diff --git a/elements/debian-upstart/root.d/05-debian-upstart b/elements/debian-upstart/root.d/05-debian-upstart
index 5e012bfc..32eb199b 100755
--- a/elements/debian-upstart/root.d/05-debian-upstart
+++ b/elements/debian-upstart/root.d/05-debian-upstart
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -eux
-echo upstart >> ${TARGET_ROOT}/.extra-packages
-echo debian-upstart >> ${TARGET_ROOT}/.distro-name
+cat > ${TARGET_ROOT}/.extra_settings << EOF
+DIB_DEBIAN_ALT_INIT_PACKAGE=upstart
+EOF
diff --git a/elements/debian/root.d/08-debootstrap b/elements/debian/root.d/08-debootstrap
index d33b3a4f..975bf1d0 100755
--- a/elements/debian/root.d/08-debootstrap
+++ b/elements/debian/root.d/08-debootstrap
@@ -16,13 +16,13 @@
 # under the License.
 #
 set -eu
-if [ -f ${TARGET_ROOT}/.distro-name ] ; then
-    DISTRO_NAME=$(cat ${TARGET_ROOT}/.distro-name)
-else
-    DISTRO_NAME=debian
+if [ -f ${TARGET_ROOT}/.extra_settings ] ; then
+    . ${TARGET_ROOT}/.extra_settings
 fi
+DISTRO_NAME=${DISTRO_NAME:-debian}
 DIB_RELEASE=${DIB_RELEASE:-unstable}
-DEBOOTSTRAP_TARBALL=$DIB_IMAGE_CACHE/debootstrap-${DISTRO_NAME}-${DIB_RELEASE}-${ARCH}.tar.gz
+DIB_DEBIAN_ALT_INIT_PACKAGE=${DIB_DEBIAN_ALT_INIT_PACKAGE:-sysvinit}
+DEBOOTSTRAP_TARBALL=$DIB_IMAGE_CACHE/debootstrap-${DISTRO_NAME}-${DIB_DEBIAN_ALT_INIT_PACKAGE}-${DIB_RELEASE}-${ARCH}.tar.gz
 if [ -n "${DIB_DEBIAN_MIRROR:-}" ]; then
     echo "Use of DIB_DEBIAN_MIRROR environment variable to configure mirror is deprecated."
     echo "Please use DIB_DISTRIBUTION_MIRROR instead."
@@ -38,9 +38,10 @@ if [ -n "$DIB_OFFLINE" ] && [ -f $DEBOOTSTRAP_TARBALL ] ; then
 else
     echo Building new tarball for Debian $DIB_RELEASE ARCH=$ARCH
     ADD_PACKAGES=sudo,adduser,locales,openssh-server,file,less,kbd,curl,rsync,bash-completion,linux-image-amd64
-    if [ -f ${TARGET_ROOT}/.extra-packages ] ; then
-        ADD_PACKAGES=${ADD_PACKAGES},$(cat ${TARGET_ROOT}/.extra-packages)
+    if [ "$DIB_DEBIAN_ALT_INIT_PACKAGE" != "sysvinit" ]; then
+        ADD_PACKAGES=${ADD_PACKAGES},${DIB_DEBIAN_ALT_INIT_PACKAGE}
     fi
+
     sudo sh -c "http_proxy=$http_proxy debootstrap --verbose \
         --arch=${ARCH} \
         --include=${ADD_PACKAGES} \
@@ -75,3 +76,5 @@ LABEL=cloudimg-rootfs / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
     echo Caching debootstrap result in $DEBOOTSTRAP_TARBALL
     sudo tar -C $TARGET_ROOT -zcf $DEBOOTSTRAP_TARBALL .
 fi
+
+sudo rm -f ${TARGET_ROOT}/.extra_settings