diff --git a/src/kernel-install/kernel-install b/src/kernel-install/kernel-install
index 3ae1d77e3..c398c0a5d 100644
--- a/src/kernel-install/kernel-install
+++ b/src/kernel-install/kernel-install
@@ -24,8 +24,11 @@ usage()
     echo "Usage:"
     echo "        $0 add KERNEL-VERSION KERNEL-IMAGE"
     echo "        $0 remove KERNEL-VERSION"
+    echo "        $0 -p | --root: Optional. Prefix kernel-install operations with different root"
 }
 
+SUBDIR=""
+
 dropindirs_sort()
 {
     local suffix=$1; shift
@@ -54,12 +57,26 @@ dropindirs_sort()
 
 export LC_COLLATE=C
 
-for i in "$@"; do
-    if [ "$i" == "--help" -o "$i" == "-h" ]; then
+args=("$@")
+for ((i=0; i < $#; i++)) {
+    arg="${args[$i]}"
+    if [ "$arg" == "--help" -o "$arg" == "-h" ]; then
         usage
         exit 0
+    elif [ "$arg" == "--root" ]; then
+        if [[ "$((i+1))" -lt $# ]]; then
+            SUBDIR="${args[$((i+1))]}"
+            export SUBDIR
+        else
+            usage
+            exit 1
+        fi
     fi
-done
+}
+
+if [[ ! -z "${SUBDIR}" ]]; then
+    shift; shift;
+fi
 
 if [[ "${0##*/}" == 'installkernel' ]]; then
     COMMAND='add'
@@ -71,14 +88,21 @@ fi
 KERNEL_VERSION="$1"
 KERNEL_IMAGE="$2"
 
-if [[ -f /etc/machine-id ]]; then
-    read MACHINE_ID < /etc/machine-id
+if [[ -f "${SUBDIR}/etc/machine-id" ]]; then
+    read MACHINE_ID < "${SUBDIR}/etc/machine-id"
 fi
 
 if ! [[ $MACHINE_ID ]]; then
-    echo "Could not determine your machine ID from /etc/machine-id." >&2
+    echo "Could not determine your machine ID from ${SUBDIR}/etc/machine-id." >&2
     echo "Please run 'systemd-machine-id-setup' as root. See man:machine-id(5)" >&2
-    exit 1
+    if [[ -z "${SUBDIR}" ]]; then
+        exit 1
+    else
+        # Enable bare-chroot usage.
+        BOOT_DIR_ABS="${SUBDIR}/boot"
+    fi
+else
+    BOOT_DIR_ABS="${SUBDIR}/boot/$MACHINE_ID/$KERNEL_VERSION"
 fi
 
 if [[ ! $COMMAND ]] || [[ ! $KERNEL_VERSION ]]; then
@@ -86,13 +110,12 @@ if [[ ! $COMMAND ]] || [[ ! $KERNEL_VERSION ]]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-BOOT_DIR_ABS="/boot/$MACHINE_ID/$KERNEL_VERSION"
 ret=0
 
 readarray -t PLUGINS < <(
     dropindirs_sort ".install" \
-        "/etc/kernel/install.d" \
-        "/usr/lib/kernel/install.d"
+        "${SUBDIR}/etc/kernel/install.d" \
+        "${SUBDIR}/usr/lib/kernel/install.d"
 )
 
 case $COMMAND in
@@ -109,7 +132,7 @@ case $COMMAND in
 
         for f in "${PLUGINS[@]}"; do
             if [[ -x $f ]]; then
-                "$f" add "$KERNEL_VERSION" "$BOOT_DIR_ABS" "$KERNEL_IMAGE"
+                PLUGIN_SUBDIR="${SUBDIR}" "$f" add "$KERNEL_VERSION" "$BOOT_DIR_ABS" "$KERNEL_IMAGE"
                 ((ret+=$?))
             fi
         done
@@ -118,12 +141,14 @@ case $COMMAND in
     remove)
         for f in "${PLUGINS[@]}"; do
             if [[ -x $f ]]; then
-                "$f" remove "$KERNEL_VERSION" "$BOOT_DIR_ABS"
+                PLUGIN_SUBDIR="${SUBDIR}" "$f" remove "$KERNEL_VERSION" "$BOOT_DIR_ABS"
                 ((ret+=$?))
             fi
         done
 
-        rm -rf "$BOOT_DIR_ABS"
+        if [[ -z "${SUBDIR}" ]]; then
+            rm -rf "$BOOT_DIR_ABS"
+        fi
         ((ret+=$?))
         ;;