diff --git a/bin/disk-image-create b/bin/disk-image-create
index 7ea65c4dc..c38a20055 100755
--- a/bin/disk-image-create
+++ b/bin/disk-image-create
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ function show_options () {
     echo "    --qemu-img-options -- option flags to be passed directly to qemu-img."
     echo "       Options need to be comma separated, and follow the key=value pattern."
     echo "    --root-label label -- label for the root filesystem.  Defaults to 'cloudimg-rootfs'."
+    echo "    --ramdisk-element -- specify the main element to be used for building ramdisks."
     if [ "$IS_RAMDISK" == "0" ]; then
         echo "    -n skip the default inclusion of the 'base' element"
         echo "    -p package[,package,package] -- list of packages to install in the image"
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ function show_options () {
 INSTALL_PACKAGES=""
 COMPRESS_IMAGE="true"
 DIB_ROOT_LABEL=""
-TEMP=`getopt -o a:ho:t:xucnp: -l no-tmpfs,offline,help,min-tmpfs:,image-size:,image-cache:,max-online-resize:,qemu-img-options:,root-label: -n $SCRIPTNAME -- "$@"`
+TEMP=`getopt -o a:ho:t:xucnp: -l no-tmpfs,offline,help,min-tmpfs:,image-size:,image-cache:,max-online-resize:,qemu-img-options:,ramdisk-element:,root-label: -n $SCRIPTNAME -- "$@"`
 if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then echo "Terminating..." >&2 ; exit 1 ; fi
 
 # Note the quotes around `$TEMP': they are essential!
@@ -112,6 +113,7 @@ while true ; do
         --offline) shift; export DIB_OFFLINE=1;;
         --qemu-img-options) QEMU_IMG_OPTIONS=$2; shift 2;;
         --root-label) export DIB_ROOT_LABEL=$2; shift 2;;
+        --ramdisk-element) RAMDISK_ELEMENT=$2; shift 2;;
         --) shift ; break ;;
         *) echo "Internal error!" ; exit 1 ;;
     esac
diff --git a/elements/deploy-ironic/init.d/80-deploy-ironic b/elements/deploy-ironic/init.d/80-deploy-ironic
index f0ba49bc7..d52ccdedc 100644
--- a/elements/deploy-ironic/init.d/80-deploy-ironic
+++ b/elements/deploy-ironic/init.d/80-deploy-ironic
@@ -35,9 +35,11 @@ if [ "$BOOT_METHOD" = "$VMEDIA_BOOT_TAG" ]; then
 else
   TOKEN_FILE=token-$DEPLOYMENT_ID
 
-  if tftp -r $TOKEN_FILE -g $BOOT_SERVER
-    then TOKEN_HEADER="-H 'X-Auth-Token: $(cat $TOKEN_FILE)'"
-    else TOKEN_HEADER=""
+  # Allow multiple versions of the tftp client
+  if tftp -r $TOKEN_FILE -g $BOOT_SERVER || tftp $BOOT_SERVER -c get $TOKEN_FILE; then
+      TOKEN_HEADER="-H 'X-Auth-Token: $(cat $TOKEN_FILE)'"
+  else
+      TOKEN_HEADER=""
   fi
 fi
 
diff --git a/elements/dracut-ramdisk/README.md b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c3f19185d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Build Dracut-based ramdisks
+
+This is an alternative to the `ramdisk` element that uses
+Dracut to provide the base system functionality instead of
+Busybox.
diff --git a/elements/dracut-ramdisk/element-deps b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/element-deps
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c07f41335
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/element-deps
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+pkg-map
+ramdisk-base
+source-repositories
diff --git a/elements/dracut-ramdisk/environment.d/10-dracut-version.bash b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/environment.d/10-dracut-version.bash
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5b752b629
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/environment.d/10-dracut-version.bash
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# Using 037 because that matches the current Fedora package
+export DRACUT_VERSION=037
diff --git a/elements/dracut-ramdisk/extra-data.d/scripts/module/deploy-cmdline.sh b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/extra-data.d/scripts/module/deploy-cmdline.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..7cd143281
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/extra-data.d/scripts/module/deploy-cmdline.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# NOTE(bnemec): Dracut doesn't like it if we enable these
+# dib-lint: disable=setu sete setpipefail
+
+source /init-func
+
+find_target() {
+    local DISK=$(getarg disk)
+    local target_disk=
+    t=0
+    while ! target_disk=$(find_disk "$DISK"); do
+        if [ $t -eq 10 ]; then
+            break
+        fi
+        t=$(($t + 1))
+        sleep 1
+    done
+    echo $target_disk
+}
+root=$(find_target)
+
+if [ -n "$root" ]; then
+    rootok=1
+fi
+
+# Dracut doesn't correctly parse the ip argument passed to us.
+# Override /proc/cmdline to rewrite it in a way dracut can grok.
+sed 's/\(ip=\S\+\)/\1:::off/' /proc/cmdline > /run/cmdline
+# Map the existing "troubleshoot" kernel param to the Dracut equivalent.
+sed -i 's/troubleshoot=/rd.shell=/' /run/cmdline
+mount -n --bind -o ro /run/cmdline /proc/cmdline
+# Force Dracut to re-read the cmdline args
+CMDLINE=
diff --git a/elements/dracut-ramdisk/extra-data.d/scripts/module/module-setup.sh b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/extra-data.d/scripts/module/module-setup.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..694e8d427
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/extra-data.d/scripts/module/module-setup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Dracut is bash too, and it doesn't play nicely with our usual sets
+# dib-lint: disable=setu sete setpipefail
+
+check() {
+    return 0
+}
+
+depends() {
+    return 0
+}
+
+install() {
+    inst_hook cmdline 80 "$moddir/deploy-cmdline.sh"
+    inst_hook pre-mount 50 "$moddir/init.sh"
+}
diff --git a/elements/dracut-ramdisk/install.d/20-install-dracut-deps b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/install.d/20-install-dracut-deps
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..8621d893f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/install.d/20-install-dracut-deps
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -eux
+set -o pipefail
+
+DRACUT_NETWORK="dracut-network"
+if [ 'ubuntu' = "$DISTRO_NAME" ]; then
+    DRACUT_NETWORK=
+    # Install Dracut from source because the packaged version is
+    # broken and old.  For Dracut builds we throw away the chroot
+    # anyway so it won't matter if we've installed some build deps.
+    install-packages build-essential arping
+    pushd /tmp
+    tar xJvf dracut.tar.xz
+    pushd dracut-$DRACUT_VERSION
+    ./configure
+    make
+    make install
+    popd
+    popd
+fi
+
+PACKAGES=$(pkg-map --element dracut-ramdisk ncat tftp)
+install-packages $DRACUT_NETWORK wget $PACKAGES
diff --git a/elements/dracut-ramdisk/pkg-map b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/pkg-map
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e3f831639
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/pkg-map
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+{
+  "family":{
+    "debian":{
+      "ncat":"netcat-traditional",
+      "tftp":"tftp-hpa"
+    },
+    "redhat":{
+      "ncat":"nmap-ncat"
+    }
+  },
+  "default":{
+    "ncat":"ncat",
+    "tftp":"tftp"
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/elements/dracut-ramdisk/post-install.d/99-build-dracut-ramdisk b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/post-install.d/99-build-dracut-ramdisk
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..0c5e3fca2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/post-install.d/99-build-dracut-ramdisk
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -eux
+set -o pipefail
+
+_LIB="/tmp/ramdisk-build"
+
+source "$_LIB/common-defaults"
+source "$_LIB/img-defaults"
+source "$_LIB/ramdisk-defaults"
+
+source "$_LIB/common-functions"
+source "$_LIB/img-functions"
+source "$_LIB/ramdisk-functions"
+
+KERNEL_VERSION="${DIB_KERNEL_VERSION:-$(find_kernel_version)}"
+MODULE_DIR="$MODULE_ROOT/lib/modules/$KERNEL_VERSION"
+FIRMWARE_DIR="$MODULE_ROOT/lib/firmware"
+LIB_UDEV="$LIB_UDEV_ROOT/lib/udev"
+INIT="$_LIB/scripts/init"
+FUNCTIONS_D="$_LIB/scripts/d"
+MODULE="$_LIB/scripts/module"
+# NOTE(bnemec): IMAGE_ELEMENT is normally set in disk-image-create, but we're
+# not using that to build the image here.
+IMAGE_ELEMENT=
+
+mk_build_dir
+mkdir -p "$TMP_BUILD_DIR/mnt"
+export TMP_HOOKS_PATH=/tmp
+export TMP_MOUNT_PATH="$TMP_BUILD_DIR/mnt"
+
+echo "building ramdisk in $TMP_MOUNT_PATH"
+
+populate_init
+SCRIPT_HOME=/tmp/in_target.d/bin TMP_HOOKS_PATH=/tmp/in_target.d run_d ramdisk-install
+MODULE_PATH="/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d"
+cp -r "$MODULE" "$MODULE_PATH/80deploy-ramdisk"
+cp "$TMP_MOUNT_PATH/init" "$MODULE_PATH/80deploy-ramdisk/init.sh"
+
+# Notes on the options passed to Dracut:
+# -N: Do not build a host-specific ramdisk.  We want to be able to run this ramdisk
+#     on as many different machines as possible.
+# --install: A list of the binaries needed by our ramdisk script fragments.
+# --kernel-cmdline: Kernel parameters to pass to the ramdisk.  rd.neednet is required
+#                   to force Dracut to bring up networking even if it isn't passed a
+#                   network target root.  Pre-loading the ahci module is necessary
+#                   on some systems to ensure that SATA disks are recognized.
+# --include: Files from the chroot to include in the ramdisk.
+# --kver: The kernel version to use, as determined above.
+# --add-drivers: Extra kernel modules to include in the ramdisk.
+# -o: Force omission of these dracut modules.  Our scripts are written for bash,
+#     so dash is not desirable, and plymouth was causing some issues on Ubuntu.
+dracut -N \
+    --install 'tail head awk ifconfig cut expr route ping tgtd tgtadm nc wget curl tftp grep' \
+    --kernel-cmdline "rd.shell rd.debug rd.neednet=1 rd.driver.pre=ahci" \
+    --include "$TMP_MOUNT_PATH/init-func" /init-func \
+    --kver "${KERNEL_VERSION}" \
+    --add-drivers "virtio virtio_net virtio_blk" \
+    -o "dash plymouth" \
+    /tmp/ramdisk
+
+cp "/boot/vmlinuz-${KERNEL_VERSION}" /tmp/kernel
+chmod o+r /tmp/kernel
diff --git a/elements/dracut-ramdisk/source-repository-dracut b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/source-repository-dracut
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d7c1bdc79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/dracut-ramdisk/source-repository-dracut
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+dracut file /tmp/dracut.tar.xz https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/dracut/dracut-$DRACUT_VERSION.tar.xz
diff --git a/lib/common-functions b/lib/common-functions
index 6bd1f9750..0260d34d2 100644
--- a/lib/common-functions
+++ b/lib/common-functions
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ function arg_to_elements() {
     IMAGE_ELEMENT="base $IMAGE_ELEMENT"
   fi
   if [ "$IS_RAMDISK" == "1" ]; then
-    IMAGE_ELEMENT="ramdisk $IMAGE_ELEMENT"
+    IMAGE_ELEMENT="$RAMDISK_ELEMENT $IMAGE_ELEMENT"
   fi
   echo "Building elements: $IMAGE_ELEMENT"
 
diff --git a/lib/ramdisk-defaults b/lib/ramdisk-defaults
index 893826b13..13120f1df 100644
--- a/lib/ramdisk-defaults
+++ b/lib/ramdisk-defaults
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 # options for ramdisk-image-create
 export DIB_NO_TMPFS=${DIB_NO_TMPFS:-1}
 export DIB_MIN_TMPFS=${DIB_MIN_TMPFS:-1}
+export RAMDISK_ELEMENT=${RAMDISK_ELEMENT:-ramdisk}
 source $_LIB/common-defaults
 MODULE_ROOT=${DIB_MODULE_ROOT:-""}
 LIB_UDEV_ROOT=${DIB_LIB_UDEV_ROOT:-""}
diff --git a/lib/ramdisk-functions b/lib/ramdisk-functions
index e41691afc..b34e93abb 100644
--- a/lib/ramdisk-functions
+++ b/lib/ramdisk-functions
@@ -25,7 +25,9 @@ function fullpath() {
 }
 
 function cleanup () {
-  unmount_dir "$TMP_BUILD_DIR/mnt"
+  if [ "$RAMDISK_ELEMENT" != "dracut-ramdisk" ]; then
+    unmount_dir "$TMP_BUILD_DIR/mnt"
+  fi
   if [ -f "$TMP_IMAGE_PATH" ]; then
     loopdev=`sudo losetup -j "$TMP_IMAGE_PATH" | cut -d: -f1`
     if [ -n "$loopdev" ]; then