diff --git a/src/create_disk.sh b/src/create_disk.sh
index 8ffa798821..d67a7844ec 100755
--- a/src/create_disk.sh
+++ b/src/create_disk.sh
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ rootfs_args=$(getconfig_def "rootfs-args" "")
 bootfs=$(getconfig "bootfs")
 composefs=$(getconfig_def "composefs" "")
 grub_script=$(getconfig "grub-script")
+bootupd_epoch=$(getconfig "bootupd-epoch")
 ostree_container=$(getconfig "ostree-container")
 commit=$(getconfig "ostree-commit")
 ref=$(getconfig "ostree-ref")
@@ -396,11 +397,34 @@ cat > $rootfs/.coreos-aleph-version.json << EOF
 }
 EOF
 
-install_uefi() {
-    # https://github.com/coreos/fedora-coreos-tracker/issues/510
-    # See also https://github.com/ostreedev/ostree/pull/1873#issuecomment-524439883
+bootloader_install_nons390x_bootupd_epoch_1() {
+    # For background on bootupd, see https://github.com/coreos/fedora-coreos-tracker/issues/510
+    # This requires bootupd 0.2.11 in the target system, and handles both BIOS and UEFI for x86_64 for example.
+    bootupd_args=()
+    if [ "${x86_bios_bootloader}" = 1 ]; then
+        bootupd_args+=("--device=$disk")
+    fi
+    chroot_run /usr/bin/bootupctl backend install --src-root="${deploy_root}" "${bootupd_args[@]}" "${rootfs}"
+    case "${arch}" in
+        x86_64|aarch64)
+            inject_grub_uefi
+            ;;
+        ppc64le)
+            install_grub_cfg
+            ;;
+        *)
+            echo "Unhandled arch $arch"; exit 1
+    esac
+}
+
+bootupd_install_uefi_epoch_0() {
+    # For background on bootupd, see https://github.com/coreos/fedora-coreos-tracker/issues/510
     # Unshare mount ns to work around https://github.com/coreos/bootupd/issues/367
     unshare -m /usr/bin/bootupctl backend install --src-root="${deploy_root}" "${rootfs}"
+    inject_grub_uefi
+}
+
+inject_grub_uefi() {
     # We have a "static" grub config file that basically configures grub to look
     # in the RAID called "md-boot", if it exists, or the partition labeled "boot".
     local target_efi="$rootfs/boot/efi"
@@ -472,32 +496,50 @@ generate_gpgkeys() {
     rm -rf "${tmp_home}"
 }
 
+bootloader_install_nons390x_bootupd_epoch_0() {
+    case $arch in
+    x86_64)
+        bootupd_install_uefi_epoch_0
+        if [ "${x86_bios_bootloader}" = 1 ]; then
+            # And BIOS grub in addition.  See also
+            # https://github.com/coreos/fedora-coreos-tracker/issues/32
+            # Install BIOS/PReP bootloader using the target system's grub2-install,
+            # see https://github.com/coreos/coreos-assembler/issues/3156
+            chroot_run /sbin/grub2-install \
+                --target i386-pc \
+                --boot-directory $rootfs/boot \
+                --modules mdraid1x \
+                "$disk"
+        fi
+        ;;
+    aarch64)
+        # Our aarch64 is UEFI only.
+        bootupd_install_uefi_epoch_0
+        ;;
+    ppc64le)
+        # to populate PReP Boot, i.e. support pseries
+        chroot_run /sbin/grub2-install --target=powerpc-ieee1275 --boot-directory $rootfs/boot --no-nvram "${disk}${PREPPN}"
+        install_grub_cfg
+        ;;
+    *) "unhandled arch $arch 1>&2"; exit 1
+        ;;
+    esac
+}
+
 # Other arch-specific bootloader changes
 # shellcheck disable=SC2031
 case "$arch" in
-x86_64)
-    # UEFI
-    install_uefi
-    if [ "${x86_bios_bootloader}" = 1 ]; then
-        # And BIOS grub in addition.  See also
-        # https://github.com/coreos/fedora-coreos-tracker/issues/32
-        # Install BIOS/PReP bootloader using the target system's grub2-install,
-        # see https://github.com/coreos/coreos-assembler/issues/3156
-        chroot_run /sbin/grub2-install \
-            --target i386-pc \
-            --boot-directory $rootfs/boot \
-            --modules mdraid1x \
-            "$disk"
-    fi
-    ;;
-aarch64)
-    # Our aarch64 is UEFI only.
-    install_uefi
-    ;;
-ppc64le)
-    # to populate PReP Boot, i.e. support pseries
-    chroot_run /sbin/grub2-install --target=powerpc-ieee1275 --boot-directory $rootfs/boot --no-nvram "${disk}${PREPPN}"
-    install_grub_cfg
+x86_64|aarch64|ppc64le)
+    case "${bootupd_epoch}" in
+        0)
+            bootloader_install_nons390x_bootupd_epoch_0
+            ;;
+        1)
+            bootloader_install_nons390x_bootupd_epoch_1
+            ;;
+        *) echo "Unhandled ${bootupd_epoch} 1>&2; exit 1"
+            ;;
+    esac
     ;;
 s390x)
     ostree config --repo $rootfs/ostree/repo set sysroot.bootloader zipl
diff --git a/src/image-default.yaml b/src/image-default.yaml
index a3e6556729..ad72fd1212 100644
--- a/src/image-default.yaml
+++ b/src/image-default.yaml
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ rootfs-args: ""
 # Set to "true" to enable composefs
 composefs: false
 
+# - "0": The default, only needs a version of bootupd too old for anyone to *not* have it 
+# - "1": adds a hard requirement of bootupd 0.2.11
+bootupd-epoch: "0"
+
 # Additional default kernel arguments injected into disk images
 extra-kargs: []