diff --git a/make-image.nix b/make-image.nix
index 54882d30..5ac51f7c 100644
--- a/make-image.nix
+++ b/make-image.nix
@@ -8,28 +8,6 @@
 , writeText
 } : config :
 let
-  pseudofiles = writeText "pseudofiles" ''
-     / d 0755 0 0
-     /bin d 0755 0 0
-     /etc d 0755 0 0
-     /run d 0755 0 0
-     /dev d 0755 0 0
-     /dev/null c 0666 root root 1 3
-     /dev/zero c 0666 root root 1 5
-     /dev/tty1 c 0777 root root 4 1
-     /dev/tty2 c 0777 root root 4 2
-     /dev/tty3 c 0777 root root 4 3
-     /dev/tty4 c 0777 root root 4 4
-     /dev/tty c 0777 root root 5 0
-     /dev/console c 0600 root root 5 1
-     /proc d 0555 root root
-     /sys d 0555 root root
-     /dev/pts d 0755 0 0
-     /etc/init.d d 0755 0 0
-     /bin/sh s 0755 0 0 ${busybox}/bin/sh
-     /bin/busybox s 0755 0 0 ${busybox}/bin/busybox
-  '';
-
   config-pseudofiles = pseudofile.write "config.etc"
     (config.environment.contents);
 
@@ -37,16 +15,15 @@ let
     # add pseudofiles as packages to store so that the packages they
     # depend on are also added
     storeContents = [
-      pseudofiles
       config-pseudofiles
     ] ++ config.packages ;
   };
 in runCommand "frob-squashfs" {
     nativeBuildInputs = with buildPackages; [ squashfsTools qprint ];
-  } ''
+} ''
     cp ${storefs} ./store.img
     chmod +w store.img
     mksquashfs - store.img -no-recovery -quiet -no-progress  -root-becomes store -p "/ d 0755 0 0"
-    mksquashfs - store.img -no-recovery -quiet -no-progress  -root-becomes nix  -pf ${pseudofiles}  -pf ${config-pseudofiles}
+    mksquashfs - store.img -no-recovery -quiet -no-progress  -root-becomes nix  -p "/ d 0755 0 0" -pf ${config-pseudofiles}
     cp store.img $out
-  ''
+''
diff --git a/modules/base.nix b/modules/base.nix
index 1db246cd..68e90dad 100644
--- a/modules/base.nix
+++ b/modules/base.nix
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 let
   inherit (lib) mkEnableOption mkOption types isDerivation hasAttr ;
   inherit (pkgs.pseudofile) dir symlink;
+  inherit (pkgs) busybox;
 
   type_service = types.package // {
     name = "service";
@@ -31,6 +32,19 @@ in {
   };
   config = {
     environment = dir {
+      bin = dir {
+        sh = symlink "${busybox}/bin/sh";
+        busybox = symlink "${busybox}/bin/busybox";
+      };
+      dev =
+        let node = type: major: minor: mode : { inherit type major minor mode; };
+        in dir {
+          null =    node "c" "1" "3" "0666";
+          zero =    node "c" "1" "5" "0666";
+          tty =     node "c" "5" "0" "0666";
+          console = node "c" "5" "1" "0600";
+          pts =     dir {};
+        };
       etc = dir {
         profile = symlink
           (pkgs.writeScript ".profile" ''
@@ -40,6 +54,9 @@ in {
         passwd = { file = "root::0:0:root:/:/bin/sh\n"; };
         group = { file = "root::0:\n"; };
       };
+      proc = dir {};
+      run = dir {};
+      sys = dir {};
     };
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/pseudofile/default.nix b/pkgs/pseudofile/default.nix
index bb775f8b..a64b58df 100644
--- a/pkgs/pseudofile/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/pseudofile/default.nix
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ let
               else if attrs'.type == "d" then
                 (visit "${prefix}/${filename}" attrs.contents) +
                 "\n" + line
+              else if attrs'.type == "c" then
+                with attrs'; "${line} ${major} ${minor}"
+              else if attrs'.type == "b" then
+                with attrs'; "${line} ${major} ${minor}"
               else if attrs'.type == "s" then
                 "${line} ${attrs'.target}"
               else if attrs'.type == "l" then