diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c
index 5d356d4d..6af259f2 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c
@@ -4107,6 +4107,21 @@ _ostree_sysroot_boot_complete (OstreeSysroot *self, GCancellable *cancellable, G
   if (!_ostree_sysroot_ensure_boot_fd (self, error))
     return FALSE;
 
+  for (guint i = 0; i < self->deployments->len; i++)
+    {
+      OstreeDeployment *deployment = self->deployments->pdata[i];
+      g_autofree char *backing_relpath
+          = _ostree_sysroot_get_deployment_backing_relpath (deployment);
+      glnx_autofd int backing_dfd = -1;
+      if (!glnx_opendirat (self->sysroot_fd, backing_relpath, FALSE, &backing_dfd, error))
+        return FALSE;
+
+      // We explicitly don't want this data to persist.
+      if (!glnx_shutil_rm_rf_at (backing_dfd, OSTREE_DEPLOYMENT_USR_TRANSIENT_DIR, cancellable,
+                                 error))
+        return FALSE;
+    }
+
   glnx_autofd int failure_fd = -1;
   g_assert_cmpint (self->boot_fd, !=, -1);
   if (!ot_openat_ignore_enoent (self->boot_fd, _OSTREE_FINALIZE_STAGED_FAILURE_PATH, &failure_fd,
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot.c b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot.c
index 3968c38f..b47638fc 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot.c
@@ -2108,6 +2108,8 @@ ostree_sysroot_deployment_unlock (OstreeSysroot *self, OstreeDeployment *deploym
   if (!glnx_opendirat (self->sysroot_fd, deployment_path, TRUE, &deployment_dfd, error))
     return FALSE;
 
+  g_autofree char *backing_relpath = _ostree_sysroot_get_deployment_backing_relpath (deployment);
+
   g_autoptr (OstreeSePolicy) sepolicy = ostree_sepolicy_new_at (deployment_dfd, cancellable, error);
   if (!sepolicy)
     return FALSE;
@@ -2121,7 +2123,7 @@ ostree_sysroot_deployment_unlock (OstreeSysroot *self, OstreeDeployment *deploym
     usr_mode = stbuf.st_mode;
   }
 
-  const char *ovl_options = NULL;
+  g_autofree char *ovl_options = NULL;
   static const char hotfix_ovl_options[]
       = "lowerdir=usr,upperdir=.usr-ovl-upper,workdir=.usr-ovl-work";
   g_autofree char *unlock_ovldir = NULL;
@@ -2141,18 +2143,22 @@ ostree_sysroot_deployment_unlock (OstreeSysroot *self, OstreeDeployment *deploym
           return FALSE;
         if (!mkdir_unmasked (deployment_dfd, ".usr-ovl-work", usr_mode, cancellable, error))
           return FALSE;
-        ovl_options = hotfix_ovl_options;
+        ovl_options = g_strdup (hotfix_ovl_options);
       }
       break;
     case OSTREE_DEPLOYMENT_UNLOCKED_DEVELOPMENT:
     case OSTREE_DEPLOYMENT_UNLOCKED_TRANSIENT:
       {
-        unlock_ovldir = g_strdup ("/var/tmp/ostree-unlock-ovl.XXXXXX");
-        /* We're just doing transient development/hacking?  Okay,
-         * stick the overlayfs bits in /var/tmp.
-         */
-        const char *development_ovl_upper;
-        const char *development_ovl_work;
+        // Holds the overlay backing data in the deployment backing dir, which
+        // ensures that (unlike our previous usage of /var/tmp) that it's on the same
+        // physical filesystem. It's valid to make /var/tmp a separate FS, but for
+        // this data it needs to scale to the root.
+        g_autofree char *usrovldir_relative
+            = g_build_filename (backing_relpath, OSTREE_DEPLOYMENT_USR_TRANSIENT_DIR, NULL);
+        // We explicitly don't want this data to persist, so if it happened
+        // to leak from a previous boot, ensure the dir is cleaned now.
+        if (!glnx_shutil_rm_rf_at (self->sysroot_fd, usrovldir_relative, cancellable, error))
+          return FALSE;
 
         /* Ensure that the directory is created with the same label as `/usr` */
         {
@@ -2163,18 +2169,26 @@ ostree_sysroot_deployment_unlock (OstreeSysroot *self, OstreeDeployment *deploym
           if (!_ostree_sepolicy_preparefscreatecon (&con, sepolicy, "/usr", usr_mode, error))
             return FALSE;
 
-          if (g_mkdtemp_full (unlock_ovldir, 0755) == NULL)
-            return glnx_throw_errno_prefix (error, "mkdtemp");
+          // Create a new backing dir.
+          if (!mkdir_unmasked (self->sysroot_fd, usrovldir_relative, usr_mode, cancellable, error))
+            return FALSE;
         }
 
-        development_ovl_upper = glnx_strjoina (unlock_ovldir, "/upper");
-        if (!mkdir_unmasked (AT_FDCWD, development_ovl_upper, usr_mode, cancellable, error))
+        // Open a fd for our new dir
+        int ovldir_fd = -1;
+        if (!glnx_opendirat (self->sysroot_fd, usrovldir_relative, FALSE, &ovldir_fd, error))
           return FALSE;
-        development_ovl_work = glnx_strjoina (unlock_ovldir, "/work");
-        if (!mkdir_unmasked (AT_FDCWD, development_ovl_work, usr_mode, cancellable, error))
+
+        // Create the work and upper dirs there
+        if (!mkdir_unmasked (ovldir_fd, "upper", usr_mode, cancellable, error))
           return FALSE;
-        ovl_options = glnx_strjoina ("lowerdir=usr,upperdir=", development_ovl_upper,
-                                     ",workdir=", development_ovl_work);
+        if (!mkdir_unmasked (ovldir_fd, "work", usr_mode, cancellable, error))
+          return FALSE;
+
+        // TODO investigate depending on the new mount API with overlayfs
+        ovl_options = g_strdup_printf ("lowerdir=usr,upperdir=/proc/self/fd/%d/upper"
+                                       ",workdir=/proc/self/fd/%d/work",
+                                       ovldir_fd, ovldir_fd);
       }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/libotcore/otcore.h b/src/libotcore/otcore.h
index ceeb1a92..5003d47d 100644
--- a/src/libotcore/otcore.h
+++ b/src/libotcore/otcore.h
@@ -89,6 +89,8 @@ ComposefsConfig *otcore_load_composefs_config (const char *cmdline, GKeyFile *co
 #define OSTREE_DEPLOYMENT_BACKING_DIR "backing"
 // The directory holding the root overlayfs
 #define OSTREE_DEPLOYMENT_ROOT_TRANSIENT_DIR "root-transient"
+// The directory holding overlayfs for /usr (ostree admin unlock)
+#define OSTREE_DEPLOYMENT_USR_TRANSIENT_DIR "usr-transient"
 
 // Written by ostree admin unlock --hotfix, read by ostree-prepare-root
 #define OTCORE_HOTFIX_USR_OVL_WORK ".usr-ovl-work"