diff --git a/etc/Makefile b/etc/Makefile
index ee1642e8..24e54550 100644
--- a/etc/Makefile
+++ b/etc/Makefile
@@ -7,3 +7,6 @@ MK=	../mk
 include ${MK}/os.mk
 include Makefile.${OS}
 include ${MK}/scripts.mk
+
+rc.conf: rc.conf.in rc.conf.${OS}
+	${SED} ${SED_REPLACE} ${SED_EXTRA} $^ > $@
diff --git a/etc/Makefile.Linux b/etc/Makefile.Linux
index 9ac0bc25..5b562947 100644
--- a/etc/Makefile.Linux
+++ b/etc/Makefile.Linux
@@ -1,6 +1,2 @@
 SED_EXTRA=	-e 's:@TERM@:wsvt25:g'
-SRCS+=		rc.in rc.shutdown.in
-
-rc.conf:
-	cp rc.conf.in rc.conf
-	cat rc.conf.Linux >> rc.conf
+SRCS+=		rc.conf.in rc.in rc.shutdown.in
diff --git a/etc/rc.conf.FreeBSD b/etc/rc.conf.FreeBSD
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5682e1db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/etc/rc.conf.FreeBSD
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# This is the subsystem type. Valid options on FreeBSD:
+# ""        - nothing special
+# "jail"    - FreeBSD jails
+# "prefix"  - Prefix
+# If unset, the old automagic detection code will be triggered. Said old code
+# is deprecated and be removed not later than 2010/03/01.
+rc_sys=""
+
diff --git a/etc/rc.conf.Linux b/etc/rc.conf.Linux
index e1f5ef5b..001e9c08 100644
--- a/etc/rc.conf.Linux
+++ b/etc/rc.conf.Linux
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+# This is the subsystem type. Valid options on Linux:
+# ""        - nothing special
+# "lxc"     - Linux Containers
+# "openvz"  - Linux OpenVZ
+# "prefix"  - Prefix
+# "uml"     - Usermode Linux
+# "vserver" - Linux vserver
+# "xen0"    - Xen0 Domain
+# "xenU"    - XenU Domain
+# If unset, the old automagic detection code will be triggered. Said old code
+# is deprecated and be removed not later than 2010/03/01.
+rc_sys=""
 
 ##############################################################################
 # LINUX SPECIFIC OPTIONS
diff --git a/etc/rc.conf.NetBSD b/etc/rc.conf.NetBSD
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..25d86a4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/etc/rc.conf.NetBSD
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# This is the subsystem type. Valid options on NetBSD:
+# ""        - nothing special
+# "prefix"  - Prefix
+# "xen0"    - Xen0 Domain
+# "xenU"    - XenU Domain
+# If unset, the old automagic detection code will be triggered. Said old code
+# is deprecated and be removed not later than 2010/03/01.
+rc_sys=""
+
diff --git a/etc/rc.conf.in b/etc/rc.conf.in
index 200c4ce0..6aa36135 100644
--- a/etc/rc.conf.in
+++ b/etc/rc.conf.in
@@ -115,3 +115,4 @@
 # You can also remove dependencies.
 # This is mainly used for saying which servies do NOT provide net.
 #rc_net_tap0_provide="!net"
+
diff --git a/src/librc/librc.c b/src/librc/librc.c
index fe9e1b6b..6d823434 100644
--- a/src/librc/librc.c
+++ b/src/librc/librc.c
@@ -199,7 +199,51 @@ file_regex(const char *file, const char *regex)
 #endif
 
 const char *
-rc_sys(void)
+rc_sys_v2(void)
+{
+#define __STRING_SWITCH(x) { char* __string_switch = x; if(false) {}
+#define __STRING_CASE(y) else if(strcmp(__string_switch,y) == 0)
+#define __STRING_SWITCH_END() }
+	char* systype = rc_conf_value("rc_sys");
+	/* New sys identification code */
+	if(systype) {
+		char* s = systype;
+		// Convert to uppercase
+		while(s && *s) { 
+			if(islower((unsigned char)*s))
+				*s = toupper((unsigned char)*s); 
+			s++;
+		}
+		// Now do detection
+		__STRING_SWITCH(systype)
+		__STRING_CASE(RC_SYS_PREFIX)	{ return RC_SYS_PREFIX; }
+#ifdef __FreeBSD__
+		__STRING_CASE(RC_SYS_JAIL) { return RC_SYS_JAIL; }
+#endif /* __FreeBSD__ */
+#ifdef __NetBSD__
+		__STRING_CASE(RC_SYS_XEN0) { return RC_SYS_XEN0; }
+		__STRING_CASE(RC_SYS_XENU) { return RC_SYS_XENU; }
+#endif /* __NetBSD__ */
+#ifdef __linux__
+		__STRING_CASE(RC_SYS_XEN0) { return RC_SYS_XEN0; }
+		__STRING_CASE(RC_SYS_XENU) { return RC_SYS_XENU; }
+		__STRING_CASE(RC_SYS_UML) { return RC_SYS_UML; }
+		__STRING_CASE(RC_SYS_VSERVER) { return RC_SYS_VSERVER; }
+		__STRING_CASE(RC_SYS_OPENVZ) { return RC_SYS_OPENVZ; }
+		__STRING_CASE(RC_SYS_LXC) { return RC_SYS_LXC; }
+#endif /* __linux__ */
+		__STRING_SWITCH_END()
+	}
+#undef __STRING_SWITCH
+#undef __STRING_CASE
+#undef __STRING_SWITCH_END
+	return NULL;
+}
+librc_hidden_def(rc_sys_v2)
+
+/* Old sys identification code */
+const char *
+rc_sys_v1(void)
 {
 #ifdef PREFIX
 	return RC_SYS_PREFIX;
@@ -243,6 +287,15 @@ rc_sys(void)
 	return NULL;
 #endif /* PREFIX */
 }
+librc_hidden_def(rc_sys_v1)
+
+const char *
+rc_sys(void)
+{
+	const char *s = rc_sys_v2();
+	if(s) return s;
+	return rc_sys_v1();
+}
 librc_hidden_def(rc_sys)
 
 static const char *
diff --git a/src/librc/librc.h b/src/librc/librc.h
index fc87bb10..dc97f1d3 100644
--- a/src/librc/librc.h
+++ b/src/librc/librc.h
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ librc_hidden_proto(rc_stringlist_new)
 librc_hidden_proto(rc_stringlist_split)
 librc_hidden_proto(rc_stringlist_sort)
 librc_hidden_proto(rc_sys)
+librc_hidden_proto(rc_sys_v1)
+librc_hidden_proto(rc_sys_v2)
 librc_hidden_proto(rc_yesno)
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/librc/rc.h.in b/src/librc/rc.h.in
index d9d04539..3d0ffb42 100644
--- a/src/librc/rc.h.in
+++ b/src/librc/rc.h.in
@@ -274,8 +274,19 @@ bool rc_service_daemons_crashed(const char *);
 #define RC_SYS_VSERVER "VSERVER"
 #define RC_SYS_XEN0    "XEN0"
 #define RC_SYS_XENU    "XENU"
+
+/*! Returns the type of subsystem
+ * @return string from RC_SYS_* types or NULL if none detected */
 const char *rc_sys(void);
 
+/*! Returns the type of subsystem using old automatic code
+ * @return string from RC_SYS_* types or NULL if none detected */
+const char *rc_sys_v1(void);
+
+/*! Returns the type of subsystem using new rc.conf rc_sys value
+ * @return string from RC_SYS_* types or NULL if none detected */
+const char *rc_sys_v2(void);
+
 /*! @name Dependency options
  * These options can change the services found by the rc_get_depinfo and
  * rc_get_depends functions. */
diff --git a/src/librc/rc.map b/src/librc/rc.map
index 3f1e7e70..113f2d7d 100644
--- a/src/librc/rc.map
+++ b/src/librc/rc.map
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ global:
 	rc_stringlist_sort;
 	rc_stringlist_free;
 	rc_sys;
+	rc_sys_v1;
+	rc_sys_v2;
 	rc_yesno;
 
 local:
diff --git a/src/rc/rc.c b/src/rc/rc.c
index ccafbe38..b062349a 100644
--- a/src/rc/rc.c
+++ b/src/rc/rc.c
@@ -878,9 +878,16 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 			eerrorx("%s: %s", applet, strerror(errno));
 			/* NOTREACHED */
 		case 'S':
-			bootlevel = rc_sys();
-			if (bootlevel)
-				printf("%s\n", bootlevel);
+			if (rc_conf_value("rc_sys")) {
+				bootlevel = rc_sys_v2();
+				if(bootlevel)
+					printf("%s\n", bootlevel);
+			} else {
+				ewarn("WARNING: rc_sys not defined in rc.conf. Falling back to automatic detection");
+				bootlevel = rc_sys_v1();
+				if(bootlevel)
+					printf("%s\n", bootlevel);
+			}
 			exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
 			/* NOTREACHED */
 			case_RC_COMMON_GETOPT
diff --git a/src/test/librc.funcs.hidden.list b/src/test/librc.funcs.hidden.list
index 121bfcf0..b661850f 100644
--- a/src/test/librc.funcs.hidden.list
+++ b/src/test/librc.funcs.hidden.list
@@ -51,4 +51,6 @@ rc_stringlist_new
 rc_stringlist_sort
 rc_stringlist_split
 rc_sys
+rc_sys_v1
+rc_sys_v2
 rc_yesno
diff --git a/src/test/rc.funcs.list b/src/test/rc.funcs.list
index b67c0d8f..0aac8f9a 100644
--- a/src/test/rc.funcs.list
+++ b/src/test/rc.funcs.list
@@ -104,5 +104,9 @@ rc_stringlist_split
 rc_stringlist_split@@RC_1.0
 rc_sys
 rc_sys@@RC_1.0
+rc_sys_v1
+rc_sys_v1@@RC_1.0
+rc_sys_v2
+rc_sys_v2@@RC_1.0
 rc_yesno
 rc_yesno@@RC_1.0