diff --git a/sbin/newfs/mkfs.c b/sbin/newfs/mkfs.c
index 66074c7850c9..b796aefa36fb 100644
--- a/sbin/newfs/mkfs.c
+++ b/sbin/newfs/mkfs.c
@@ -738,10 +738,12 @@ fsinit(time_t utime)
 {
 	union dinode node;
 	struct group *grp;
+	int entries;
 
 	memset(&node, 0, sizeof node);
 	if ((grp = getgrnam("operator")) == NULL)
 		errx(35, "Cannot retrieve operator gid");
+	entries = (nflag) ? ROOTLINKCNT - 1: ROOTLINKCNT;
 	if (sblock.fs_magic == FS_UFS1_MAGIC) {
 		/*
 		 * initialize the node
@@ -753,27 +755,30 @@ fsinit(time_t utime)
 		 * create the root directory
 		 */
 		node.dp1.di_mode = IFDIR | UMASK;
-		node.dp1.di_nlink = ROOTLINKCNT;
-		node.dp1.di_size = makedir(root_dir, ROOTLINKCNT);
+		node.dp1.di_nlink = entries;
+		node.dp1.di_size = makedir(root_dir, entries);
 		node.dp1.di_db[0] = alloc(sblock.fs_fsize, node.dp1.di_mode);
 		node.dp1.di_blocks =
 		    btodb(fragroundup(&sblock, node.dp1.di_size));
 		wtfs(fsbtodb(&sblock, node.dp1.di_db[0]), sblock.fs_fsize,
 		    iobuf);
 		iput(&node, ROOTINO);
-		/*
-		 * create the .snap directory
-		 */
-		node.dp1.di_mode |= 020;
-		node.dp1.di_gid = grp->gr_gid;
-		node.dp1.di_nlink = SNAPLINKCNT;
-		node.dp1.di_size = makedir(snap_dir, SNAPLINKCNT);
-		node.dp1.di_db[0] = alloc(sblock.fs_fsize, node.dp1.di_mode);
-		node.dp1.di_blocks =
-		    btodb(fragroundup(&sblock, node.dp1.di_size));
-		wtfs(fsbtodb(&sblock, node.dp1.di_db[0]), sblock.fs_fsize,
-		    iobuf);
-		iput(&node, ROOTINO + 1);
+		if (!nflag) {
+			/*
+			 * create the .snap directory
+			 */
+			node.dp1.di_mode |= 020;
+			node.dp1.di_gid = grp->gr_gid;
+			node.dp1.di_nlink = SNAPLINKCNT;
+			node.dp1.di_size = makedir(snap_dir, SNAPLINKCNT);
+				node.dp1.di_db[0] =
+				    alloc(sblock.fs_fsize, node.dp1.di_mode);
+			node.dp1.di_blocks =
+			    btodb(fragroundup(&sblock, node.dp1.di_size));
+				wtfs(fsbtodb(&sblock, node.dp1.di_db[0]),
+				    sblock.fs_fsize, iobuf);
+			iput(&node, ROOTINO + 1);
+		}
 	} else {
 		/*
 		 * initialize the node
@@ -786,27 +791,30 @@ fsinit(time_t utime)
 		 * create the root directory
 		 */
 		node.dp2.di_mode = IFDIR | UMASK;
-		node.dp2.di_nlink = ROOTLINKCNT;
-		node.dp2.di_size = makedir(root_dir, ROOTLINKCNT);
+		node.dp2.di_nlink = entries;
+		node.dp2.di_size = makedir(root_dir, entries);
 		node.dp2.di_db[0] = alloc(sblock.fs_fsize, node.dp2.di_mode);
 		node.dp2.di_blocks =
 		    btodb(fragroundup(&sblock, node.dp2.di_size));
 		wtfs(fsbtodb(&sblock, node.dp2.di_db[0]), sblock.fs_fsize,
 		    iobuf);
 		iput(&node, ROOTINO);
-		/*
-		 * create the .snap directory
-		 */
-		node.dp2.di_mode |= 020;
-		node.dp2.di_gid = grp->gr_gid;
-		node.dp2.di_nlink = SNAPLINKCNT;
-		node.dp2.di_size = makedir(snap_dir, SNAPLINKCNT);
-		node.dp2.di_db[0] = alloc(sblock.fs_fsize, node.dp2.di_mode);
-		node.dp2.di_blocks =
-		    btodb(fragroundup(&sblock, node.dp2.di_size));
-		wtfs(fsbtodb(&sblock, node.dp2.di_db[0]), sblock.fs_fsize,
-		    iobuf);
-		iput(&node, ROOTINO + 1);
+		if (!nflag) {
+			/*
+			 * create the .snap directory
+			 */
+			node.dp2.di_mode |= 020;
+			node.dp2.di_gid = grp->gr_gid;
+			node.dp2.di_nlink = SNAPLINKCNT;
+			node.dp2.di_size = makedir(snap_dir, SNAPLINKCNT);
+				node.dp2.di_db[0] =
+				    alloc(sblock.fs_fsize, node.dp2.di_mode);
+			node.dp2.di_blocks =
+			    btodb(fragroundup(&sblock, node.dp2.di_size));
+				wtfs(fsbtodb(&sblock, node.dp2.di_db[0]), 
+				    sblock.fs_fsize, iobuf);
+			iput(&node, ROOTINO + 1);
+		}
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/sbin/newfs/newfs.8 b/sbin/newfs/newfs.8
index 8cba772a44ab..48393e3ca235 100644
--- a/sbin/newfs/newfs.8
+++ b/sbin/newfs/newfs.8
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 .Nd construct a new UFS1/UFS2 file system
 .Sh SYNOPSIS
 .Nm
-.Op Fl NUl
+.Op Fl NUln
 .Op Fl L Ar volname
 .Op Fl O Ar filesystem-type
 .Op Fl S Ar sector-size
@@ -159,6 +159,20 @@ currently 8%.
 See
 .Xr tunefs 8
 for more details on how to set this option.
+.It Fl n
+Do not create a .snap directory on the new filesystem.
+The resulting filesystem will not support snapshot generation, so
+.Xr dump 8
+in live mode and background
+.Xr fsck 8
+will not function properly.
+The traditional
+.Xr fsck 8
+and offline
+.Xr dump 8
+will work on the filesystem.
+This option is intended primarily for memory or vnode filesystems that
+do not require dump or fsck support.
 .It Fl o Ar optimization
 .Cm ( space
 or
@@ -219,6 +233,7 @@ on file systems that contain many small files.
 .Xr fs 5 ,
 .Xr bsdlabel 8 ,
 .Xr camcontrol 8 ,
+.Xr dump 8 ,
 .Xr dumpfs 8 ,
 .Xr fsck 8 ,
 .Xr mount 8 ,
diff --git a/sbin/newfs/newfs.c b/sbin/newfs/newfs.c
index f5a015442276..24cd094f194f 100644
--- a/sbin/newfs/newfs.c
+++ b/sbin/newfs/newfs.c
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ int	Rflag;			/* regression test */
 int	Uflag;			/* enable soft updates for file system */
 int	Eflag = 0;		/* exit in middle of newfs for testing */
 int	lflag;			/* enable multilabel for file system */
+int	nflag;			/* do not create .snap directory */
 quad_t	fssize;			/* file system size */
 int	sectorsize;		/* bytes/sector */
 int	realsectorsize;		/* bytes/sector in hardware */
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	off_t mediasize;
 
 	while ((ch = getopt(argc, argv,
-	    "EL:NO:RS:T:Ua:b:c:d:e:f:g:h:i:lm:o:s:")) != -1)
+	    "EL:NO:RS:T:Ua:b:c:d:e:f:g:h:i:lm:no:s:")) != -1)
 		switch (ch) {
 		case 'E':
 			Eflag++;
@@ -244,6 +245,9 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			if ((minfree = atoi(optarg)) < 0 || minfree > 99)
 				errx(1, "%s: bad free space %%", optarg);
 			break;
+		case 'n':
+			nflag = 1;
+			break;
 		case 'o':
 			if (strcmp(optarg, "space") == 0)
 				opt = FS_OPTSPACE;
diff --git a/sbin/newfs/newfs.h b/sbin/newfs/newfs.h
index feb9bcd8fcd9..dae9fd877255 100644
--- a/sbin/newfs/newfs.h
+++ b/sbin/newfs/newfs.h
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ extern int	Rflag;		/* regression test */
 extern int	Uflag;		/* enable soft updates for file system */
 extern int	Eflag;		/* exit as if error, for testing */
 extern int	lflag;		/* enable multilabel MAC for file system */
+extern int	nflag;		/* do not create .snap directory */
 extern quad_t	fssize;		/* file system size */
 extern int	sectorsize;	/* bytes/sector */
 extern int	realsectorsize;	/* bytes/sector in hardware*/