diff --git a/appliance/init b/appliance/init
index eb1b4876c..cca62e710 100755
--- a/appliance/init
+++ b/appliance/init
@@ -88,11 +88,26 @@ for f in /sys/block/{h,s,ub,v}d*/queue/scheduler; do echo noop > $f; done
 # Update the system clock.
 hwclock -u -s
 
+# Parse the kernel command line.
+if grep -sq guestfs_verbose=1 /proc/cmdline; then
+    guestfs_verbose=1
+fi
+if grep -sq guestfs_network=1 /proc/cmdline; then
+    guestfs_network=1
+fi
+if grep -sq guestfs_rescue=1 /proc/cmdline; then
+    guestfs_rescue=1
+fi
+if grep -sq guestfs_noreboot=1 /proc/cmdline; then
+    guestfs_noreboot=1
+fi
+eval `grep -Eo 'guestfs_channel=[^[:space:]]+' /proc/cmdline`
+
 # Set up the network.
 ip addr add 127.0.0.1/8 brd + dev lo scope host
 ip link set dev lo up
 
-if grep -sq guestfs_network=1 /proc/cmdline; then
+if test "$guestfs_network" = 1; then
     if dhclient --version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
         dhclient
     else
@@ -113,7 +128,7 @@ lvm vgchange -aay --sysinit
 ldmtool create all
 
 # These are useful when debugging.
-if grep -sq guestfs_verbose=1 /proc/cmdline; then
+if test "$guestfs_verbose" = 1; then
     uname -a
     ls -lR /dev
     cat /proc/mounts
@@ -132,7 +147,7 @@ if grep -sq guestfs_verbose=1 /proc/cmdline; then
     echo -n "uptime: "; cat /proc/uptime
 fi
 
-if ! grep -sq guestfs_rescue=1 /proc/cmdline; then
+if ! test "$guestfs_rescue" = 1; then
   # Run the daemon.
 
   # Run the daemon under valgrind if ./configure --enable-valgrind-daemon
@@ -145,7 +160,19 @@ if ! grep -sq guestfs_rescue=1 /proc/cmdline; then
   fi
 
   # Run guestfsd, under valgrind if asked.
-  $vg guestfsd
+  cmd="$vg guestfsd"
+  if test "x$guestfs_channel" != "x"; then
+    cmd="$cmd --channel $guestfs_channel"
+  fi
+  if test "$guestfs_verbose" = 1; then
+    cmd="$cmd --verbose"
+  fi
+  if test "$guestfs_network" = 1; then
+    cmd="$cmd --network"
+  fi
+  echo $cmd
+  $cmd
+
   if [ $? -eq 119 ]; then
       echo "DAEMON VALGRIND FAILED"
       # Sleep so valgrind messages are seen by the host.  Note this
@@ -181,7 +208,7 @@ fi
 
 sync
 
-if ! grep -sq guestfs_noreboot=1 /proc/cmdline; then
+if ! test "$guestfs_noreboot" = 1; then
   # qemu has the -no-reboot flag, so issuing a reboot here actually
   # causes qemu to exit gracefully.
   reboot -f
diff --git a/daemon/guestfsd.c b/daemon/guestfsd.c
index 4995a2b9c..584c685a2 100644
--- a/daemon/guestfsd.c
+++ b/daemon/guestfsd.c
@@ -58,8 +58,6 @@
 
 GUESTFSD_EXT_CMD(str_udevadm, udevadm);
 
-static char *read_cmdline (void);
-
 #ifndef MAX
 # define MAX(a,b) ((a)>(b)?(a):(b))
 #endif
@@ -139,16 +137,18 @@ usage (void)
 int
 main (int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-  static const char *options = "lrtv?";
+  static const char *options = "c:lnrtv?";
   static const struct option long_options[] = {
     { "help", 0, 0, '?' },
+    { "channel", 1, 0, 'c' },
     { "listen", 0, 0, 'l' },
+    { "network", 0, 0, 'n' },
     { "test", 0, 0, 't' },
     { "verbose", 0, 0, 'v' },
     { 0, 0, 0, 0 }
   };
   int c;
-  char *cmdline;
+  const char *channel = NULL;
   int listen_mode = 0;
 
   ignore_value (chdir ("/"));
@@ -188,10 +188,18 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
     if (c == -1) break;
 
     switch (c) {
+    case 'c':
+      channel = optarg;
+      break;
+
     case 'l':
       listen_mode = 1;
       break;
 
+    case 'n':
+      enable_network = 1;
+      break;
+
       /* The -r flag is used when running standalone.  It changes
        * several aspects of the daemon.
        */
@@ -225,23 +233,6 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
     exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
   }
 
-  cmdline = read_cmdline ();
-
-  /* Set the verbose flag. */
-  verbose = verbose ||
-    (cmdline && strstr (cmdline, "guestfs_verbose=1") != NULL);
-  if (verbose)
-    printf ("verbose daemon enabled\n");
-
-  if (verbose) {
-    if (cmdline)
-      printf ("linux command line: %s\n", cmdline);
-    else
-      printf ("could not read linux command line\n");
-  }
-
-  enable_network = cmdline && strstr (cmdline, "guestfs_network=1") != NULL;
-
 #ifndef WIN32
   /* Make sure SIGPIPE doesn't kill us. */
   struct sigaction sa;
@@ -283,17 +274,8 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
     copy_lvm ();
 
   /* Connect to virtio-serial channel. */
-  char *channel, *p;
-  if (cmdline && (p = strstr (cmdline, "guestfs_channel=")) != NULL) {
-    p += 16;
-    channel = strndup (p, strcspn (p, " \n"));
-  }
-  else
-    channel = strdup (VIRTIO_SERIAL_CHANNEL);
-  if (!channel) {
-    perror ("strdup");
-    exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
-  }
+  if (!channel)
+    channel = VIRTIO_SERIAL_CHANNEL;
 
   if (verbose)
     printf ("trying to open virtio-serial channel '%s'\n", channel);
@@ -347,10 +329,6 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
   if (STRPREFIX (channel, "/dev/ttyS"))
     makeraw (channel, sock);
 
-  /* cmdline, channel not used after this point */
-  free (cmdline);
-  free (channel);
-
   /* Wait for udev devices to be created.  If you start libguestfs,
    * especially with disks that contain complex (eg. mdadm) data
    * already, then it is possible for the 'mdadm' and LVM commands
@@ -384,55 +362,6 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
   exit (EXIT_SUCCESS);
 }
 
-/* Read /proc/cmdline. */
-static char *
-read_cmdline (void)
-{
-  int fd = open ("/proc/cmdline", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC);
-  if (fd == -1) {
-    perror ("/proc/cmdline");
-    return NULL;
-  }
-
-  size_t len = 0;
-  ssize_t n;
-  char buf[256];
-  char *r = NULL;
-
-  for (;;) {
-    n = read (fd, buf, sizeof buf);
-    if (n == -1) {
-      perror ("read");
-      free (r);
-      close (fd);
-      return NULL;
-    }
-    if (n == 0)
-      break;
-    char *newr = realloc (r, len + n + 1); /* + 1 is for terminating NUL */
-    if (newr == NULL) {
-      perror ("realloc");
-      free (r);
-      close (fd);
-      return NULL;
-    }
-    r = newr;
-    memcpy (&r[len], buf, n);
-    len += n;
-  }
-
-  if (r)
-    r[len] = '\0';
-
-  if (close (fd) == -1) {
-    perror ("close");
-    free (r);
-    return NULL;
-  }
-
-  return r;
-}
-
 /* Try to make the socket raw, but don't fail if it's not possible. */
 static void
 makeraw (const char *channel, int fd)
diff --git a/daemon/guestfsd.pod b/daemon/guestfsd.pod
index 22c800362..f1672ae0b 100644
--- a/daemon/guestfsd.pod
+++ b/daemon/guestfsd.pod
@@ -50,6 +50,14 @@ removed.
 
 Display brief help.
 
+=item B<-c> CHANNEL
+
+=item B<--channel> CHANNEL
+
+Pass the name of the virtio-serial channel, serial port, etc.  over
+which guestfsd will communicate with the library.  If this parameter
+is not given, then an internal default port is used.
+
 =item B<-l>
 
 =item B<--listen>
@@ -59,6 +67,12 @@ already exists, create the channel as a Unix domain socket, listen on
 it, and accept a single connection.  This is mainly used for testing
 the daemon.
 
+=item B<-n>
+
+=item B<--network>
+
+Enable network features in the daemon.
+
 =item B<-r>
 
 Set the root filesystem to be F</> (instead of the default which is