diff --git a/system/Config.in b/system/Config.in
index d41f184..403b229 100644
--- a/system/Config.in
+++ b/system/Config.in
@@ -194,12 +194,16 @@ config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD
 	  in the build log! Avoid using a valuable password if either the
 	  .config file or the build log may be distributed!
 
+config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY
+	bool "Run a getty (login prompt) after boot"
+	default y
+
+if BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY
 config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT
 	string "Port to run a getty (login prompt) on"
 	default "ttyS0"
 	help
-	  Specify a port to run a getty (login prompt) on.
-	  Set to the empty string to not run a getty.
+	  Specify a port to run a getty on.
 
 choice
 	prompt "Baudrate to use"
@@ -235,6 +239,7 @@ config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_TERM
 	default "vt100"
 	help
 	  Specify a TERM type.
+endif
 
 config BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_REMOUNT_ROOTFS_RW
 	bool "remount root filesystem read-write during boot"
diff --git a/system/system.mk b/system/system.mk
index b4ddc3e..c9e7cf7 100644
--- a/system/system.mk
+++ b/system/system.mk
@@ -1,14 +1,15 @@
-TARGET_GENERIC_HOSTNAME := $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_HOSTNAME))
-TARGET_GENERIC_ISSUE := $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ISSUE))
-TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD := $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD))
-TARGET_GENERIC_PASSWD_METHOD := $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_PASSWD_METHOD))
-TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY := $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT))
-TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE := $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE))
-TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_TERM := $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_TERM))
+TARGET_GENERIC_HOSTNAME = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_HOSTNAME))
+TARGET_GENERIC_ISSUE = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ISSUE))
+TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD))
+TARGET_GENERIC_PASSWD_METHOD = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_PASSWD_METHOD))
+TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT))
+TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE))
+TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_TERM = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_TERM))
+TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_OPTIONS = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_OPTIONS))
 
 target-generic-securetty:
-	grep -q '^$(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY)$$' $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/securetty || \
-		echo '$(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY)' >> $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/securetty
+	grep -q '^$(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT)$$' $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/securetty || \
+		echo '$(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT)' >> $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/securetty
 
 target-generic-hostname:
 	mkdir -p $(TARGET_DIR)/etc
@@ -29,13 +30,13 @@ target-root-passwd:
 	$(SED) "s,^root:[^:]*:,root:$$TARGET_GENERIC_ROOT_PASSWD_HASH:," $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/shadow
 
 target-generic-getty-busybox:
-	$(SED) '/# GENERIC_SERIAL$$/s~^.*#~$(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY)::respawn:/sbin/getty -L $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY) $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE) $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_TERM) #~' \
+	$(SED) '/# GENERIC_SERIAL$$/s~^.*#~$(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT)::respawn:/sbin/getty -L $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT) $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE) $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_TERM) #~' \
 		$(TARGET_DIR)/etc/inittab
 
 # In sysvinit inittab, the "id" must not be longer than 4 bytes, so we
 # skip the "tty" part and keep only the remaining.
 target-generic-getty-sysvinit:
-	$(SED) '/# GENERIC_SERIAL$$/s~^.*#~$(shell echo $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY) | tail -c+4)::respawn:/sbin/getty -L $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY) $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE) $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_TERM) #~' \
+	$(SED) '/# GENERIC_SERIAL$$/s~^.*#~$(shell echo $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT) | tail -c+4)::respawn:/sbin/getty -L $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_PORT) $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_BAUDRATE) $(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY_TERM) #~' \
 		$(TARGET_DIR)/etc/inittab
 
 # Find commented line, if any, and remove leading '#'s
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ target-generic-do-remount-rw:
 target-generic-dont-remount-rw:
 	$(SED) '/^[^#].*# REMOUNT_ROOTFS_RW$$/s~^~#~' $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/inittab
 
-ifneq ($(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY),)
+ifeq ($(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY),y)
 TARGETS += target-generic-securetty
 endif
 
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ endif
 ifeq ($(BR2_ROOTFS_SKELETON_DEFAULT),y)
 TARGETS += target-root-passwd
 
-ifneq ($(TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY),)
+ifeq ($(BR2_TARGET_GENERIC_GETTY),y)
 TARGETS += target-generic-getty-$(if $(BR2_PACKAGE_SYSVINIT),sysvinit,busybox)
 endif
 
