diff --git a/db/Node.pm.in b/db/Node.pm.in
index da9998c2209d7f81df1392a0c014f458c2551ee2..d1028da7d476fc09dc35b9402089c52b8614d473 100755
--- a/db/Node.pm.in
+++ b/db/Node.pm.in
@@ -1965,7 +1965,8 @@ sub ClearBootAttributes($)
     my $node_id = (ref($self) ? $self->node_id() : $self);
     my $allocFreeState = TBDB_ALLOCSTATE_FREE_DIRTY();
 
-    DBQueryWarn("update nodes set startupcmd='',rpms='',deltas='', ".
+    DBQueryWarn("update nodes set ".
+		"startupcmd='',startstatus='none',rpms='',deltas='', ".
 		"tarballs='',failureaction='fatal', routertype='none', ".
 		"def_boot_cmd_line='',next_boot_cmd_line='', ".
 		"temp_boot_osid=NULL,next_boot_osid=NULL, ".
@@ -2341,6 +2342,60 @@ sub ResetStartStatus($)
     return $self->Update({"startstatus" => 'none'});
 }
 
+#
+# Return the node startupcmd and status fields.
+#
+sub GetStartupCmd($)
+{
+    my ($self) = @_;
+
+    my $oldcmd = $self->startupcmd();
+    my $oldstatus = $self->startstatus();
+
+    return ($oldcmd, $oldstatus);
+}
+
+#
+# Set the node startupcmd field to the given value or the value
+# in the virt_nodes table entry if no value is given.
+#
+sub SetStartupCmd($$$)
+{
+    my ($self, $cmd, $status) = @_;
+    $status = 'none' if (!defined($status));
+    my $node_id = $self->node_id();
+
+    if (!$cmd) {
+	# Get value from virt_nodes
+	my $result =
+	    DBQueryWarn("select v.startupcmd ".
+			" from virt_nodes as v, reserved as r ".
+			" where v.exptidx=r.exptidx and v.vname=r.vname ".
+			"  and r.node_id='$node_id'");
+	if ($result && $result->numrows > 0) {
+	    ($cmd) = $result->fetchrow_array();
+	}
+    }
+    if ($cmd) {
+	$self->Update({'startupcmd' => $cmd, 'startstatus' => $status});
+    }
+}
+
+#
+# Clear the node startupcmd and status fields.
+# Returns the old command and status.
+#
+sub ClearStartupCmd($)
+{
+    my ($self) = @_;
+
+    my $oldcmd = $self->startupcmd();
+    my $oldstatus = $self->startstatus();
+
+    $self->Update({'startupcmd' => '', 'startstatus' => 'none'});
+    return ($oldcmd, $oldstatus);
+}
+
 #
 # Create new vnodes. The argument is a reference; to a a hash of options to
 # be used when creating the new node(s). A list of the node names is
diff --git a/tbsetup/libimageops_ndz.pm.in b/tbsetup/libimageops_ndz.pm.in
index 87c01afd418d7268a6849e8ccf0904d6c22c3278..018df44d750f8ea035f15b0ee8b1bca517c6a158 100644
--- a/tbsetup/libimageops_ndz.pm.in
+++ b/tbsetup/libimageops_ndz.pm.in
@@ -706,7 +706,7 @@ sub DoCapture($$$$) {
 	$EUID = $UID = 0;
 	my $cmd = "$TB/bin/sshtb -n -o ConnectTimeout=10 ".
 	    "-host $node_id touch /var/run/updatemasterpasswdfiles";
-	print STDERR "About to: '$cmd'\n" if ($debug);
+	print STDERR "About to: '$cmd'\n" if ($self->debug());
 	system($cmd);
 	if ($?) {
 	    $msg = "'$cmd' failed";
@@ -734,7 +734,7 @@ sub DoCapture($$$$) {
 	    #
 	    my $cmd = "$TB/bin/sshtb -n -o ConnectTimeout=10 ".
 		"-host $node_id $REBOOT_PREPARE";
-	    print STDERR "About to: '$cmd'\n" if ($debug);
+	    print STDERR "About to: '$cmd'\n" if ($self->debug());
 	    system($cmd);
 	    if ($?) {
 		$msg = "'$cmd' failed";
@@ -936,6 +936,15 @@ sub DoCapture($$$$) {
 	    goto out2;
 	}
 
+	#
+	# Restore the startupcmd.
+	# Note that we need to do this after the MfsSelect call above.
+	# XXX we just restore the "default" startup command from virt_nodes
+	#
+	$node->SetStartupCmd();
+	print STDERR "Restored startup cmd from virt_nodes for $node_id\n"
+	    if ($self->debug());
+
 	%args           = ();
 	$args{'name'}   = $me;
 	$args{'on'}     = 0;
diff --git a/utils/create_image.in b/utils/create_image.in
index 27b657a8d3de5b86cd3525270ddefcf55fbbede2..aede7385170a252a65afdac94ea50e6d73ee9d4c 100644
--- a/utils/create_image.in
+++ b/utils/create_image.in
@@ -1672,6 +1672,15 @@ sub cleanup ()
 	    return 0;
 	}
 
+	#
+	# Restore the startupcmd.
+	# Note that we need to do this after the MfsSelect call above.
+	# XXX we just restore the "default" startup command from virt_nodes
+	#
+	$node->SetStartupCmd();
+	print STDERR "Restored startup cmd from virt_nodes for $node_id\n"
+	    if ($debug);
+
 	%args           = ();
 	$args{'name'}   = $me;
 	$args{'on'}     = 0;
diff --git a/utils/node_admin.in b/utils/node_admin.in
index 15d9709893c451534756c17b9940fa2acb2d0e71..e014b5eea8e0efa3f7573460fda33160cdb245c6 100755
--- a/utils/node_admin.in
+++ b/utils/node_admin.in
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/perl -wT
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2000-2009 University of Utah and the Flux Group.
+# Copyright (c) 2000-2018 University of Utah and the Flux Group.
 # 
 # {{{EMULAB-LICENSE
 # 
@@ -212,6 +212,14 @@ if ($runcmd ne "") {
 	    "    Could not turn admin mode off for @bad!\n");
     }
 
+    #
+    # Restore the startupcmd from the virt_nodes table since MfsRunCmd()
+    # cleared it. We need to do this after the MfsSelect call above.
+    #
+    foreach my $node (@nodes) {
+	$node->SetStartupCmd();
+    }
+
     if ($reboot) {
 	%args = ();
 	$args{'name'} = $0;
@@ -233,6 +241,16 @@ if (TBAdminMfsSelect(\%args, \@bad, @nodeids)) {
     die("*** $0:\n".
 	"    Could not turn admin mode $onoff for @bad!\n");
 }
+
+#
+# If turning off admin mode, reset the startupcmd.
+#
+if ($onoff eq "off") {
+    foreach my $node (@nodes) {
+	$node->SetStartupCmd();
+    }
+}
+
 if ($reboot) {
     %args = ();
     $args{'name'} = $0;