diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e7d69e10..85e1020a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -102,6 +102,16 @@ ifeq ($(HAVE_SHFMT),yes)
 	shfmt -w -s .
 endif
 
+src/dracut-cpio/target/release/dracut-cpio: src/dracut-cpio/src/main.rs
+	cargo --offline build --release --manifest-path src/dracut-cpio/Cargo.toml
+
+dracut-cpio: src/dracut-cpio/target/release/dracut-cpio
+	ln -fs $< $@
+
+ifeq ($(enable_dracut_cpio),yes)
+all: dracut-cpio
+endif
+
 doc: $(manpages) dracut.html
 
 ifneq ($(enable_documentation),no)
@@ -196,6 +206,9 @@ endif
 	if [ -f dracut-util ]; then \
 		install -m 0755 dracut-util $(DESTDIR)$(pkglibdir)/dracut-util; \
 	fi
+ifeq ($(enable_dracut_cpio),yes)
+	install -m 0755 dracut-cpio $(DESTDIR)$(pkglibdir)/dracut-cpio
+endif
 	mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)${prefix}/lib/kernel/install.d
 	install -m 0755 install.d/50-dracut.install $(DESTDIR)${prefix}/lib/kernel/install.d/50-dracut.install
 	install -m 0755 install.d/51-dracut-rescue.install $(DESTDIR)${prefix}/lib/kernel/install.d/51-dracut-rescue.install
@@ -222,6 +235,7 @@ clean:
 	$(RM) dracut-util util/util $(UTIL_OBJECTS)
 	$(RM) $(manpages) dracut.html
 	$(RM) dracut.pc
+	$(RM) dracut-cpio src/dracut-cpio/target/release/dracut-cpio*
 	$(MAKE) -C test clean
 
 dist: dracut-$(DRACUT_MAIN_VERSION).tar.xz
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 3010cece..3c7e6a1f 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ echo \#buildapi-variable-no-builddir > /dev/null
 prefix=/usr
 
 enable_documentation=yes
+enable_dracut_cpio=no
 
 CC="${CC:-cc}"
 PKG_CONFIG="${PKG_CONFIG:-pkg-config}"
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ while (($# > 0)); do
         --infodir) read_arg infodir "$@" || shift ;;
         --systemdsystemunitdir) read_arg systemdsystemunitdir "$@" || shift ;;
         --bashcompletiondir) read_arg bashcompletiondir "$@" || shift ;;
+        --enable-dracut-cpio) enable_dracut_cpio=yes ;;
         *) echo "Ignoring unknown option '$1'" ;;
     esac
     shift
@@ -102,6 +104,15 @@ if test $found = no; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+if test "$enable_dracut_cpio" = "yes"; then
+    cargo --version > /dev/null
+    ret=$?
+    if test $ret -ne 0; then
+        echo "dracut couldn't find cargo for dracut-cpio build"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi
+
 cat > Makefile.inc.$$ << EOF
 prefix ?= ${prefix}
 libdir ?= ${libdir:-${prefix}/lib}
@@ -110,6 +121,7 @@ sysconfdir ?= ${sysconfdir:-${prefix}/etc}
 sbindir ?= ${sbindir:-${prefix}/sbin}
 mandir ?= ${mandir:-${prefix}/share/man}
 enable_documentation ?= ${enable_documentation:-yes}
+enable_dracut_cpio ?= ${enable_dracut_cpio}
 bindir ?= ${bindir:-${prefix}/bin}
 KMOD_CFLAGS ?= $(${PKG_CONFIG} --cflags " libkmod >= 23 ")
 KMOD_LIBS ?= $(${PKG_CONFIG} --libs " libkmod >= 23 ")