diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 0d386190..0378a08e 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -4,6 +4,19 @@ OpenRC NEWS
 This file will contain a list of notable changes for each release. Note
 the information in this file is in reverse order.
 
+## OpenRC 0.40
+
+In this version, the keymaps and termencoding services on Linux needed
+to be modified so they do not write to the root file system. This was
+done so they can run earlier in the boot sequence. AS a result, you will
+need to add save-termencoding and save-keymaps to your boot runlevel.
+This can be done as follows:
+
+```
+# rc-update add save-keymaps boot
+# rc-update add save-termencoding boot
+```
+
 ## OpenRC 0.39
 
 This version removes the support for addons.
diff --git a/init.d/.gitignore b/init.d/.gitignore
index 90abdbbe..8e03e3b9 100644
--- a/init.d/.gitignore
+++ b/init.d/.gitignore
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ rc-enabled
 rpcbind
 runsvdir
 savecore
+save-keymaps
+save-termencoding
 swap-blk
 swclock
 syslogd
diff --git a/init.d/Makefile b/init.d/Makefile
index e18f7a9f..c97aeda9 100644
--- a/init.d/Makefile
+++ b/init.d/Makefile
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ SRCS-FreeBSD+=	adjkerntz.in devd.in dumpon.in encswap.in ipfw.in \
 
 SRCS-Linux=	agetty.in binfmt.in devfs.in cgroups.in dmesg.in hwclock.in \
 	consolefont.in keymaps.in killprocs.in modules.in \
-	mount-ro.in mtab.in numlock.in procfs.in net-online.in sysfs.in \
-termencoding.in
+	mount-ro.in mtab.in numlock.in procfs.in net-online.in save-keymaps.in \
+	save-termencoding.in sysfs.in termencoding.in
 
 # Generic BSD scripts
 SRCS-NetBSD=	hostid.in moused.in newsyslog.in pf.in rarpd.in rc-enabled.in \
diff --git a/init.d/keymaps.in b/init.d/keymaps.in
index 4bece821..16ddcc96 100644
--- a/init.d/keymaps.in
+++ b/init.d/keymaps.in
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ description="Applies a keymap for the consoles."
 depend()
 {
 	need termencoding
-	after bootmisc clock
+	after devfs
 	keyword -docker -lxc -openvz -prefix -systemd-nspawn -uml -vserver -xenu
 }
 
@@ -68,10 +68,5 @@ start()
 		echo "altgr keycode 18 = U+20AC" | loadkeys -q -
 		eend $?
 	fi
-
-	# Save the keymapping for use immediately at boot
-	if checkpath -W "$RC_LIBEXECDIR"; then
-		mkdir -p "$RC_LIBEXECDIR"/console
-		dumpkeys >"$RC_LIBEXECDIR"/console/keymap
-	fi
+	return 0
 }
diff --git a/init.d/save-keymaps.in b/init.d/save-keymaps.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f35097ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/init.d/save-keymaps.in
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!@SBINDIR@/openrc-run
+# Copyright (c) 2018 Sony Interactive Entertainment, Inc.
+#
+# This file is part of OpenRC. It is subject to the license terms in
+# the LICENSE file found in the top-level directory of this
+# distribution and at https://github.com/OpenRC/openrc/blob/master/LICENSE
+# This file may not be copied, modified, propagated, or distributed
+# except according to the terms contained in the LICENSE file.
+
+description="Save the keymap for use as early as possible"
+
+depend()
+{
+	need termencoding
+	after bootmisc clock keymaps
+	keyword -docker -lxc -openvz -prefix -systemd-nspawn -uml -vserver -xenu
+}
+
+start()
+{
+	# Save the keymapping for use immediately at boot
+	ebegin "Saving key mapping"
+	if checkpath -W "$RC_LIBEXECDIR"; then
+		mkdir -p "$RC_LIBEXECDIR"/console
+		dumpkeys >"$RC_LIBEXECDIR"/console/keymap
+	fi
+	eend $? "Unable to save keymapping"
+}
diff --git a/init.d/save-termencoding.in b/init.d/save-termencoding.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9e640dcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/init.d/save-termencoding.in
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!@SBINDIR@/openrc-run
+# Copyright (c) 2018 Sony Interactive Entertainment, Inc.
+#
+# This file is part of OpenRC. It is subject to the license terms in
+# the LICENSE file found in the top-level directory of this
+# distribution and at https://github.com/OpenRC/openrc/blob/master/LICENSE
+# This file may not be copied, modified, propagated, or distributed
+# except according to the terms contained in the LICENSE file.
+
+description="Configures terminal encoding."
+
+ttyn=${rc_tty_number:-${RC_TTY_NUMBER:-12}}
+: ${unicode:=${UNICODE}}
+
+depend()
+{
+	keyword -docker -lxc -openvz -prefix -systemd-nspawn -uml -vserver -xenu
+	use root
+	after bootmisc clock termencoding
+}
+
+start()
+{
+	ebegin "Saving terminal encoding"
+	# Save the encoding for use immediately at boot
+	if checkpath -W "$RC_LIBEXECDIR"; then
+		mkdir -p "$RC_LIBEXECDIR"/console
+		if yesno ${unicode:-${UNICODE}}; then
+			echo "" > "$RC_LIBEXECDIR"/console/unicode
+		else
+			rm -f "$RC_LIBEXECDIR"/console/unicode
+		fi
+	fi
+	eend 0
+}
diff --git a/init.d/termencoding.in b/init.d/termencoding.in
index 86f5b588..41ddc342 100644
--- a/init.d/termencoding.in
+++ b/init.d/termencoding.in
@@ -17,8 +17,7 @@ ttyn=${rc_tty_number:-${RC_TTY_NUMBER:-12}}
 depend()
 {
 	keyword -docker -lxc -openvz -prefix -systemd-nspawn -uml -vserver -xenu
-	use root
-	after bootmisc clock
+	after devfs
 }
 
 start()
diff --git a/runlevels/Makefile b/runlevels/Makefile
index f000db0d..dbfb59ca 100644
--- a/runlevels/Makefile
+++ b/runlevels/Makefile
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ BOOT-FreeBSD+=	hostid modules newsyslog savecore syslogd
 # FreeBSD specific stuff
 BOOT-FreeBSD+=	adjkerntz dumpon syscons
 
-BOOT-Linux+=	binfmt hwclock keymaps modules mtab procfs termencoding
+BOOT-Linux+=	binfmt hwclock keymaps modules mtab procfs save-keymaps \
+	save-termencoding termencoding
 SHUTDOWN-Linux=	killprocs mount-ro
 SYSINIT-Linux=	devfs cgroups dmesg sysfs