diff --git a/configuration/config.nix b/configuration/config.nix
index 705b44407af3..46b9b1e76b8c 100644
--- a/configuration/config.nix
+++ b/configuration/config.nix
@@ -15,13 +15,14 @@ rec {
   # its default value if it's not defined.
   get = name:
     let
-      sameName = lib.filter (opt: lib.eqLists opt.name name) declarations;
+      decl =
+        lib.findSingle (decl: lib.eqLists decl.name name)
+          (abort ("Undeclared option `" + printName name + "'."))
+          declarations;
       default =
-        if sameName == []
-        then abort ("Undeclared option `" + printName name + "'.")
-        else if !builtins.head sameName ? default
+        if !decl ? default
         then abort ("Option `" + printName name + "' has no default.")
-        else (builtins.head sameName).default;
+        else decl.default;
     in lib.getAttr name default config;
   
   printName = name: lib.concatStrings (lib.intersperse "." name);
diff --git a/configuration/options.nix b/configuration/options.nix
index cd7f2a929d88..ec4bc85b9c48 100644
--- a/configuration/options.nix
+++ b/configuration/options.nix
@@ -13,17 +13,8 @@
     default = false;
     description = "
       Whether to find the root device automatically by searching for a
-      device with the right label.  If this option is off, then
-      <option>boot.rootDevice</option> must be set.
-    ";
-  }
-
-
-  {
-    name = ["boot" "rootDevice"];
-    example = "/dev/hda1";
-    description = "
-      The device to be mounted on / at system startup.
+      device with the right label.  If this option is off, then a root
+      file system must be specified using <option>filesystems</option>.
     ";
   }
 
@@ -150,17 +141,31 @@
 
   
   {
-    name = ["filesystems" "mountPoints"];
+    name = ["filesystems"];
     example = [
-      { device = "/dev/hda2";
-        mountPoint = "/";
+      { mountPoint = "/";
+        device = "/dev/hda1";
+      }
+      { mountPoint = "/data";
+        device = "/dev/hda2";
+        filesystem = "ext3";
+        autoMount = true;
+        options = "data=journal";
       }
     ];
     description = "
-      The file systems to be mounted by NixOS.  It must include an
-      entry for the root directory (<literal>mountPoint =
-      \"/\"</literal>).  This is the file system on which NixOS is (to
-      be) installed..
+      The file systems to be mounted.  It must include an entry for
+      the root directory (<literal>mountPoint = \"/\"</literal>).
+      Each entry in the list is an attribute set with the following
+      fields: <literal>mountPoint</literal>,
+      <literal>device</literal>, <literal>filesystem</literal> (a file
+      system type recognised by <command>mount</command>; defaults to
+      <literal>\"auto\"</literal>), <literal>autoMount</literal> (a
+      boolean indicating whether the file system is mounted
+      automatically; defaults to <literal>true</literal>) and
+      <literal>options</literal> (the mount options passed to
+      <command>mount</command> using the <option>-o</option> flag;
+      defaults to <literal>\"\"</literal>).
     ";
   }
 
diff --git a/configuration/system.nix b/configuration/system.nix
index 133c12b935c2..090ecc9b3a54 100644
--- a/configuration/system.nix
+++ b/configuration/system.nix
@@ -73,7 +73,10 @@ rec {
     inherit (pkgsDiet) module_init_tools;
     inherit extraUtils;
     autoDetectRootDevice = config.get ["boot" "autoDetectRootDevice"];
-    rootDevice = config.get ["boot" "rootDevice"];
+    rootDevice =
+      (pkgs.library.findSingle (fs: fs.mountPoint == "/")
+        (abort "No root mount point declared.")
+        (config.get ["filesystems"])).device;
     rootLabel = config.get ["boot" "rootLabel"];
     inherit stage2Init;
     modulesDir = modulesClosure;
diff --git a/instances/examples/basic.nix b/instances/examples/basic.nix
index eedfa5f74b6f..f77b8101bb70 100644
--- a/instances/examples/basic.nix
+++ b/instances/examples/basic.nix
@@ -1,10 +1,16 @@
 {
   boot = {
     autoDetectRootDevice = false;
-    rootDevice = "/dev/hda1";
     readOnlyRoot = false;
     grubDevice = "/dev/hda";
   };
+
+  filesystems = [
+    { mountPoint = "/";
+      device = "/dev/hda1";
+    }
+  ];
+  
   services = {
     sshd = {
       enable = true;