diff --git a/package/base-files/files/lib/upgrade/common.sh b/package/base-files/files/lib/upgrade/common.sh
index 8e7866f698..0d3162d4fc 100644
--- a/package/base-files/files/lib/upgrade/common.sh
+++ b/package/base-files/files/lib/upgrade/common.sh
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ indicate_upgrade() {
 # $(2): (optional) pipe command to extract firmware, e.g. dd bs=n skip=m
 default_do_upgrade() {
 	sync
-	if [ "$UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 1 ]; then
+	if [ -n "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ]; then
 		get_image "$1" "$2" | mtd $MTD_ARGS $MTD_CONFIG_ARGS -j "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" write - "${PART_NAME:-image}"
 	else
 		get_image "$1" "$2" | mtd $MTD_ARGS write - "${PART_NAME:-image}"
diff --git a/package/base-files/files/lib/upgrade/do_stage2 b/package/base-files/files/lib/upgrade/do_stage2
index 0e6cc1bfc3..0e32445743 100755
--- a/package/base-files/files/lib/upgrade/do_stage2
+++ b/package/base-files/files/lib/upgrade/do_stage2
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ else
 	default_do_upgrade "$IMAGE"
 fi
 
-if [ "$UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 1 ] && type 'platform_copy_config' >/dev/null 2>/dev/null; then
+if [ -n "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ] && type 'platform_copy_config' >/dev/null 2>/dev/null; then
 	platform_copy_config
 fi
 
diff --git a/package/base-files/files/sbin/sysupgrade b/package/base-files/files/sbin/sysupgrade
index f18143bff4..935d08048e 100755
--- a/package/base-files/files/sbin/sysupgrade
+++ b/package/base-files/files/sbin/sysupgrade
@@ -371,7 +371,6 @@ else
 		$backup_attr
 		\"command\": $(json_string "$COMMAND"),
 		\"options\": {
-			\"save_config\": $SAVE_CONFIG,
 			\"save_partitions\": $SAVE_PARTITIONS
 		}
 	}"
diff --git a/target/linux/ar71xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/dir825.sh b/target/linux/ar71xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/dir825.sh
index c694c2e6f2..e991a06b7a 100644
--- a/target/linux/ar71xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/dir825.sh
+++ b/target/linux/ar71xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/dir825.sh
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ dir825b_do_upgrade_combined() {
 
 	if [ -n "$fw_mtd" ] &&  [ ${fw_blocks:-0} -gt 0 ]; then
 		local append=""
-		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" -a "$UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 1 ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
+		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
 
 		sync
 		dd if="$fw_file" bs=64k skip=1 count=$fw_blocks 2>/dev/null | \
diff --git a/target/linux/ar71xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/openmesh.sh b/target/linux/ar71xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/openmesh.sh
index 8536d4ba4a..f43bdcea7f 100644
--- a/target/linux/ar71xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/openmesh.sh
+++ b/target/linux/ar71xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/openmesh.sh
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ platform_do_upgrade_openmesh()
 	local cfg_size= kernel_size= rootfs_size=
 	local append=""
 
-	[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" -a "$UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 1 ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
+	[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
 
 	cfg_size=$(dd if="$img_path" bs=2 skip=35 count=4 2>/dev/null)
 	kernel_size=$(dd if="$img_path" bs=2 skip=71 count=4 2>/dev/null)
diff --git a/target/linux/ar71xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh b/target/linux/ar71xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
index 726163291d..86e7b6386b 100755
--- a/target/linux/ar71xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
+++ b/target/linux/ar71xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ platform_do_upgrade_combined() {
 	then
 		local rootfspart=$(platform_find_rootfspart "$partitions" "$kernelpart")
 		local append=""
-		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" -a "$UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 1 ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
+		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
 
 		if [ "$PLATFORM_DO_UPGRADE_COMBINED_SEPARATE_MTD" -ne 1 ]; then
 		    ( dd if="$1" bs=$CI_BLKSZ skip=1 count=$kern_blocks 2>/dev/null; \
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ platform_do_upgrade_compex() {
 
 	if [ -n "$fw_mtd" ] &&  [ ${fw_blocks:-0} -gt 0 ]; then
 		local append=""
-		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" -a "$UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 1 ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUPs"
+		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUPs"
 
 		sync
 		dd if="$fw_file" bs=64k skip=1 count=$fw_blocks 2>/dev/null | \
diff --git a/target/linux/ath25/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh b/target/linux/ath25/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
index 0dde103605..778bbf5a39 100644
--- a/target/linux/ath25/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
+++ b/target/linux/ath25/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ platform_do_upgrade() {
 	   [ ${erase_size:-0} -gt 0 ];
 	then
 		local append=""
-		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" -a "$UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 1 ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
+		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
 
 		( dd if="$1" bs=$CI_BLKSZ skip=1 count=$kern_blocks 2>/dev/null; \
 		  dd if="$1" bs=$CI_BLKSZ skip=$((1+$kern_blocks)) count=$root_blocks 2>/dev/null ) | \
diff --git a/target/linux/ath79/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh b/target/linux/ath79/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
index f7e62143e7..f4fca06384 100644
--- a/target/linux/ath79/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
+++ b/target/linux/ath79/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ redboot_fis_do_upgrade() {
 	if [ "$magic" = "4349" ]; then
 		local kern_length=0x$(dd if="$sysup_file" bs=2 skip=1 count=4 2>/dev/null)
 
-		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" -a "$UPGRADE_OPT_UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 1 ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
+		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
 		dd if="$sysup_file" bs=64k skip=1 2>/dev/null | \
 			mtd -r $append -F$kern_part:$kern_length:0x80060000,rootfs write - $kern_part:rootfs
 
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ redboot_fis_do_upgrade() {
 		local board_dir=$(tar tf $sysup_file | grep -m 1 '^sysupgrade-.*/$')
 		local kern_length=$(tar xf $sysup_file ${board_dir}kernel -O | wc -c)
 
-		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" -a "$UPGRADE_OPT_UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 1 ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
+		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
 		tar xf $sysup_file ${board_dir}kernel ${board_dir}root -O | \
 			mtd -r $append -F$kern_part:$kern_length:0x80060000,rootfs write - $kern_part:rootfs
 
diff --git a/target/linux/imx6/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh b/target/linux/imx6/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
index 9414b18710..a090cc080b 100755
--- a/target/linux/imx6/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
+++ b/target/linux/imx6/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ platform_pre_upgrade() {
 
 	case "$board" in
 	apalis*)
-		[ "$UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 0 ] && {
+		[ -z "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ] && {
 			jffs2reset -y
 			umount /overlay
 		}
diff --git a/target/linux/ipq40xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/openmesh.sh b/target/linux/ipq40xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/openmesh.sh
index e313562017..8e02186eb8 100644
--- a/target/linux/ipq40xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/openmesh.sh
+++ b/target/linux/ipq40xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/openmesh.sh
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ platform_do_upgrade_openmesh() {
 	#
 
 	# take care of restoring a saved config
-	[ "$UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 1 ] && restore_backup="${MTD_CONFIG_ARGS} -j ${UPGRADE_BACKUP}"
+	[ -n "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ] && restore_backup="${MTD_CONFIG_ARGS} -j ${UPGRADE_BACKUP}"
 
 	mtd -q erase inactive
 	tar xf $tar_file ${board_dir}/root -O | mtd -n -p $kernel_length $restore_backup write - $PART_NAME
diff --git a/target/linux/ipq40xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh b/target/linux/ipq40xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
index 6b9858beb0..c12508c437 100644
--- a/target/linux/ipq40xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
+++ b/target/linux/ipq40xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ zyxel_do_upgrade() {
 
 	tar Oxf $tar_file ${board_dir}/kernel | mtd write - kernel
 
-	if [ "$UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 1 ]; then
+	if [ -n "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ]; then
 		tar Oxf $tar_file ${board_dir}/root | mtd -j "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" write - rootfs
 	else
 		tar Oxf $tar_file ${board_dir}/root | mtd write - rootfs
diff --git a/target/linux/ixp4xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh b/target/linux/ixp4xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
index 557f43ce6f..f83aa430cf 100644
--- a/target/linux/ixp4xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
+++ b/target/linux/ixp4xx/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ platform_do_upgrade_combined() {
 	   [ ${erase_size:-0} -gt 0 ];
 	then
 		local append=""
-		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" -a "$UPGRADE_OPT_SAVE_CONFIG" -eq 1 ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
+		[ -f "$UPGRADE_BACKUP" ] && append="-j $UPGRADE_BACKUP"
 
 		# write the kernel
 		dd if="$1" bs=$CI_BLKSZ skip=1 count=$kern_blocks 2>/dev/null | \