diff --git a/modules/ext4fs.nix b/modules/ext4fs.nix
index 6a8c7c8c..e31dcceb 100644
--- a/modules/ext4fs.nix
+++ b/modules/ext4fs.nix
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 }:
 let
   inherit (lib) mkIf mkOption types;
+  o = config.system.outputs;
 in
 {
   imports = [
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ in
       FS_ENCRYPTION = "y";
     };
     boot.initramfs.enable = true;
-    system.outputs = rec {
+    system.outputs = {
       systemConfiguration =
         pkgs.systemconfig config.filesystem.contents;
       rootfs =
@@ -27,18 +28,16 @@ in
         in runCommand "mkfs.ext4" {
           depsBuildBuild = [ e2fsprogs ];
         } ''
-          mkdir -p $TMPDIR/empty/nix/store/ $TMPDIR/empty/secrets
-          cp ${systemConfiguration}/bin/activate $TMPDIR/empty/activate
-          ln -s ${pkgs.s6-init-bin}/bin/init $TMPDIR/empty/init
-          mkdir -p $TMPDIR/empty/nix/store
-          for path in $(cat ${systemConfiguration}/etc/nix-store-paths) ; do
-            (cd $TMPDIR/empty && cp -a $path .$path)
-          done
-          size=$(du -s --apparent-size --block-size 1024 $TMPDIR/empty |cut -f1)
+          cp -a ${o.rootfsFiles} tmp
+          ${if config.boot.loader.extlinux.enable
+            then "(cd tmp && ln -s ${o.extlinux} boot)"
+            else ""
+          }
+          size=$(du -s --apparent-size --block-size 1024 tmp |cut -f1)
           # add 25% for filesystem overhead
           size=$(( 5 * $size / 4))
           dd if=/dev/zero of=$out bs=1024 count=$size
-          mke2fs -t ext4 -j -d $TMPDIR/empty $out
+          mke2fs -t ext4 -j -d tmp $out
         '';
     };
   };
diff --git a/modules/jffs2.nix b/modules/jffs2.nix
index d85ba26f..a1b9c2a0 100644
--- a/modules/jffs2.nix
+++ b/modules/jffs2.nix
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 }:
 let
   inherit (lib) mkIf mkOption types;
+  o = config.system.outputs;
 in
 {
   imports = [
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ in
       JFFS2_CMODE_SIZE = "y";
     };
     boot.initramfs.enable = true;
-    system.outputs = rec {
+    system.outputs = {
       systemConfiguration =
         pkgs.systemconfig config.filesystem.contents;
       rootfs =
@@ -33,11 +34,12 @@ in
         in runCommand "make-jffs2" {
           depsBuildBuild = [ mtdutils ];
         } ''
-          mkdir -p $TMPDIR/empty/nix/store/ $TMPDIR/empty/secrets
-          cp ${systemConfiguration}/bin/activate $TMPDIR/empty/activate
-          ln -s ${pkgs.s6-init-bin}/bin/init $TMPDIR/empty/init
-          grafts=$(sed < ${systemConfiguration}/etc/nix-store-paths 's/^\(.*\)$/--graft \1:\1/g')
-          mkfs.jffs2 --compression-mode=size ${endian} -e ${toString config.hardware.flash.eraseBlockSize} --enable-compressor=lzo --pad --root $TMPDIR/empty --output $out  $grafts --squash --faketime
+          cp -a ${o.rootfsFiles} tmp
+          ${if config.boot.loader.extlinux.enable
+            then "(cd tmp && ln -s ${o.extlinux} boot)"
+            else ""
+          }
+          (cd tmp && mkfs.jffs2 --compression-mode=size ${endian} -e ${toString config.hardware.flash.eraseBlockSize} --enable-compressor=lzo --pad --root . --output $out --squash --faketime )
         '';
     };
   };
diff --git a/modules/outputs.nix b/modules/outputs.nix
index df2343df..ce2ba663 100644
--- a/modules/outputs.nix
+++ b/modules/outputs.nix
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 let
   inherit (lib) mkOption types concatStringsSep;
   inherit (pkgs) liminix callPackage writeText;
+  o = config.system.outputs;
 in
 {
   imports = [
@@ -58,6 +59,13 @@ in
           out what's in the image, which is nice if it's unexpectedly huge
         '';
       };
+      rootfsFiles = mkOption {
+        type = types.package;
+        internal = true;
+        description = ''
+          directory of files to package into root filesystem
+        '';
+      };
       rootfs = mkOption {
         type = types.package;
         internal = true;
@@ -69,7 +77,6 @@ in
   };
   config = {
     system.outputs = rec {
-      # tftpd = pkgs.buildPackages.tufted;
       kernel = liminix.builders.kernel.override {
         inherit (config.kernel) config src extraPatchPhase;
       };
@@ -87,6 +94,18 @@ in
         inherit kernel;
         inherit dtb;
       };
+      rootfsFiles =
+        let
+          inherit (pkgs.pkgsBuildBuild) runCommand;
+        in runCommand "mktree" { } ''
+          mkdir -p $out/nix/store/ $out/secrets $out/boot
+          cp ${o.systemConfiguration}/bin/activate $out/activate
+          ln -s ${pkgs.s6-init-bin}/bin/init $out/init
+          mkdir -p $out/nix/store
+          for path in $(cat ${o.systemConfiguration}/etc/nix-store-paths) ; do
+            (cd $out && cp -a $path .$path)
+          done
+        '';
       manifest = writeText "manifest.json" (builtins.toJSON config.filesystem.contents);
     };
   };
diff --git a/modules/ubifs.nix b/modules/ubifs.nix
index b04c1280..4f93cf04 100644
--- a/modules/ubifs.nix
+++ b/modules/ubifs.nix
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 }:
 let
   inherit (lib) mkIf mkOption types;
+  o = config.system.outputs;
 in
 {
   imports = [
@@ -20,12 +21,11 @@ in
   config = mkIf (config.rootfsType == "ubifs") {
     kernel.config = {
       MTD_UBI="y";
-
       UBIFS_FS = "y";
       UBIFS_FS_SECURITY = "n";
     };
     boot.initramfs.enable = true;
-    system.outputs = rec {
+    system.outputs = {
       systemConfiguration =
         pkgs.systemconfig config.filesystem.contents;
       rootfs =
@@ -35,15 +35,13 @@ in
         in runCommand "mkfs.ubifs" {
           depsBuildBuild = [ mtdutils ];
         } ''
-          mkdir -p $TMPDIR/empty/nix/store/ $TMPDIR/empty/secrets $TMPDIR/empty/boot
-          cp ${systemConfiguration}/bin/activate $TMPDIR/empty/activate
-          ln -s ${pkgs.s6-init-bin}/bin/init $TMPDIR/empty/init
-          cp ${config.system.outputs.uimage} $TMPDIR/empty/boot/uimage
-          mkdir -p $TMPDIR/empty/nix/store
-          for path in $(cat ${systemConfiguration}/etc/nix-store-paths) ; do
-            (cd $TMPDIR/empty && cp -a $path .$path)
-          done
-          mkfs.ubifs -x favor_lzo -c ${cfg.maxLEBcount} -m ${cfg.minIOSize} -e ${cfg.eraseBlockSize}  -y -r $TMPDIR/empty --output $out  --squash-uids -o $out
+          mkdir tmp
+          cp -a ${o.rootfsFiles} tmp
+          ${if config.boot.loader.extlinux.enable
+            then "(cd tmp && ln -s ${o.extlinux} boot)"
+            else ""
+           }
+          mkfs.ubifs -x favor_lzo -c ${cfg.maxLEBcount} -m ${cfg.minIOSize} -e ${cfg.eraseBlockSize}  -y -r tmp --output $out  --squash-uids -o $out
         '';
     };
   };