diff --git a/etc/init.d/zfs.lsb.in b/etc/init.d/zfs.lsb.in
index f400fca32..a0f3a647d 100644
--- a/etc/init.d/zfs.lsb.in
+++ b/etc/init.d/zfs.lsb.in
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ ZPOOL="@sbindir@/zpool"
 ZPOOL_CACHE="@sysconfdir@/zfs/zpool.cache"
 USE_DISK_BY_ID=0
 VERBOSE_MOUNT=0
+DO_OVERLAY_MOUNTS=0
 
 # Source zfs configuration.
 [ -r '/etc/default/zfs' ] &&  . /etc/default/zfs
@@ -90,8 +91,12 @@ start()
 			verbose=v
 		fi
 
+		if [ "$DO_OVERLAY_MOUNTS" -eq 1 ]; then
+			overlay=O
+		fi
+
 		log_begin_msg "Mounting ZFS filesystems"
-		"$ZFS" mount -a$verbose
+		"$ZFS" mount -a$verbose$overlay
 		log_end_msg $?
 
 		log_begin_msg "Exporting ZFS filesystems"