diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 0789cb98a..9158d7100 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2578,6 +2578,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "oci-spec",
  "rexpect",
  "rustix",
+ "scopeguard",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "tempfile",
diff --git a/crates/lib/src/cli.rs b/crates/lib/src/cli.rs
index 23bae71d9..c59b4dad1 100644
--- a/crates/lib/src/cli.rs
+++ b/crates/lib/src/cli.rs
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ pub(crate) enum InstallOpts {
     ///
     /// At the current time, the only output key is `root-fs-type` which is a string-valued
     /// filesystem name suitable for passing to `mkfs.$type`.
-    PrintConfiguration,
+    PrintConfiguration(crate::install::InstallPrintConfigurationOpts),
 }
 
 /// Subcommands which can be executed as part of a container build.
@@ -1483,7 +1483,7 @@ async fn run_from_opt(opt: Opt) -> Result<()> {
                 crate::install::install_to_existing_root(opts).await
             }
             InstallOpts::Reset(opts) => crate::install::install_reset(opts).await,
-            InstallOpts::PrintConfiguration => crate::install::print_configuration(),
+            InstallOpts::PrintConfiguration(opts) => crate::install::print_configuration(opts),
             InstallOpts::EnsureCompletion {} => {
                 let rootfs = &Dir::open_ambient_dir("/", cap_std::ambient_authority())?;
                 crate::install::completion::run_from_anaconda(rootfs).await
diff --git a/crates/lib/src/install.rs b/crates/lib/src/install.rs
index a1e5b2b71..b68cbce8f 100644
--- a/crates/lib/src/install.rs
+++ b/crates/lib/src/install.rs
@@ -437,6 +437,15 @@ pub(crate) struct InstallResetOpts {
     karg: Option<Vec<CmdlineOwned>>,
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug, clap::Parser, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub(crate) struct InstallPrintConfigurationOpts {
+    /// Print all configuration.
+    ///
+    /// Print configuration that is usually handled internally, like kargs.
+    #[clap(long)]
+    pub(crate) all: bool,
+}
+
 /// Global state captured from the container.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub(crate) struct SourceInfo {
@@ -722,9 +731,11 @@ impl SourceInfo {
     }
 }
 
-pub(crate) fn print_configuration() -> Result<()> {
+pub(crate) fn print_configuration(opts: InstallPrintConfigurationOpts) -> Result<()> {
     let mut install_config = config::load_config()?.unwrap_or_default();
-    install_config.filter_to_external();
+    if !opts.all {
+        install_config.filter_to_external();
+    }
     let stdout = std::io::stdout().lock();
     anyhow::Ok(install_config.to_canon_json_writer(stdout)?)
 }
diff --git a/crates/tests-integration/Cargo.toml b/crates/tests-integration/Cargo.toml
index eb1ca75d5..4b6bbe8e9 100644
--- a/crates/tests-integration/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/tests-integration/Cargo.toml
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ bootc-kernel-cmdline = { path = "../kernel_cmdline", version = "0.0.0" }
 libtest-mimic = "0.8.0"
 oci-spec = "0.8.0"
 rexpect = "0.6"
+scopeguard = "1.2.0"
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/tests-integration/src/container.rs b/crates/tests-integration/src/container.rs
index 55874bd10..40b8c3fb9 100644
--- a/crates/tests-integration/src/container.rs
+++ b/crates/tests-integration/src/container.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+use indoc::indoc;
+use scopeguard::defer;
+use serde::Deserialize;
+use std::fs;
 use std::process::Command;
 
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
@@ -36,8 +40,34 @@ pub(crate) fn test_bootc_install_config() -> Result<()> {
     let config = cmd!(sh, "bootc install print-configuration").read()?;
     let config: serde_json::Value =
         serde_json::from_str(&config).context("Parsing install config")?;
-    // Just verify we parsed the config, if any
-    drop(config);
+    // check that it parses okay, but also ensure kargs is not available here (only via --all)
+    assert!(config.get("kargs").is_none());
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+pub(crate) fn test_bootc_install_config_all() -> Result<()> {
+    #[derive(Deserialize)]
+    struct TestInstallConfig {
+        kargs: Vec<String>,
+    }
+
+    let config_d = std::path::Path::new("/run/bootc/install/");
+    let test_toml_path = config_d.join("10-test.toml");
+    std::fs::create_dir_all(&config_d)?;
+    let content = indoc! {r#"
+        [install]
+        kargs = ["karg1=1", "karg2=2"]
+    "#};
+    std::fs::write(&test_toml_path, content)?;
+    defer! {
+    fs::remove_file(test_toml_path).expect("cannot remove tempfile");
+    }
+
+    let sh = &xshell::Shell::new()?;
+    let config = cmd!(sh, "bootc install print-configuration --all").read()?;
+    let config: TestInstallConfig =
+        serde_json::from_str(&config).context("Parsing install config")?;
+    assert_eq! {config.kargs, vec!["karg1=1".to_string(), "karg2=2".to_string(), "localtestkarg=somevalue".to_string(), "otherlocalkarg=42".to_string()]};
     Ok(())
 }
 
@@ -88,6 +118,7 @@ pub(crate) fn run(testargs: libtest_mimic::Arguments) -> Result<()> {
         new_test("variant-base-crosscheck", test_variant_base_crosscheck),
         new_test("bootc upgrade", test_bootc_upgrade),
         new_test("install config", test_bootc_install_config),
+        new_test("printconfig --all", test_bootc_install_config_all),
         new_test("status", test_bootc_status),
         new_test("system-reinstall --help", test_system_reinstall_help),
     ];