diff --git a/scripts/beesd.in b/scripts/beesd.in
index 216bc413f..4e5009a60 100755
--- a/scripts/beesd.in
+++ b/scripts/beesd.in
@@ -1,146 +1,218 @@
-#!/bin/bash
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+bees_config_dir=@ETC_PREFIX@/bees/
+bees_bin=$(realpath @LIBEXEC_PREFIX@/bees)
+readonly bees_config_dir bees_bin
 
-## Helpful functions
-INFO(){ echo "INFO:" "$@"; }
-ERRO(){ echo "ERROR:" "$@"; exit 1; }
-YN(){ [[ "$1" =~ (1|Y|y) ]]; }
+shopt -s extglob
 
-## Global vars
-export BEESHOME BEESSTATUS
-export WORK_DIR CONFIG_DIR
-export CONFIG_FILE
-export UUID AL16M AL128K
+# Prior wrapper required UUID to be used for configuration. Current one permits
+# this legacy mode, but also permits reference to named configuration files, or
+# `findmnt`-compatible mount point specifications with other arguments passed
+# key/value style.
 
-readonly AL128K="$((128*1024))"
-readonly AL16M="$((16*1024*1024))"
-readonly CONFIG_DIR=@ETC_PREFIX@/bees/
+[[ $bees_debug ]] && { PS4=':${BASH_SOURCE##*/}:$LINENO+'; set -x; }
 
-readonly bees_bin=$(realpath @LIBEXEC_PREFIX@/bees)
+usage() {
+  cat >&2 <<EOF
+Usage: ${BASH_SOURCE##*/} run|cleanup config-name|fsSpec [idxSizeMB=...] [verbosity=...] [workDir=...] [-- daemon-options...]
 
-command -v "$bees_bin" &> /dev/null || ERRO "Missing 'bees' agent"
+  fsSpec should be in a format recognized by findmnt. Alternately,
+  "config-name" may refer to a file that exists in ${bees_config_dir:-/etc/bees}
+  with a .conf extension; if that file does not specify UUID, findmnt will be
+  used in addition.
 
-uuid_valid(){
-    if uuidparse -n -o VARIANT $1 | grep -i -q invalid; then
-        false
-    fi
-}
+  Note that while config files may presently use shell arithmetic, use of this
+  functionality is not encouraged going forward: Setting ''idxSizeMB=4096'' is
+  preferred over ''DB_SIZE=$((1024*1024*1024*4))'' or ''DB_SIZE=$(( AL16M * 256 ))'',
+  although both of these are presently supported.
 
-help(){
-    echo "Usage: beesd [options] <btrfs_uuid>"
-    echo "- - -"
-    exec "$bees_bin" --help
-}
+  If fsSpec contains a /, it assumed to be a mount point to be looked up by
+  findmnt, not a config file name.
 
-get_bees_supp_opts(){
-    "$bees_bin" --help |& awk '/--../ { gsub( ",", "" ); print $1 " " $2}'
+  daemon-options are passed directly through to the daemon on startup, as
+  documented at https://github.com/Zygo/bees/blob/master/docs/options.md.
+EOF
+  exit 1
 }
 
-SUPPORTED_ARGS=(
-    $(get_bees_supp_opts)
-)
-NOT_SUPPORTED_ARGS=()
-ARGUMENTS=()
-
-for arg in "${@}"; do
-    supp=false
-    for supp_arg in "${SUPPORTED_ARGS[@]}"; do
-        if [ "$arg" == "$supp_arg" ]; then
-            supp=true
-            break
-        fi
-    done
-    if $supp; then
-        ARGUMENTS+=($arg)
-    else
-        NOT_SUPPORTED_ARGS+=($arg)
-    fi
-done
-
-for arg in "${ARGUMENTS[@]}"; do
-    case $arg in
-        -h) help;;
-        --help) help;;
-    esac
-done
-
-for arg in "${NOT_SUPPORTED_ARGS[@]}"; do
-    if uuid_valid $arg; then
-        [ ! -z "$UUID" ] && help
-        UUID=$arg
-    fi
-done
+die() { echo "$*" >&2; exit 1; }
 
-[ -z "$UUID" ] && help
-
-
-FILE_CONFIG="$(egrep -l '^[^#]*UUID\s*=\s*"?'"$UUID" "$CONFIG_DIR"/*.conf | head -1)"
-[ ! -f "$FILE_CONFIG" ] && ERRO "No config for $UUID"
-INFO "Find $UUID in $FILE_CONFIG, use as conf"
-source "$FILE_CONFIG"
+allConfigNames=( blockdev fsSpec home idxSize idxSizeMB mntDir runDir status verbosity workDir )
 
+# Alternate names for configuration values; "bees_" will always be prepended
+declare -A altConfigNames=(
+  # from original bees wrapper
+  [BEESHOME]=home
+  [BEESSTATUS]=status
+  [MNT_DIR]=mntDir
+  [UUID]=uuid
+  [WORK_DIR]=runDir
+  [DB_SIZE]=idxSize
+)
 
-## Pre checks
-{
-    [ ! -d "$CONFIG_DIR" ] && ERRO "Missing: $CONFIG_DIR"
-    [ "$UID" == "0" ] || ERRO "Must be run as root"
+# legacy bees config files can be arbitrary shell scripts, so we need to actually evaluate them
+sandboxedConfigFileEval() {
+  bash_exe=$(type -P bash) || exit
+  PATH=/var/empty ENV='' BASH_ENV='' AL128K="$((128*1024))" AL16M="$((16*1024*1024))" "$bash_exe" -r ${bees_debug+-x} \
+    -c 'eval "$(</dev/stdin)" >&2; for var; do [[ ${!var} ]] && printf "%q=%s\\0" "$var" "${!var}"; done' \
+    "${!altConfigNames[@]}" "${allConfigNames[@]}" \
+    <"$1"
 }
 
+readConfigFileIfExists() {
+  local line
+  [[ -s $1 ]] || return 1
+  while IFS= read -r -d '' line; do
+    line=${line%%+([[:space:]])"#"*}
+    [[ $line ]] || continue
+    [[ $line = *=* ]] || {
+      printf 'WARNING: Config file line not recognized: %q\n' "$line" >&2
+      continue
+    }
+    set_option "$line"
+  done < <(sandboxedConfigFileEval "$1")
+}
 
-WORK_DIR="${WORK_DIR:-/run/bees/}"
-MNT_DIR="${MNT_DIR:-$WORK_DIR/mnt/$UUID}"
-BEESHOME="${BEESHOME:-$MNT_DIR/.beeshome}"
-BEESSTATUS="${BEESSTATUS:-$WORK_DIR/$UUID.status}"
-DB_SIZE="${DB_SIZE:-$((8192*AL128K))}"
-
-INFO "Check: Disk exists"
-if [ ! -b "/dev/disk/by-uuid/$UUID" ]; then
-    ERRO "Missing disk: /dev/disk/by-uuid/$UUID"
-fi
-
-is_btrfs(){ [ "$(blkid -s TYPE -o value "$1")" == "btrfs" ]; }
-
-INFO "Check: Disk with btrfs"
-if ! is_btrfs "/dev/disk/by-uuid/$UUID"; then
-    ERRO "Disk not contain btrfs: /dev/disk/by-uuid/$UUID"
-fi
-
-INFO "WORK DIR: $WORK_DIR"
-mkdir -p "$WORK_DIR" || exit 1
-
-INFO "MOUNT DIR: $MNT_DIR"
-mkdir -p "$MNT_DIR" || exit 1
-
-umount_w(){ mountpoint -q "$1" && umount -l "$1"; }
-force_umount(){ umount_w "$MNT_DIR"; }
-trap force_umount SIGINT SIGTERM EXIT
+set_option() {
+  local k v
+  k="${1%%=*}" v="${1#*=}"
+  [[ ${altConfigNames[$k]} ]] && k=${altConfigNames[$k]}
+  printf -v "bees_$k" %s "$v"
+}
 
-mount -osubvolid=5 /dev/disk/by-uuid/$UUID "$MNT_DIR" || exit 1
+uuid_re='^[[:xdigit:]]{8}-[[:xdigit:]]{4}-[[:xdigit:]]{4}-[[:xdigit:]]{4}-[[:xdigit:]]{12}$'
+
+# Shared code for setting configuration used by other operations.
+#
+# Reads from global associative array "opts" containing options passed in as
+# key=value pairs on the command line, looks for config-file overrides, and
+# sets individual global variables.
+_setup() {
+  declare fstype
+  bees_fsSpec=$1; shift
+
+  # Look for file-based configuration, additional to honoring configuration on the command line
+  bees_config_dir="${bees_config_dir:-/etc/bees}"
+  if [[ $bees_fsSpec =~ $uuid_re ]]; then
+    bees_uuid=$bees_fsSpec
+    # If our spec looks like a bare UUID, and no config file exists in the new
+    # format, fall back to legacy config file search mechanism (grep; ewww).
+    if ! readConfigFileIfExists "$bees_config_dir/UUID=$bees_fsSpec.conf"; then
+      # Legacy approach to finding a config file: Grep for a *.conf file
+      # containing the UUID within its text. Permitting spaces around the "="
+      # appears to be a bug, but is retained for compatibility with the
+      # original upstream script.
+      allConfFiles=( "$bees_config_dir"/*.conf )
+      if (( ${#allConfFiles[@]} )); then
+        # in read or readarray with -d '', the NUL terminating the empty string is used as delimiter character.
+        readarray -d '' -t matchingConfFiles < <(grep -E -l -Z "^[^#]*UUID[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]*" "${allConfFiles[@]}")
+      else
+        matchingConfFiles=( )
+      fi
+      if (( ${#matchingConfFiles[@]} == 1 )); then
+        # Exactly one configuration file exists in our target directory with a reference to the UUID given.
+        bees_config_file=${matchingConfFiles[0]}
+        readConfigFileIfExists "$bees_config_file"
+        echo "NOTE: Please consider renaming $bees_config_file to $bees_config_dir/UUID=$bees_fsSpec" >&2
+        echo "      ...and passing UUID=$bees_fsSpec on startup." >&2
+      elif (( ${#matchingConfFiles[@]} > 1 )); then
+        # The legacy wrapper would silently use the first file and ignore
+        # others, but... no.
+        echo "ERROR: Passed a bare UUID, but multiple configuration files match it:" >&2
+        printf ' - %q\n' "${matchingConfFiles[@]}" >&2
+        die "Unable to continue."
+      fi
+    fi
+  else
+    # For a non-UUID fsSpec that is not a path, look only for a config file
+    # exactly matching its text.
+    #
+    # (Passing a mount point as a fsSpec is only supported with the new
+    # wrapper; all key=value pairs can be passed on the command line in this
+    # mode, so config file support is not needed).
+    [[ $bees_fsSpec = */* ]] || readConfigFileIfExists "$bees_config_dir/$bees_fsSpec.conf"
+  fi
+
+  [[ $bees_uuid ]] || {
+    # if bees_uuid is not in our .conf file, look it up with findmnt
+    read -r bees_uuid fstype < <(findmnt -n -o uuid,fstype "$bees_fsSpec") && [[ $fstype ]] || exit
+    [[ $fstype = btrfs ]] || die "Device type is $fstype, not btrfs"
+  }
+
+  [[ $bees_uuid = */* ]] || readConfigFileIfExists "$bees_config_dir/UUID=$bees_uuid.conf"
+
+  # Honor any values read from config files above; otherwise, set defaults.
+  bees_workDir="${bees_workDir:-.beeshome}"
+  bees_runDir="${bees_runDir:-/run/bees}"
+  bees_mntDir="${bees_mntDir:-$bees_runDir/mnt/$bees_uuid}"
+  bees_home="${bees_home:-$bees_mntDir/$bees_workDir}"
+  bees_status="${bees_status:-${bees_runDir}/$bees_uuid.status}"
+  bees_verbosity="${bees_verbosity:-6}"
+  bees_idxSizeMB="${bees_idxSizeMB:-1024}"
+  bees_idxSize=${bees_idxSize:-"$(( bees_idxSizeMB * 1024 * 1024 ))"}
+  bees_blockdev=${bees_blockdev:-"/dev/disk/by-uuid/$bees_uuid"}
+
+  [[ -b $bees_blockdev ]] || die "Block device $bees_blockdev missing"
+  (( bees_idxSize % (128 * 1024) == 0 )) || die "DB size must be divisible by 128KB"
+}
 
-if [ ! -d "$BEESHOME" ]; then
-    INFO "Create subvol $BEESHOME for store bees data"
-    btrfs sub cre "$BEESHOME"
-else
-    btrfs sub show "$BEESHOME" &> /dev/null || ERRO "$BEESHOME MUST BE A SUBVOL!"
-fi
+do_run() {
+  local db old_db_size
+
+  _setup "$1"; shift
+  mkdir -p -- "$bees_mntDir" || exit
+
+  # subvol id 5 is reserved for the root subvolume of a btrfs filesystem.
+  mountpoint -q "$bees_mntDir" || mount -osubvolid=5 -- "$bees_blockdev" "$bees_mntDir" || exit
+  if [[ -d $bees_home ]]; then
+    btrfs subvolume show "$bees_home" >/dev/null 2>&1 || die "$bees_home exists but is not a subvolume"
+  else
+    btrfs subvolume create "$bees_home" || exit
+    sync # workaround for Zygo/bees#93
+  fi
+  db=$bees_home/beeshash.dat
+  touch -- "$db"
+
+  old_db_size=$(stat -c %s -- "$db")
+  new_db_size=$bees_idxSize
+
+  if (( old_db_size != new_db_size )); then
+    rm -f -- "$bees_home"/beescrawl."$bees_uuid".dat
+    truncate -s "$new_db_size" -- "$db" || exit
+  fi
+  chmod 700 -- "$bees_home"
+
+  # BEESSTATUS and BEESHOME are the only variables handled by the legacy
+  # wrapper for which getenv() is called in C code.
+  BEESSTATUS=$bees_status BEESHOME=$bees_home exec "${beesd_bin:-/lib/bees/bees}" \
+    --verbose "$bees_verbosity" \
+    "$@" "$bees_mntDir" || exit
+}
 
-# Check DB size
-{
-    DB_PATH="$BEESHOME/beeshash.dat"
-    touch "$DB_PATH"
-    OLD_SIZE="$(du -b "$DB_PATH" | sed 's/\t/ /g' | cut -d' ' -f1)"
-    NEW_SIZE="$DB_SIZE"
-    if (( "$NEW_SIZE"%AL128K > 0 )); then
-        ERRO "DB_SIZE Must be multiple of 128K"
-    fi
-    if (( "$OLD_SIZE" != "$NEW_SIZE" )); then
-        INFO "Resize db: $OLD_SIZE -> $NEW_SIZE"
-        [ -f "$BEESHOME/beescrawl.$UUID.dat" ] && rm "$BEESHOME/beescrawl.$UUID.dat"
-        truncate -s $NEW_SIZE $DB_PATH
-    fi
-    chmod 700 "$DB_PATH"
+do_cleanup() {
+  _setup "$1"; shift
+  mountpoint -q "$bees_mntDir" && umount -l -- "$bees_mntDir" || exit
 }
 
-MNT_DIR="$(realpath $MNT_DIR)"
+(( $# >= 2 )) || usage
+declare -f "do_$1" >/dev/null 2>&1 || usage
+mode=$1; shift # must be a do_* function; currently "run" or "cleanup"
+
+declare -a args=( "$1" ); shift  # pass first argument (config-name|fsSpec) through literally
+
+# parse other arguments as key=value pairs, or pass them through literally if they do not match that form.
+# similarly, any option after "--" will be passed through literally.
+while (( $# )); do
+  if [[ $1 = *=* ]]; then
+    set_option "$1"
+  elif [[ $1 = -- ]]; then
+    shift
+    args+=( "$@" )
+    break
+  else
+    args+=( "$1" )
+  fi
+  shift
+done
 
-cd "$MNT_DIR"
-"$bees_bin" "${ARGUMENTS[@]}" $OPTIONS "$MNT_DIR"
+"do_$mode" "${args[@]}"