diff --git a/boot-qemu.py b/boot-qemu.py
index 229dc06..63c056b 100755
--- a/boot-qemu.py
+++ b/boot-qemu.py
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ def __init__(self) -> None:
         # Properties that can be adjusted by the user or class
         self.cmdline: list[str] = []
         self.efi: bool = False
+        self.ephemeral_initrd: bool = False
         self.gdb: bool = False
         self.gdb_bin: str = ''
         self.gh_json_file: Path = utils.UNINIT_PATH
@@ -176,14 +177,17 @@ def _have_dev_kvm_access() -> bool:
         return os.access('/dev/kvm', os.R_OK | os.W_OK)
 
     def _prepare_initrd(self) -> Path:
-        if self.initrd != utils.UNINIT_PATH:
-            return self.initrd
-        if not self._initrd_arch:
-            msg = 'No initrd architecture specified?'
-            raise RuntimeError(msg)
-        return utils.prepare_initrd(
-            self._initrd_arch, gh_json_file=self.gh_json_file, modules=self.modules
-        )
+        if self.initrd == utils.UNINIT_PATH:
+            if not self._initrd_arch:
+                msg = 'No initrd architecture specified?'
+                raise RuntimeError(msg)
+            self.initrd = utils.prepare_initrd(
+                self._initrd_arch,
+                gh_json_file=self.gh_json_file,
+                modules=self.modules,
+                ephemeral=self.ephemeral_initrd,
+            )
+        return self.initrd
 
     def _run_fg(self) -> None:
         # Pretty print and run QEMU command
@@ -207,6 +211,9 @@ def _run_fg(self) -> None:
             else:
                 utils.red("ERROR: QEMU did not exit cleanly!")
             sys.exit(err.returncode)
+        finally:
+            if self.ephemeral_initrd:
+                self.initrd.unlink()
 
     def _run_gdb(self) -> None:
         qemu_cmd = [self._qemu_path, *self._qemu_args]
@@ -251,6 +258,8 @@ def _run_gdb(self) -> None:
 
             answer = input('Re-run QEMU + gdb [y/n] ')
             if answer.lower() == 'n':
+                if self.ephemeral_initrd:
+                    self.initrd.unlink()
                 break
 
     def _set_kernel_vars(self) -> None:
@@ -785,6 +794,7 @@ def guess_arch(kernel_arg: Path) -> str:
 
 def parse_arguments():
     parser = ArgumentParser(description='Boot a Linux kernel in QEMU')
+    initrd_group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
 
     parser.add_argument(
         '-a',
@@ -794,6 +804,11 @@ def parse_arguments():
         metavar='ARCH',
     )
     parser.add_argument('--efi', action='store_true', help='Boot kernel via UEFI (x86_64 only)')
+    initrd_group.add_argument(
+        '--ephemeral-initrd',
+        action='store_true',
+        help='Extract compressed initrd to a randomized name and clean up after booting (default: extract compressed initrd to a consistent path)',
+    )
     parser.add_argument(
         '-g',
         '--gdb',
@@ -809,7 +824,7 @@ def parse_arguments():
         '--gh-json-file',
         help='Use file for downloading rootfs images, instead of querying GitHub API directly',
     )
-    parser.add_argument(
+    initrd_group.add_argument(
         '-I',
         '--initrd',
         help='Initial ramdisk to use (default: Download ramdisk from ClangBuiltLinux/boot-utils releases)',
@@ -940,6 +955,7 @@ def main():
     if args.smp:
         runner.smp = args.smp
 
+    runner.ephemeral_initrd = args.ephemeral_initrd
     runner.interactive = args.interactive
     runner.timeout = args.timeout
 
diff --git a/utils.py b/utils.py
index ecd0749..1a07fe6 100755
--- a/utils.py
+++ b/utils.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import shutil
 import subprocess
 import sys
+import tempfile
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, NoReturn
 
@@ -185,6 +186,7 @@ def prepare_initrd(
     rootfs_format: str = 'cpio',
     gh_json_file: Path | None = None,
     modules: Path | None = None,
+    ephemeral: bool = False,
 ) -> Path:
     """
     Returns a decompressed initial ramdisk.
@@ -236,7 +238,13 @@ def prepare_initrd(
             download_initrd(gh_json_rel, src)
 
     check_cmd('zstd')
-    (dst := src.with_suffix('')).unlink(missing_ok=True)
+    if ephemeral:
+        fd, tmp_path = tempfile.mkstemp(dir=src.parent, text=True, suffix=f".{rootfs_format}")
+        os.close(fd)  # we don't need this
+        dst = Path(tmp_path)
+    else:
+        dst = src.with_suffix('')
+    dst.unlink(missing_ok=True)
     subprocess.run(['zstd', '-d', src, '-o', dst, '-q'], check=True)
 
     if modules and modules != UNINIT_PATH:
@@ -247,7 +255,8 @@ def prepare_initrd(
                 msg = f"{modules} does not have cpio magic bytes, was it generated with the 'modules-cpio-pkg' target?"
                 raise RuntimeError(msg)
 
-        (new_dst := dst.parent.joinpath('rootfs-modules.cpio')).unlink(missing_ok=True)
+        new_dst = dst.parent.joinpath(f"{dst.with_suffix('').name}-modules.cpio")
+        new_dst.unlink(missing_ok=True)
         with (
             subprocess.Popen(
                 ['cat', dst, modules], stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT
@@ -258,6 +267,8 @@ def prepare_initrd(
                 msg = 'cat stdout is None?'
                 raise RuntimeError(msg)
             dst_file.write(proc.stdout.read())
+        if ephemeral:
+            dst.unlink()
         dst = new_dst
 
     return dst