diff --git a/release/Makefile.vm b/release/Makefile.vm
--- a/release/Makefile.vm
+++ b/release/Makefile.vm
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@
 	env TARGET=${TARGET} TARGET_ARCH=${TARGET_ARCH} SWAPSIZE=${SWAPSIZE} \
 		QEMUSTATIC=${QEMUSTATIC} \
 		WITHOUT_QEMU=${WITHOUT_QEMU:Dtrue} \
+		NO_ROOT=${NO_ROOT:Dtrue} \
 		${.CURDIR}/scripts/mk-vmimage.sh \
 		-C ${.CURDIR}/tools/vmimage.subr -d ${.OBJDIR}/${.TARGET} -F ${_FS} \
 		-i ${.OBJDIR}/${_CW:tl}.${_FS}.${_FMT}.img -s ${VMSIZE} -f ${_FMT} \
diff --git a/release/tools/vmimage.subr b/release/tools/vmimage.subr
--- a/release/tools/vmimage.subr
+++ b/release/tools/vmimage.subr
@@ -49,8 +49,9 @@
 }
 
 vm_install_base() {
-	# Installs the FreeBSD userland/kernel to the virtual machine disk.
+	local etcupdate_noroot
 
+	# Installs the FreeBSD userland/kernel to the virtual machine disk.
 	cd ${WORLDDIR} && \
 		make DESTDIR=${DESTDIR} ${INSTALLOPTS} \
 		installworld installkernel distribution || \
@@ -58,10 +59,19 @@
 
 	# Bootstrap etcupdate(8) database.
 	mkdir -p ${DESTDIR}/var/db/etcupdate
+	if [ -n "${NO_ROOT}" ]; then
+		etcupdate_noroot="-N"
+	fi
 	etcupdate extract -B \
 		-M "TARGET=${TARGET} TARGET_ARCH=${TARGET_ARCH}" \
 		-s ${WORLDDIR} -d ${DESTDIR}/var/db/etcupdate \
-		-L /dev/stdout
+		-L /dev/stdout $etcupdate_noroot
+	if [ -n "${NO_ROOT}" ]; then
+		sed -n 's,^\.,./var/db/etcupdate/current,p' \
+		    ${DESTDIR}/var/db/etcupdate/current/METALOG | \
+		    env -i LC_COLLATE=C sort >> ${DESTDIR}/METALOG
+		rm ${DESTDIR}/var/db/etcupdate/current/METALOG
+	fi
 
 	echo '# Custom /etc/fstab for FreeBSD VM images' \
 		> ${DESTDIR}/etc/fstab
@@ -73,16 +83,28 @@
 		echo '/dev/gpt/swapfs  none    swap    sw      0       0' \
 			>> ${DESTDIR}/etc/fstab
 	fi
+	if [ -n "${NO_ROOT}" ]; then
+		echo './etc/fstab type=file uname=root gname=wheel mode=0644' >> \
+		    ${DESTDIR}/METALOG
+	fi
 
 	local hostname
 	hostname="$(echo $(uname -o) | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')"
 	echo "hostname=\"${hostname}\"" >> ${DESTDIR}/etc/rc.conf
+	if [ -n "${NO_ROOT}" ]; then
+		echo './etc/rc.conf type=file uname=root gname=wheel mode=0644' >> \
+		    ${DESTDIR}/METALOG
+	fi
 	if [ "${VMFS}" = zfs ]; then
 		echo "zfs_enable=\"YES\"" >> ${DESTDIR}/etc/rc.conf
 		echo "zpool_reguid=\"zroot\"" >> ${DESTDIR}/etc/rc.conf
 		echo "zpool_upgrade=\"zroot\"" >> ${DESTDIR}/etc/rc.conf
 		echo "kern.geom.label.disk_ident.enable=0" >> ${DESTDIR}/boot/loader.conf
 		echo "zfs_load=YES" >> ${DESTDIR}/boot/loader.conf
+		if [ -n "${NO_ROOT}" ]; then
+			echo './boot/loader.conf type=file uname=root gname=wheel mode=0644' >> \
+			    ${DESTDIR}/METALOG
+		fi
 	fi
 
 	return 0
@@ -187,15 +209,21 @@
 }
 
 buildfs() {
-	local md tmppool
+	local md tmppool sourcepath
+
+	if [ -z "${NO_ROOT}" ]; then
+		sourcepath=${DESTDIR}
+	else
+		sourcepath=${DESTDIR}/METALOG
+	fi
 
 	case "${VMFS}" in
 	ufs)
-		makefs ${MAKEFSARGS} -o label=rootfs -o version=2 -o softupdates=1 \
-			${VMBASE} ${DESTDIR}
+		cd ${DESTDIR} && makefs ${MAKEFSARGS} -o label=rootfs -o version=2 -o softupdates=1 \
+			${VMBASE} ${sourcepath}
 		;;
 	zfs)
-		makefs -t zfs ${MAKEFSARGS} \
+		cd ${DESTDIR} && makefs -t zfs ${MAKEFSARGS} \
 			-o poolname=zroot -o bootfs=zroot/ROOT/default -o rootpath=/ \
 			-o fs=zroot\;mountpoint=none \
 			-o fs=zroot/ROOT\;mountpoint=none \
@@ -212,7 +240,7 @@
 			-o fs=zroot/var/log\;setuid=off\;exec=off \
 			-o fs=zroot/var/mail\;atime=on \
 			-o fs=zroot/var/tmp\;setuid=off \
-			${VMBASE} ${DESTDIR}
+			${VMBASE} ${sourcepath}
 		;;
 	*)
 		echo "Unexpected VMFS value '${VMFS}'"
@@ -276,7 +304,7 @@
 		WITH_UNIFIED_OBJDIR=yes \
 		make -C ${WORLDDIR}/stand -V .OBJDIR)"
 	BOOTFILES="$(realpath ${BOOTFILES})"
-	MAKEFSARGS="-s ${VMSIZE}"
+	MAKEFSARGS="-s ${VMSIZE} -D"
 
 	case "${TARGET}:${TARGET_ARCH}" in
 		amd64:amd64 | i386:i386)