diff --git a/Atomic/atomic.py b/Atomic/atomic.py
index 1713d92..5e857db 100644
--- a/Atomic/atomic.py
+++ b/Atomic/atomic.py
@@ -527,11 +527,18 @@ class Atomic(object):
         except KeyError:
             pass
 
-    def _rpmostree(self, args):
+    def _passthrough(self, args):
+        cmd = args[0]
         aargs = self.args.args
         if len(aargs) > 0 and aargs[0] == "--":
             aargs = aargs[1:]
-        os.execl("/usr/bin/rpm-ostree", "rpm-ostree", *(args + aargs))
+        os.execl("/usr/bin/" + cmd, *(args + aargs))
+
+    def _rpmostree(self, args):
+        self._passthrough(['rpm-ostree'] + args)
+
+    def _ostreeadmin(self, args):
+        self._passthrough(['ostree', 'admin'] + args)
 
     def host_status(self):
         argv = ["status"]
@@ -573,6 +580,12 @@ class Atomic(object):
             argv.append("--preview")
         self._rpmostree(argv)
 
+    def host_unlock(self):
+        argv = ['unlock']
+        if self.args.hotfix:
+            argv.append("--hotfix")
+        self._ostreeadmin(argv)
+
     def uninstall(self):
         self.inspect = self._inspect_container()
         if self.inspect and self.force:
diff --git a/atomic b/atomic
index ffce791..bdf93dd 100755
--- a/atomic
+++ b/atomic
@@ -230,6 +230,19 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
                                     "if you want to pass additional "
                                     "unsupported arguments to rpm-ostree."))
 
+        # atomic host unlock
+        unlockp = host_subparser.add_parser(
+            "unlock", help=_("Make the current deployment mutable (for development or a hotfix)"))
+        unlockp.set_defaults(func='host_unlock')
+        unlockp.add_argument("--hotfix", dest="hotfix",
+                               action="store_true",
+                               help=_("Retain any changes after reboot"))
+        unlockp.add_argument("args", nargs=argparse.REMAINDER,
+                               help=_("Additional arguments appended to the "
+                                      "unlock method.  Use `-- --OPTION=VAL` "
+                                      "if you want to pass additional "
+                                      "unsupported arguments to ostree."))
+
     # atomic info
     infop = subparser.add_parser(
         "info", help=_("display label information about an image"),
diff --git a/bash/atomic b/bash/atomic
index aef6147..906c71b 100644
--- a/bash/atomic
+++ b/bash/atomic
@@ -506,6 +506,16 @@ _atomic_host_upgrade() {
 	esac
 }
 
+_atomic_host_unlock() {
+	case "$cur" in
+		-*)
+			COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W "--hotfix -h --help" -- "$cur" ) )
+			;;
+		*)
+			;;
+	esac
+}
+
 _atomic_host_host() {
 	local boolean_options="
 		--help -h
@@ -553,6 +563,7 @@ _atomic_host() {
 	        rollback
 		status
 		upgrade
+	        unlock	
 	)
 
 	local completions_func=_atomic_host_${prev}
diff --git a/docs/atomic-host.1.md b/docs/atomic-host.1.md
index 737a964..496c649 100644
--- a/docs/atomic-host.1.md
+++ b/docs/atomic-host.1.md
@@ -34,8 +34,18 @@ Upgrade to the latest Atomic tree if one is available
 **deploy**
 Download and deploy a specific Atomic tree
 
+**unlock**
+Remove the read-only bind mount on `/usr`
+and replace it with a writable overlay filesystem.  This
+default invocation of "unlock" is intended for
+development/testing purposes.  All changes in the overlay
+are lost on reboot (or upgrade).  Pass `--hotfix` to create changes
+that persist on reboot (but still not upgrades).
+
+
 # SEE ALSO
     man rpm-ostree 
+    man ostree 
 
 # HISTORY
 January 2015, Originally compiled by Daniel Walsh (dwalsh at redhat dot com)