AIO
 	LIBS_STATOPT	+= -laio
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(LTO),1)
 	FLAGS_LTO := -flto
-	ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_HELLO),$(CFLAGS),$(FLAGS_LTO)),y)
-		CFLAGS		+= $(FLAGS_LTO)
+	ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_HELLO),$(CFLAGS),$(LDFLAGS) $(FLAGS_LTO)),y)
+		override CFLAGS	+= $(FLAGS_LTO)
 	endif
 endif
 
-ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_STATIC),,-static),y)
-	CFLAGS		+= -DCONFIG_GUEST_INIT
-	CFLAGS      += -DCONFIG_HAS_LIBC
-	GUEST_INIT := guest/init
-	GUEST_OBJS = guest/guest_init.o
+ifeq ($(call try-build,$(SOURCE_STATIC),$(CFLAGS),$(LDFLAGS) -static),y)
+	override CFLAGS	+= -DCONFIG_GUEST_INIT
+	GUEST_INIT	:= guest/init
+	GUEST_OBJS	= guest/guest_init.o
+	ifeq ($(ARCH_PRE_INIT),)
+		GUEST_INIT_FLAGS	+= -static
+	else
+		CFLAGS			+= -DCONFIG_GUEST_PRE_INIT
+		GUEST_INIT_FLAGS	+= -DCONFIG_GUEST_PRE_INIT
+		GUEST_PRE_INIT		:= guest/pre_init
+		GUEST_OBJS		+= guest/guest_pre_init.o
+	endif
 else
 	$(warning No static libc found. Skipping guest init)
 	NOTFOUND        += static-libc
@@ -325,7 +331,8 @@ DEFINES	+= -DKVMTOOLS_VERSION='"$(KVMTOOLS_VERSION)"'
 DEFINES	+= -DBUILD_ARCH='"$(ARCH)"'
 
 KVM_INCLUDE := include
-CFLAGS	+= $(CPPFLAGS) $(DEFINES) -I$(KVM_INCLUDE) -I$(ARCH_INCLUDE) -O2 -fno-strict-aliasing -g
+override CFLAGS	+= $(CPPFLAGS) $(DEFINES) -I$(KVM_INCLUDE) -I$(ARCH_INCLUDE)
+override CFLAGS	+= -O2 -fno-strict-aliasing -g
 
 WARNINGS += -Wall
 WARNINGS += -Wformat=2
@@ -343,13 +350,13 @@ WARNINGS += -Wvolatile-register-var
 WARNINGS += -Wwrite-strings
 WARNINGS += -Wno-format-nonliteral
 
-CFLAGS	+= $(WARNINGS)
+override CFLAGS	+= $(WARNINGS)
 
 ifneq ($(WERROR),0)
-	CFLAGS += -Werror
+	override CFLAGS += -Werror
 endif
 
-all: $(PROGRAM) $(PROGRAM_ALIAS) $(GUEST_INIT)
+all: $(PROGRAM) $(PROGRAM_ALIAS) $(GUEST_INIT) $(GUEST_PRE_INIT)
 
 # CFLAGS used when building objects
 # This is intentionally not assigned using :=
@@ -363,24 +370,28 @@ c_flags	= -Wp,-MD,$(depfile) $(CFLAGS)
 #
 STATIC_OBJS = $(patsubst %.o,%.static.o,$(OBJS) $(OBJS_STATOPT))
 
-STATIC_DEPS	:= $(foreach obj,$(STATIC_OBJS),\
-		$(subst $(comma),_,$(dir $(obj)).$(notdir $(obj)).d))
-
-$(PROGRAM)-static:  $(STATIC_OBJS) $(OTHEROBJS) $(GUEST_INIT)
+$(PROGRAM)-static:  $(STATIC_OBJS) $(OTHEROBJS) $(GUEST_INIT) $(GUEST_PRE_INIT)
 	$(E) "  LINK    " $@
-	$(Q) $(CC) -static $(CFLAGS) $(STATIC_OBJS) $(OTHEROBJS) $(GUEST_OBJS) $(LIBS) $(LIBS_STATOPT) -o $@
+	$(Q) $(CC) -static $(CFLAGS) $(STATIC_OBJS) $(OTHEROBJS) $(GUEST_OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) $(LIBS) $(LIBS_STATOPT) -o $@
 
-$(PROGRAM): $(OBJS) $(OBJS_DYNOPT) $(OTHEROBJS) $(GUEST_INIT)
+$(PROGRAM): $(OBJS) $(OBJS_DYNOPT) $(OTHEROBJS) $(GUEST_INIT) $(GUEST_PRE_INIT)
 	$(E) "  LINK    " $@
-	$(Q) $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(OBJS) $(OBJS_DYNOPT) $(OTHEROBJS) $(GUEST_OBJS) $(LIBS) $(LIBS_DYNOPT) -o $@
+	$(Q) $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(OBJS) $(OBJS_DYNOPT) $(OTHEROBJS) $(GUEST_OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) $(LIBS) $(LIBS_DYNOPT) -o $@
 
 $(PROGRAM_ALIAS): $(PROGRAM)
 	$(E) "  LN      " $@
 	$(Q) ln -f $(PROGRAM) $@
 
+ifneq ($(ARCH_PRE_INIT),)
+$(GUEST_PRE_INIT): $(ARCH_PRE_INIT)
+	$(E) "  LINK    " $@
+	$(Q) $(CC) -s -nostdlib $(ARCH_PRE_INIT) -o $@
+	$(Q) $(LD) $(LDFLAGS) -r -b binary -o guest/guest_pre_init.o $(GUEST_PRE_INIT)
+endif
+
 $(GUEST_INIT): guest/init.c
 	$(E) "  LINK    " $@
-	$(Q) $(CC) -static guest/init.c -o $@
+	$(Q) $(CC) $(GUEST_INIT_FLAGS) guest/init.c -o $@
 	$(Q) $(LD) $(LDFLAGS) -r -b binary -o guest/guest_init.o $(GUEST_INIT)
 
 %.s: %.c
@@ -479,7 +490,7 @@ clean:
 	$(Q) rm -f x86/bios/bios-rom.h
 	$(Q) rm -f tests/boot/boot_test.iso
 	$(Q) rm -rf tests/boot/rootfs/
-	$(Q) rm -f $(DEPS) $(STATIC_DEPS) $(OBJS) $(OTHEROBJS) $(OBJS_DYNOPT) $(STATIC_OBJS) $(PROGRAM) $(PROGRAM_ALIAS) $(PROGRAM)-static $(GUEST_INIT) $(GUEST_OBJS)
+	$(Q) rm -f $(DEPS) $(OBJS) $(OTHEROBJS) $(OBJS_DYNOPT) $(STATIC_OBJS) $(PROGRAM) $(PROGRAM_ALIAS) $(PROGRAM)-static $(GUEST_INIT) $(GUEST_PRE_INIT) $(GUEST_OBJS)
 	$(Q) rm -f cscope.*
 	$(Q) rm -f tags
 	$(Q) rm -f TAGS
diff --git a/README b/README
index 6667f23..5501f05 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ project:
 
 http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel/962051/focus=962620
 
+Another detailed example can be found in the lwn.net article:
+
+http://lwn.net/Articles/658511/
 
 Contributing
 ------------
diff --git a/builtin-run.c b/builtin-run.c
index ac1b3b0..17b1428 100644
--- a/builtin-run.c
+++ b/builtin-run.c
@@ -59,14 +59,6 @@ static int  kvm_run_wrapper;
 
 bool do_debug_print = false;
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_HAS_LIBC
-extern char _binary_guest_init_start;
-extern char _binary_guest_init_size;
-#else
-static char _binary_guest_init_start=0;
-static char _binary_guest_init_size=0;
-#endif
-
 static const char * const run_usage[] = {
 	"lkvm run [<options>] [<kernel image>]",
 	NULL
@@ -575,12 +567,6 @@ static struct kvm *kvm_cmd_run_init(int argc, const char **argv)
 	memset(real_cmdline, 0, sizeof(real_cmdline));
 	kvm__arch_set_cmdline(real_cmdline, kvm->cfg.vnc || kvm->cfg.sdl || kvm->cfg.gtk);
 
-	if (strlen(real_cmdline) > 0)
-		strcat(real_cmdline, " ");
-
-	if (kvm->cfg.kernel_cmdline)
-		strlcat(real_cmdline, kvm->cfg.kernel_cmdline, sizeof(real_cmdline));
-
 	if (!kvm->cfg.guest_name) {
 		if (kvm->cfg.custom_rootfs) {
 			kvm->cfg.guest_name = kvm->cfg.custom_rootfs_name;
@@ -605,21 +591,30 @@ static struct kvm *kvm_cmd_run_init(int argc, const char **argv)
 	}
 
 	if (kvm->cfg.using_rootfs) {
-		strcat(real_cmdline, " root=/dev/root rw rootflags=rw,trans=virtio,version=9p2000.L rootfstype=9p");
+		strcat(real_cmdline, " rw rootflags=trans=virtio,version=9p2000.L,cache=loose rootfstype=9p");
 		if (kvm->cfg.custom_rootfs) {
 			kvm_run_set_sandbox(kvm);
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_GUEST_PRE_INIT
+			strcat(real_cmdline, " init=/virt/pre_init");
+#else
 			strcat(real_cmdline, " init=/virt/init");
+#endif
 
 			if (!kvm->cfg.no_dhcp)
 				strcat(real_cmdline, "  ip=dhcp");
 			if (kvm_setup_guest_init(kvm->cfg.custom_rootfs_name))
 				die("Failed to setup init for guest.");
 		}
-	} else if (!strstr(real_cmdline, "root=")) {
+	} else if (!kvm->cfg.kernel_cmdline || !strstr(kvm->cfg.kernel_cmdline, "root=")) {
 		strlcat(real_cmdline, " root=/dev/vda rw ", sizeof(real_cmdline));
 	}
 
+	if (kvm->cfg.kernel_cmdline) {
+		strcat(real_cmdline, " ");
+		strlcat(real_cmdline, kvm->cfg.kernel_cmdline, sizeof(real_cmdline));
+	}
+
 	kvm->cfg.real_cmdline = real_cmdline;
 
 	if (do_debug_print) {
diff --git a/builtin-setup.c b/builtin-setup.c
index 84d8342..8be8d62 100644
--- a/builtin-setup.c
+++ b/builtin-setup.c
@@ -122,32 +122,50 @@ static const char *guestfs_symlinks[] = {
 };
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_GUEST_INIT
-extern char _binary_guest_init_start;
-extern char _binary_guest_init_size;
-
-int kvm_setup_guest_init(const char *guestfs_name)
+static int extract_file(const char *guestfs_name, const char *filename,
+			const void *data, const void *_size)
 {
 	char path[PATH_MAX];
-	size_t size;
 	int fd, ret;
-	char *data;
 
-	if (!_binary_guest_init_size)
-		die("Guest init not compiled");
-	size = (size_t)&_binary_guest_init_size;
-	data = (char *)&_binary_guest_init_start;
-	snprintf(path, PATH_MAX, "%s%s/virt/init", kvm__get_dir(), guestfs_name);
-	remove(path);
-	fd = open(path, O_CREAT | O_WRONLY, 0755);
-	if (fd < 0)
+	snprintf(path, PATH_MAX, "%s%s/%s", kvm__get_dir(),
+				guestfs_name, filename);
+
+	fd = open(path, O_EXCL | O_CREAT | O_WRONLY, 0755);
+	if (fd < 0) {
+		if (errno == EEXIST)
+			return 0;
 		die("Fail to setup %s", path);
-	ret = xwrite(fd, data, size);
+	}
+
+	ret = xwrite(fd, data, (size_t)_size);
 	if (ret < 0)
 		die("Fail to setup %s", path);
 	close(fd);
 
 	return 0;
+}
 
+extern char _binary_guest_init_start;
+extern char _binary_guest_init_size;
+extern char _binary_guest_pre_init_start;
+extern char _binary_guest_pre_init_size;
+
+int kvm_setup_guest_init(const char *guestfs_name)
+{
+	int err;
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_GUEST_PRE_INIT
+	err = extract_file(guestfs_name, "virt/pre_init",
+				&_binary_guest_pre_init_start,
+				&_binary_guest_pre_init_size);
+	if (err)
+		return err;
+#endif
+	err = extract_file(guestfs_name, "virt/init",
+				&_binary_guest_init_start,
+				&_binary_guest_init_size);
+	return err;
 }
 #else
 int kvm_setup_guest_init(const char *guestfs_name)
diff --git a/guest/init.c b/guest/init.c
index 7277a07..46e3fa4 100644
--- a/guest/init.c
+++ b/guest/init.c
@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@ static int run_process_sandbox(char *filename)
 
 static void do_mounts(void)
 {
+#ifndef CONFIG_GUEST_PRE_INIT
 	mount("hostfs", "/host", "9p", MS_RDONLY, "trans=virtio,version=9p2000.L");
+#endif
 	mount("", "/sys", "sysfs", 0, NULL);
 	mount("proc", "/proc", "proc", 0, NULL);
 	mount("devtmpfs", "/dev", "devtmpfs", 0, NULL);
diff --git a/include/kvm/term.h b/include/kvm/term.h
index dc9882e..b9793f0 100644
--- a/include/kvm/term.h
+++ b/include/kvm/term.h
@@ -18,9 +18,6 @@ int term_putc(char *addr, int cnt, int term);
 int term_getc(struct kvm *kvm, int term);
 
 bool term_readable(int term);
-void term_set_tty(int term);
-int term_init(struct kvm *kvm);
-int term_exit(struct kvm *kvm);
 int tty_parser(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset);
 
 #endif /* KVM__TERM_H */
diff --git a/kvm-cpu.c b/kvm-cpu.c
index 664795f..ad4441b 100644
--- a/kvm-cpu.c
+++ b/kvm-cpu.c
@@ -266,4 +266,4 @@ int kvm_cpu__exit(struct kvm *kvm)
 
 	return r;
 }
-late_exit(kvm_cpu__exit);
+core_exit(kvm_cpu__exit);
diff --git a/term.c b/term.c
index 9763211..aebd174 100644
--- a/term.c
+++ b/term.c
@@ -19,15 +19,16 @@
 
 static struct termios	orig_term;
 
-int term_escape_char	= 0x01; /* ctrl-a is used for escape */
-bool term_got_escape	= false;
-
-int term_fds[TERM_MAX_DEVS][2];
+static int term_fds[TERM_MAX_DEVS][2];
 
 static pthread_t term_poll_thread;
 
+/* ctrl-a is used for escape */
+#define term_escape_char	0x01
+
 int term_getc(struct kvm *kvm, int term)
 {
+	static bool term_got_escape = false;
 	unsigned char c;
 
 	if (read_in_full(term_fds[term][TERM_FD_IN], &c, 1) < 0)
@@ -137,7 +138,7 @@ static void term_sig_cleanup(int sig)
 	raise(sig);
 }
 
-void term_set_tty(int term)
+static void term_set_tty(int term)
 {
 	struct termios orig_term;
 	int master, slave;
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@ int tty_parser(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int term_init(struct kvm *kvm)
+static int term_init(struct kvm *kvm)
 {
 	struct termios term;
 	int i, r;
@@ -204,7 +205,7 @@ int term_init(struct kvm *kvm)
 }
 dev_init(term_init);
 
-int term_exit(struct kvm *kvm)
+static int term_exit(struct kvm *kvm)
 {
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/x86/init.S b/x86/init.S
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..488a93f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x86/init.S
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+.data
+
+.m_dev:
+.string "hostfs"
+.m_dir:
+.string "/host"
+.m_typ:
+.string "9p"
+.m_opt:
+.string "trans=virtio,version=9p2000.L"
+
+.e_nam:
+.string "/virt/init"
+
+.text
+.globl _start
+_start:
+
+	mov $165, %rax		# __NR_mount
+	mov $.m_dev, %rdi
+	mov $.m_dir, %rsi
+	mov $.m_typ, %rdx
+	mov $1, %r10		# MS_RDONLY
+	mov $.m_opt, %r8
+	syscall
+
+	mov $59, %rax		# __NR_execve
+	mov $.e_nam, %rdi
+	lea 8(%rsp), %rsi	# argv[]
+	mov %rdi, (%rsi)	# change argv[0]
+	pop %rcx		# argc
+	inc %rcx
+	lea (%rsi,%rcx,8), %rdx # envp[]
+	syscall
+
+	mov $60, %rax		# __NR_exit
+	mov $1, %rdi
+	syscall			# panic