diff --git a/lib/libc/gen/getutxent.3 b/lib/libc/gen/getutxent.3
index 1fe64f1356e3..f3d7e73787b7 100644
--- a/lib/libc/gen/getutxent.3
+++ b/lib/libc/gen/getutxent.3
@@ -301,7 +301,6 @@ The value of
 determines which databases are modified.
 .Pp
 Entries of type
-.Dv BOOT_TIME ,
 .Dv SHUTDOWN_TIME ,
 .Dv OLD_TIME
 and
@@ -335,7 +334,7 @@ In addition, entries of type
 .Dv BOOT_TIME
 and
 .Dv SHUTDOWN_TIME
-will cause all entries in
+will cause all existing entries in
 .Pa /var/run/utx.active
 to be discarded.
 .Pp
diff --git a/lib/libc/gen/pututxline.c b/lib/libc/gen/pututxline.c
index 0cc7a0168ca8..98addee1f586 100644
--- a/lib/libc/gen/pututxline.c
+++ b/lib/libc/gen/pututxline.c
@@ -86,6 +86,9 @@ utx_active_add(const struct futx *fu)
 		return (-1);
 	while (fread(&fe, sizeof(fe), 1, fp) == 1) {
 		switch (fe.fu_type) {
+		case BOOT_TIME:
+			/* Leave these intact. */
+			break;
 		case USER_PROCESS:
 		case INIT_PROCESS:
 		case LOGIN_PROCESS:
@@ -170,6 +173,19 @@ utx_active_remove(struct futx *fu)
 	return (ret);
 }
 
+static void
+utx_active_init(const struct futx *fu)
+{
+	int fd;
+
+	/* Initialize utx.active with a single BOOT_TIME record. */
+	fd = _open(_PATH_UTX_ACTIVE, O_CREAT|O_RDWR|O_TRUNC, 0644);
+	if (fd < 0)
+		return;
+	_write(fd, fu, sizeof(*fu));
+	_close(fd);
+}
+
 static void
 utx_active_purge(void)
 {
@@ -277,9 +293,11 @@ pututxline(const struct utmpx *utmpx)
 
 	switch (fu.fu_type) {
 	case BOOT_TIME:
+		utx_active_init(&fu);
+		utx_lastlogin_upgrade();
+		break;
 	case SHUTDOWN_TIME:
 		utx_active_purge();
-		utx_lastlogin_upgrade();
 		break;
 	case OLD_TIME:
 	case NEW_TIME: