diff --git a/lib/libbe/be.c b/lib/libbe/be.c
--- a/lib/libbe/be.c
+++ b/lib/libbe/be.c
@@ -1266,12 +1266,27 @@
 	return (0);
 }
 
+static int
+be_zfs_promote(zfs_handle_t *zhp, void *data)
+{
+	char origin[BE_MAXPATHLEN];
+	int *origin_count = (int *) data;
+
+	if (zfs_prop_get(zhp, ZFS_PROP_ORIGIN, origin, sizeof(origin),
+		NULL, NULL, 0, 1) == 0) {
+		(*origin_count)++;
+		return (zfs_promote(zhp));
+	}
+
+	return (zfs_iter_filesystems(zhp, be_zfs_promote, origin_count));
+}
+
 int
 be_activate(libbe_handle_t *lbh, const char *bootenv, bool temporary)
 {
-	char be_path[BE_MAXPATHLEN], origin[BE_MAXPATHLEN];
+	char be_path[BE_MAXPATHLEN];
 	zfs_handle_t *zhp;
-	int err;
+	int err, origin_count;
 
 	be_root_concat(lbh, bootenv, be_path);
 
@@ -1297,19 +1312,16 @@
 			if (zhp == NULL)
 				return (-1);
 
-			if (zfs_prop_get(zhp, ZFS_PROP_ORIGIN, origin, sizeof(origin),
-				NULL, NULL, 0, 1) != 0) {
-				zfs_close(zhp);
-				break;
-			}
+			origin_count = 0;
+			err = be_zfs_promote(zhp, &origin_count);
 
-			err = zfs_promote(zhp);
 			zfs_close(zhp);
-			if (err)
+			if (origin_count == 0)
 				break;
+			if (err)
+				return (err);
 		}
 
-
 		if (err)
 			return (-1);
 	}
diff --git a/sbin/bectl/tests/bectl_test.sh b/sbin/bectl/tests/bectl_test.sh
--- a/sbin/bectl/tests/bectl_test.sh
+++ b/sbin/bectl/tests/bectl_test.sh
@@ -528,7 +528,6 @@
 atf_test_case bectl_promotion cleanup
 bectl_promotion_head()
 {
-
 	atf_set "descr" "Check bectl promotion upon activation"
 	atf_set "require.user" root
 }
@@ -550,7 +549,7 @@
 	mount=${cwd}/mnt
 	root=${mount}/root
 
-	bectl_create_setup ${zpool} ${disk} ${mount}
+	bectl_create_deep_setup ${zpool} ${disk} ${mount}
 	atf_check mkdir -p ${root}
 
 	# Sleeps interspersed to workaround some naming quirks; notably,
@@ -560,23 +559,22 @@
 	# with the same name, and the promotion will fail.
 	atf_check bectl -r ${zpool}/ROOT rename default A
 	sleep 1
-	atf_check bectl -r ${zpool}/ROOT create -e A B
+	atf_check bectl -r ${zpool}/ROOT create -r -e A B
 	sleep 1
-	atf_check bectl -r ${zpool}/ROOT create -e B C
+	atf_check bectl -r ${zpool}/ROOT create -r -e B C
 
 	# C should be a clone of B to start with
-	atf_check -o not-inline:"-" zfs list -H -o origin ${zpool}/ROOT/C
+	atf_check -o not-inline:"-" zfs list -Hr -o origin ${zpool}/ROOT/C
 
 	# Activating it should then promote it all the way out of clone-hood.
 	# This entails two promotes internally, as the first would promote it to
 	# a snapshot of A before finally promoting it the second time out of
 	# clone status.
 	atf_check -o not-empty bectl -r ${zpool}/ROOT activate C
-	atf_check -o inline:"-\n" zfs list -H -o origin ${zpool}/ROOT/C
+	atf_check -o inline:"-\n-\n" zfs list -Hr -o origin ${zpool}/ROOT/C
 }
 bectl_promotion_cleanup()
 {
-
 	bectl_cleanup $(get_zpool_name)
 }