diff --git a/app/zynq-common/init.c b/app/zynq-common/init.c
index 077765e2..e2d4b7d3 100644
--- a/app/zynq-common/init.c
+++ b/app/zynq-common/init.c
@@ -22,22 +22,31 @@
  */
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <debug.h>
 #include <lk/init.h>
-#include <dev/spiflash.h>
+#include <lib/bootargs.h>
+#include <lib/bootimage.h>
 #include <lib/ptable.h>
 #include <lib/sysparam.h>
-#include <debug.h>
+#include <dev/spiflash.h>
+#include <kernel/vm.h>
 
 #include <platform/gem.h>
+#include <platform/fpga.h>
+
+#if WITH_LIB_MINIP
 #include <lib/minip.h>
+#endif
 
 static void zybo_common_target_init(uint level)
 {
+    status_t err;
+
     /* zybo has a spiflash on qspi */
     spiflash_detect();
 
     bdev_t *spi = bio_open("spi0");
-
     if (spi) {
         /* find or create a partition table at the start of flash */
         if (ptable_scan(spi, 0) < 0) {
@@ -46,18 +55,13 @@ static void zybo_common_target_init(uint level)
 
         struct ptable_entry entry = { 0 };
 
+        /* find and recover sysparams */
         if (ptable_find("sysparam", &entry) < 0) {
             /* didn't find sysparam partition, create it */
             ptable_add("sysparam", 0x1000, 0x1000, 0);
             ptable_find("sysparam", &entry);
         }
 
-        /* create bootloader partition if it does not exist */
-        ptable_add("bootloader", 0x20000, 0x40000, 0);
-
-        printf("flash partition table:\n");
-        ptable_dump();
-
         if (entry.length > 0) {
             sysparam_scan(spi, entry.offset, entry.length);
 
@@ -70,8 +74,55 @@ static void zybo_common_target_init(uint level)
 
             sysparam_dump(true);
         }
+
+        /* create bootloader partition if it does not exist */
+        ptable_add("bootloader", 0x20000, 0x40000, 0);
+
+        printf("flash partition table:\n");
+        ptable_dump();
     }
 
+    /* recover boot arguments */
+    const char *cmdline = bootargs_get_command_line();
+    if (cmdline) {
+        printf("command line: '%s'\n", cmdline);
+    }
+
+    /* see if we came from a bootimage */
+    uintptr_t bootimage_phys;
+    size_t bootimage_size;
+    if (bootargs_get_bootimage_pointer(&bootimage_phys, &bootimage_size) >= 0) {
+        printf("our bootimage is at phys 0x%lx, size %zx\n", bootimage_phys, bootimage_size);
+
+        void *ptr = paddr_to_kvaddr(bootimage_phys);
+        if (ptr) {
+            bootimage_t *bi;
+            if (bootimage_open(ptr, bootimage_size, &bi) >= 0) {
+                /* we have a valid bootimage, find the fpga section */
+                const void *fpga_ptr;
+                size_t fpga_len;
+
+                if (bootimage_get_file_section(bi, TYPE_FPGA_IMAGE, &fpga_ptr, &fpga_len) >= 0) {
+                    /* we have a fpga image */
+
+                    /* lookup the physical address of the bitfile */
+                    paddr_t pa = kvaddr_to_paddr((void *)fpga_ptr);
+                    if (pa != 0) {
+                        /* program the fpga with it*/
+                        printf("loading fpga image at %p (phys 0x%lx), len %zx\n", fpga_ptr, pa, fpga_len);
+                        zynq_reset_fpga();
+                        err = zynq_program_fpga(pa, fpga_len);
+                        if (err < 0) {
+                            printf("error %d loading fpga\n", err);
+                        }
+                        printf("fpga image loaded\n");
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+#if WITH_LIB_MINIP
     /* pull some network stack related params out of the sysparam block */
     uint8_t mac_addr[6];
     uint32_t ip_addr = IPV4_NONE;
@@ -105,6 +156,7 @@ static void zybo_common_target_init(uint level)
         minip_init_dhcp(gem_send_raw_pkt, NULL);
     }
     gem_set_callback(minip_rx_driver_callback);
+#endif
 }
 
 /* init after target_init() */
diff --git a/app/zynq-common/rules.mk b/app/zynq-common/rules.mk
index 73edb904..f40f537a 100644
--- a/app/zynq-common/rules.mk
+++ b/app/zynq-common/rules.mk
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ LOCAL_DIR := $(GET_LOCAL_DIR)
 MODULE := $(LOCAL_DIR)
 
 MODULE_DEPS += \
+	lib/bootargs \
+	lib/bootimage \
 	lib/minip \
 	lib/sysparam \
 	lib/ptable