diff --git a/Makefile.inc1 b/Makefile.inc1
index e486331e1f72..5e9b9b138309 100644
--- a/Makefile.inc1
+++ b/Makefile.inc1
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 #	-DNO_PORTSUPDATE do not update ports in ${MAKE} update
 #	-DNO_DOCUPDATE do not update doc in ${MAKE} update
 #	-DNO_WWWUPDATE do not update www in ${MAKE} update
+#	-DDB_FROM_SRC use the user/group databases in src/etc instead of
+#	    the system database when installing.
 #	-DNO_CTF do not run the DTrace CTF conversion tools on built objects
 #	LOCAL_DIRS="list of dirs" to add additional dirs to the SUBDIR list
 #	LOCAL_LIB_DIRS="list of dirs" to add additional dirs to libraries target
@@ -340,12 +342,13 @@ LIB32WMAKEFLAGS+=	\
 
 LIB32WMAKE=	${LIB32WMAKEENV} ${MAKE} ${LIB32WMAKEFLAGS} \
 		-DWITHOUT_BIND -DWITHOUT_MAN -DWITHOUT_INFO -DWITHOUT_HTML
-LIB32IMAKE=	${LIB32WMAKE:NINSTALL=*:NDESTDIR=*:N_LDSCRIPTROOT=*} -DNO_INCS
+LIB32IMAKE=	${LIB32WMAKE:NINSTALL=*:NDESTDIR=*:N_LDSCRIPTROOT=*} -DNO_INCS \
+		${IMAKE_INSTALL}
 .endif
 
-# install stage
 IMAKEENV=	${CROSSENV:N_LDSCRIPTROOT=*}
-IMAKE=		${IMAKEENV} ${MAKE} -f Makefile.inc1
+IMAKE=		${IMAKEENV} ${MAKE} -f Makefile.inc1 \
+		${IMAKE_INSTALL} ${IMAKE_MTREE}
 .if empty(.MAKEFLAGS:M-n)
 IMAKEENV+=	PATH=${STRICTTMPPATH}:${INSTALLTMP} \
 		LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${INSTALLTMP} \
@@ -354,6 +357,10 @@ IMAKE+=		__MAKE_SHELL=${INSTALLTMP}/sh
 .else
 IMAKEENV+=	PATH=${TMPPATH}:${INSTALLTMP}
 .endif
+.if defined(DB_FROM_SRC)
+IMAKE_INSTALL=	INSTALL="install -N ${.CURDIR}/etc"
+IMAKE_MTREE=	MTREE_CMD="nmtree -N ${.CURDIR}/etc"
+.endif
 
 # kernel stage
 KMAKEENV=	${WMAKEENV}
@@ -595,9 +602,11 @@ kernel-toolchain: ${TOOLCHAIN_TGTS:N_includes:N_libraries}
 installcheck:
 
 #
-# Require DESTDIR to be set if installing for a different architecture.
+# Require DESTDIR to be set if installing for a different architecture or
+# using the user/group database in the source tree.
 #
-.if ${TARGET_ARCH} != ${MACHINE_ARCH} || ${TARGET} != ${MACHINE}
+.if ${TARGET_ARCH} != ${MACHINE_ARCH} || ${TARGET} != ${MACHINE} || \
+    defined(DB_FROM_SRC)
 .if !make(distributeworld)
 installcheck: installcheck_DESTDIR
 installcheck_DESTDIR:
@@ -608,6 +617,7 @@ installcheck_DESTDIR:
 .endif
 .endif
 
+.if !defined(DB_FROM_SRC)
 #
 # Check for missing UIDs/GIDs.
 #
@@ -635,6 +645,7 @@ installcheck_UGID:
 		false; \
 	fi
 .endfor
+.endif
 
 #
 # Required install tools to be saved in a scratch dir for safety.
@@ -692,6 +703,7 @@ distributeworld installworld: installcheck
 	    done); \
 	cp $$libs $$progs ${INSTALLTMP}
 	cp -R $${PATH_LOCALE:-"/usr/share/locale"} ${INSTALLTMP}/locale
+	rm -f ${METALOG}
 .if make(distributeworld)
 .for dist in ${EXTRA_DISTRIBUTIONS}
 	-mkdir ${DESTDIR}/${DISTDIR}/${dist}
@@ -753,7 +765,8 @@ redistribute:
 .endif
 
 distrib-dirs distribution:
-	cd ${.CURDIR}/etc; ${CROSSENV} PATH=${TMPPATH} ${MAKE} ${.TARGET}
+	cd ${.CURDIR}/etc; ${CROSSENV} PATH=${TMPPATH} ${MAKE} \
+	    ${IMAKE_INSTALL} ${.TARGET}
 
 #
 # buildkernel and installkernel
@@ -1059,6 +1072,11 @@ _lex=		usr.bin/lex
 _yacc=		usr.bin/yacc
 .endif
 
+.if defined(DB_FROM_SRC) && ${BOOTSTRAPPING} < 1000026
+_nmtree=	lib/libnetbsd \
+		usr.sbin/nmtree
+.endif
+
 .if ${BOOTSTRAPPING} >= 900040 && ${BOOTSTRAPPING} < 900041
 _awk=		usr.bin/awk
 .endif
@@ -1120,7 +1138,8 @@ bootstrap-tools:
     ${_lex} \
     usr.bin/xinstall \
     ${_gensnmptree} \
-    usr.sbin/config
+    usr.sbin/config \
+    ${_nmtree}
 	${_+_}@${ECHODIR} "===> ${_tool} (obj,depend,all,install)"; \
 		cd ${.CURDIR}/${_tool}; \
 		${MAKE} DIRPRFX=${_tool}/ obj; \
diff --git a/etc/Makefile b/etc/Makefile
index c18908f73bf9..dc5f1afb5ba7 100644
--- a/etc/Makefile
+++ b/etc/Makefile
@@ -291,25 +291,27 @@ distribution:
 		${DESTDIR}/etc/nsswitch.conf
 .endif
 
+MTREE_CMD?=	mtree
+
 distrib-dirs:
-	mtree -eU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BSD.root.dist -p ${DESTDIR}/
-	mtree -eU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BSD.var.dist -p ${DESTDIR}/var
-	mtree -eU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BSD.usr.dist -p ${DESTDIR}/usr
-	mtree -eU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BSD.include.dist \
+	${MTREE_CMD} -eU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BSD.root.dist -p ${DESTDIR}/
+	${MTREE_CMD} -eU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BSD.var.dist -p ${DESTDIR}/var
+	${MTREE_CMD} -eU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BSD.usr.dist -p ${DESTDIR}/usr
+	${MTREE_CMD} -eU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BSD.include.dist \
 		-p ${DESTDIR}/usr/include
 .if ${MK_BIND_LIBS} != "no"
-	mtree -deU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BIND.include.dist \
+	${MTREE_CMD} -deU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BIND.include.dist \
 	    -p ${DESTDIR}/usr/include
 .endif
 .if ${MK_BIND_MTREE} != "no"
-	mtree -deU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BIND.chroot.dist \
+	${MTREE_CMD} -deU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BIND.chroot.dist \
 	    -p ${DESTDIR}/var/named
 .endif
 .if ${MK_GROFF} != "no"
-	mtree -deU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BSD.groff.dist -p ${DESTDIR}/usr
+	${MTREE_CMD} -deU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BSD.groff.dist -p ${DESTDIR}/usr
 .endif
 .if ${MK_SENDMAIL} != "no"
-	mtree -deU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BSD.sendmail.dist -p ${DESTDIR}/
+	${MTREE_CMD} -deU ${MTREE_FOLLOWS_SYMLINKS} -f ${.CURDIR}/mtree/BSD.sendmail.dist -p ${DESTDIR}/
 .endif
 	cd ${DESTDIR}/; rm -f ${DESTDIR}/sys; ln -s usr/src/sys sys
 	cd ${DESTDIR}/usr/share/man/en.ISO8859-1; ln -sf ../man* .