diff --git a/config/Config-images.in b/config/Config-images.in
index 52b0a8fbd..c838e09b2 100644
--- a/config/Config-images.in
+++ b/config/Config-images.in
@@ -315,4 +315,12 @@ menu "Target Images"
 		  it will be mounted by PARTUUID which makes the kernel find the
 		  appropriate disk automatically.
 
+	config TARGET_ROOTFS_PERSIST_VAR
+		bool "Make /var persistent"
+		default n
+		help
+		  Do not symlink /var to /tmp, so that its content will persist
+		  across reboots. When enabled, /var/run will still be linked
+		  to /tmp/run.
+
 endmenu
diff --git a/package/base-files/Makefile b/package/base-files/Makefile
index d8d093a30..818ebd0f1 100644
--- a/package/base-files/Makefile
+++ b/package/base-files/Makefile
@@ -173,8 +173,13 @@ define Package/base-files/install
 	mkdir -p $(1)/www
 	mkdir -p $(1)/root
 	$(LN) /proc/mounts $(1)/etc/mtab
+ifneq ($(CONFIG_TARGET_ROOTFS_PERSIST_VAR),y)
 	rm -f $(1)/var
 	$(LN) tmp $(1)/var
+else
+	mkdir -p $(1)/var
+	$(LN) /tmp/run $(1)/var/run
+endif
 	mkdir -p $(1)/etc
 	$(LN) /tmp/resolv.conf /tmp/TZ /tmp/localtime $(1)/etc/