diff --git a/src/bootupd.rs b/src/bootupd.rs
index 6baa3246..f5a8529d 100644
--- a/src/bootupd.rs
+++ b/src/bootupd.rs
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ pub(crate) fn print_status(status: &Status) -> Result<()> {
         }
     }
 
-    if let Some(coreos_aleph) = coreos::get_aleph_version()? {
+    if let Some(coreos_aleph) = coreos::get_aleph_version(Path::new("/"))? {
         println!("CoreOS aleph version: {}", coreos_aleph.aleph.version);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/coreos.rs b/src/coreos.rs
index 2ee70024..9977acef 100644
--- a/src/coreos.rs
+++ b/src/coreos.rs
@@ -8,9 +8,8 @@
 
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
 use chrono::prelude::*;
-use openat_ext::OpenatDirExt;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
-use std::fs::{canonicalize, symlink_metadata};
+use std::fs::File;
 use std::path::Path;
 
 #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Clone, Debug, Hash, Ord, PartialOrd, PartialEq, Eq)]
@@ -28,35 +27,21 @@ pub(crate) struct AlephWithTimestamp {
 }
 
 /// Path to the file, see above
-const ALEPH_PATH: &str = "/sysroot/.coreos-aleph-version.json";
+const ALEPH_PATH: &str = "sysroot/.coreos-aleph-version.json";
 
-pub(crate) fn get_aleph_version() -> Result<Option<AlephWithTimestamp>> {
-    let sysroot = openat::Dir::open("/")?;
-    let mut path = ALEPH_PATH;
-    if !Path::new(ALEPH_PATH).exists() {
+pub(crate) fn get_aleph_version(root: &Path) -> Result<Option<AlephWithTimestamp>> {
+    let path = &root.join(ALEPH_PATH);
+    if !path.exists() {
         return Ok(None);
     }
-    let target;
-    let is_link = symlink_metadata(path)
-        .with_context(|| format!("reading metadata for {}", path))?
-        .file_type()
-        .is_symlink();
-    if is_link {
-        target =
-            canonicalize(path).with_context(|| format!("getting absolute path to {}", path))?;
-        path = target.to_str().unwrap()
-    }
-    if let Some(statusf) = sysroot.open_file_optional(path)? {
-        let meta = statusf.metadata()?;
-        let bufr = std::io::BufReader::new(statusf);
-        let aleph: Aleph = serde_json::from_reader(bufr)?;
-        Ok(Some(AlephWithTimestamp {
-            aleph,
-            ts: meta.created()?.into(),
-        }))
-    } else {
-        Ok(None)
-    }
+    let statusf = File::open(path).with_context(|| format!("Opening {path:?}"))?;
+    let meta = statusf.metadata()?;
+    let bufr = std::io::BufReader::new(statusf);
+    let aleph: Aleph = serde_json::from_reader(bufr)?;
+    Ok(Some(AlephWithTimestamp {
+        aleph,
+        ts: meta.created()?.into(),
+    }))
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
@@ -64,6 +49,49 @@ mod test {
     use super::*;
     use anyhow::Result;
 
+    const V1_ALEPH_DATA: &str = r##"
+    {
+        "version": "32.20201002.dev.2",
+        "ref": "fedora/x86_64/coreos/testing-devel",
+        "ostree-commit": "b2ea6159d6274e1bbbb49aa0ef093eda5d53a75c8a793dbe184f760ed64dc862"
+    }"##;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_parse_from_root_empty() -> Result<()> {
+        // Verify we're a no-op in an empty root
+        let root: &tempfile::TempDir = &tempfile::tempdir()?;
+        let root = root.path();
+        assert!(get_aleph_version(root).unwrap().is_none());
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_parse_from_root() -> Result<()> {
+        let root: &tempfile::TempDir = &tempfile::tempdir()?;
+        let root = root.path();
+        let sysroot = &root.join("sysroot");
+        std::fs::create_dir(sysroot).context("Creating sysroot")?;
+        std::fs::write(root.join(ALEPH_PATH), V1_ALEPH_DATA).context("Writing aleph")?;
+        let aleph = get_aleph_version(root).unwrap().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(aleph.aleph.version, "32.20201002.dev.2");
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_parse_from_root_linked() -> Result<()> {
+        let root: &tempfile::TempDir = &tempfile::tempdir()?;
+        let root = root.path();
+        let sysroot = &root.join("sysroot");
+        std::fs::create_dir(sysroot).context("Creating sysroot")?;
+        let target_name = ".new-ostree-aleph.json";
+        let target = &sysroot.join(target_name);
+        std::fs::write(root.join(target), V1_ALEPH_DATA).context("Writing aleph")?;
+        std::os::unix::fs::symlink(target_name, root.join(ALEPH_PATH)).context("Symlinking")?;
+        let aleph = get_aleph_version(root).unwrap().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(aleph.aleph.version, "32.20201002.dev.2");
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_parse_old_aleph() -> Result<()> {
         // What the aleph file looked like before we changed it in
@@ -82,13 +110,7 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_parse_aleph() -> Result<()> {
-        let alephdata = r##"
-{
-    "version": "32.20201002.dev.2",
-    "ref": "fedora/x86_64/coreos/testing-devel",
-    "ostree-commit": "b2ea6159d6274e1bbbb49aa0ef093eda5d53a75c8a793dbe184f760ed64dc862"
-}"##;
-        let aleph: Aleph = serde_json::from_str(alephdata)?;
+        let aleph: Aleph = serde_json::from_str(V1_ALEPH_DATA)?;
         assert_eq!(aleph.version, "32.20201002.dev.2");
         Ok(())
     }
diff --git a/src/efi.rs b/src/efi.rs
index 265999d3..7ffe69c4 100644
--- a/src/efi.rs
+++ b/src/efi.rs
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ impl Component for Efi {
             return Ok(None);
         };
         // This would be extended with support for other operating systems later
-        if let Some(coreos_aleph) = crate::coreos::get_aleph_version()? {
+        if let Some(coreos_aleph) = crate::coreos::get_aleph_version(Path::new("/"))? {
             let meta = ContentMetadata {
                 timestamp: coreos_aleph.ts,
                 version: coreos_aleph.aleph.version,