diff --git a/gnu/local.mk b/gnu/local.mk
index b3d6054b50..2a1bbcd3fb 100644
--- a/gnu/local.mk
+++ b/gnu/local.mk
@@ -1026,11 +1026,14 @@ dist_patch_DATA =						\
   %D%/packages/patches/guile-1.8-cpp-4.5.patch			\
   %D%/packages/patches/guile-2.2-skip-oom-test.patch            \
   %D%/packages/patches/guile-default-utf8.patch			\
+  %D%/packages/patches/guile-2.2-default-utf8.patch		\
+  %D%/packages/patches/guile-relocatable.patch			\
+  %D%/packages/patches/guile-3.0-relocatable.patch		\
+  %D%/packages/patches/guile-linux-syscalls.patch		\
+  %D%/packages/patches/guile-3.0-linux-syscalls.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/guile-gdbm-ffi-support-gdbm-1.14.patch	\
   %D%/packages/patches/guile-json-cross.patch			\
-  %D%/packages/patches/guile-linux-syscalls.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/guile-present-coding.patch		\
-  %D%/packages/patches/guile-relocatable.patch			\
   %D%/packages/patches/guile-rsvg-pkgconfig.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/guile-emacs-fix-configure.patch		\
   %D%/packages/patches/guile-sqlite3-fix-cross-compilation.patch \
diff --git a/gnu/packages/patches/guile-2.2-default-utf8.patch b/gnu/packages/patches/guile-2.2-default-utf8.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f55a6430c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnu/packages/patches/guile-2.2-default-utf8.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+This hack makes Guile default to UTF-8.  This avoids calls to
+`iconv_open'; `iconv_open' tries to open shared objects that aren't
+available during bootstrap, so using UTF-8 avoids that (and UTF-8 has
+built-in conversions in glibc, too.)
+
+diff --git a/libguile/bytevectors.c b/libguile/bytevectors.c
+index 0ac5ea6a6..f73301e2f 100644
+--- a/libguile/bytevectors.c
++++ b/libguile/bytevectors.c
+@@ -1931,7 +1931,7 @@ utf_encoding_name (char *name, size_t utf_width, SCM endianness)
+   if (scm_i_is_narrow_string (str))                                     \
+     {                                                                   \
+       err = mem_iconveh (scm_i_string_chars (str), c_strlen,            \
+-                         "ISO-8859-1", c_utf_name,                      \
++                         "UTF-8", c_utf_name,                      \
+                          iconveh_question_mark, NULL,                   \
+                          &c_utf, &c_utf_len);                           \
+       if (SCM_UNLIKELY (err))                                           \
+diff --git a/libguile/ports.c b/libguile/ports.c
+index 45e62f4e4..42012f3aa 100644
+--- a/libguile/ports.c
++++ b/libguile/ports.c
+@@ -974,7 +974,9 @@ canonicalize_encoding (const char *enc)
+   char *ret;
+   int i;
+ 
+-  if (!enc || encoding_matches (enc, sym_ISO_8859_1))
++  if (enc == NULL)
++    return sym_UTF_8;
++  if (encoding_matches (enc, sym_ISO_8859_1))
+     return sym_ISO_8859_1;
+   if (encoding_matches (enc, sym_UTF_8))
+     return sym_UTF_8;
+@@ -4198,7 +4200,7 @@ scm_init_ports (void)
+     scm_c_define ("%default-port-conversion-strategy",
+                   scm_make_fluid_with_default (sym_substitute));
+   /* Use the locale as the default port encoding.  */
+-  scm_i_set_default_port_encoding (locale_charset ());
++  scm_i_set_default_port_encoding ("UTF-8");
+ 
+   scm_c_register_extension ("libguile-" SCM_EFFECTIVE_VERSION,
+                             "scm_init_ice_9_ports",
+diff --git a/libguile/strings.c b/libguile/strings.c
+index 056b4c99f..63a6c050d 100644
+--- a/libguile/strings.c
++++ b/libguile/strings.c
+@@ -1579,7 +1579,7 @@ scm_i_default_string_failed_conversion_handler (void)
+ SCM
+ scm_from_locale_stringn (const char *str, size_t len)
+ {
+-  return scm_from_stringn (str, len, locale_charset (),
++  return scm_from_stringn (str, len, "UTF-8",
+                            scm_i_default_string_failed_conversion_handler ());
+ }
+ 
+@@ -1907,7 +1907,7 @@ char *
+ scm_to_locale_stringn (SCM str, size_t *lenp)
+ {
+   return scm_to_stringn (str, lenp,
+-                         locale_charset (),
++                         "UTF-8",
+                          scm_i_default_string_failed_conversion_handler ());
+ }
+ 
+@@ -2195,7 +2195,7 @@ scm_to_stringn (SCM str, size_t *lenp, const char *encoding,
+     scm_wrong_type_arg_msg (NULL, 0, str, "string");
+ 
+   if (encoding == NULL)
+-    encoding = "ISO-8859-1";
++    encoding = "UTF-8";
+ 
+   if (c_strcasecmp (encoding, "UTF-8") == 0)
+     /* This is the most common case--e.g., when calling libc bindings
+@@ -2247,7 +2247,7 @@ scm_to_stringn (SCM str, size_t *lenp, const char *encoding,
+   if (scm_i_is_narrow_string (str))
+     {
+       ret = mem_iconveh (scm_i_string_chars (str), ilen,
+-                         "ISO-8859-1", encoding,
++                         "UTF-8", encoding,
+                          (enum iconv_ilseq_handler) handler, NULL,
+                          &buf, &len);
+ 
diff --git a/gnu/packages/patches/guile-3.0-linux-syscalls.patch b/gnu/packages/patches/guile-3.0-linux-syscalls.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..55d6a2ab52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnu/packages/patches/guile-3.0-linux-syscalls.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,353 @@
+From 9d670c8045830a64fcbc6aac6ae6fd37335a7348 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Marius Bakke <marius@devup.no>
+Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 12:49:31 +0100
+Subject: [PATCH] port linux syscalls
+
+---
+ libguile/posix.c | 330 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ 1 file changed, 330 insertions(+)
+
+diff --git a/libguile/posix.c b/libguile/posix.c
+index a1520abc4..61d57cdb9 100644
+--- a/libguile/posix.c
++++ b/libguile/posix.c
+@@ -2375,6 +2375,336 @@ scm_init_popen (void)
+ }
+ #endif /* HAVE_START_CHILD */
+ 
++
++/* Linux! */
++#ifdef __linux__
++
++#include <sys/mount.h>
++#include <sys/syscall.h>
++
++#include "libguile/foreign.h"
++#include "libguile/bytevectors.h"
++#include <libguile/variable.h>
++
++SCM_DEFINE (scm_mount, "mount", 3, 2, 0,
++	    (SCM source, SCM target, SCM type, SCM flags, SCM data),
++	    "Mount file system of @var{type} specified by @var{source} "
++	    "on @var{target}.")
++#define FUNC_NAME s_scm_mount
++{
++  int err;
++  char *c_source, *c_target, *c_type, *c_data;
++  unsigned long c_flags;
++
++  c_source = scm_to_locale_string (source);
++  c_target = scm_to_locale_string (target);
++  c_type = scm_to_locale_string (type);
++  c_flags = SCM_UNBNDP (flags) ? 0 : scm_to_ulong (flags);
++
++  if (SCM_UNBNDP (data) || scm_is_false (data))
++    c_data = NULL;
++  else
++    c_data = scm_to_locale_string (data);
++
++  err = mount (c_source, c_target, c_type, c_flags, c_data);
++  if (err != 0)
++    err = errno;
++
++  free (c_source);
++  free (c_target);
++  free (c_type);
++
++  if (c_data != NULL)
++    free (c_data);
++
++  if (err != 0)
++    {
++      errno = err;
++      SCM_SYSERROR;
++    }
++
++  return SCM_UNSPECIFIED;
++}
++#undef FUNC_NAME
++
++SCM_DEFINE (scm_umount, "umount", 1, 0, 0,
++	    (SCM target),
++	    "Unmount the file system on @var{target}.")
++#define FUNC_NAME s_scm_umount
++{
++  int err;
++  char *c_target;
++
++  c_target = scm_to_locale_string (target);
++
++  err = umount (c_target);
++  if (err != 0)
++    err = errno;
++
++  free (c_target);
++
++  if (err != 0)
++    {
++      errno = err;
++      SCM_SYSERROR;
++    }
++
++  return SCM_UNSPECIFIED;
++}
++#undef FUNC_NAME
++
++/* Linux's module installation syscall.  See `kernel/module.c' in Linux;
++   the function itself is part of the GNU libc.
++
++   Load the LEN bytes at MODULE as a kernel module, with arguments from
++   ARGS, a space-separated list of options.  */
++extern long init_module (void *module, unsigned long len, const char *args);
++
++/* Load a kernel module from FD.  FLAGS must be a bitwise or of
++   MODULE_INIT_* constants.  The GNU libc doesn't provide a wrapper for
++   this one so we use 'syscall'.  */
++static int
++finit_module (int fd, const char *args, int flags)
++{
++  return syscall (SYS_finit_module, fd, args, flags);
++}
++
++
++SCM_DEFINE (scm_load_linux_module, "load-linux-module", 1, 1, 0,
++	    (SCM data, SCM options),
++	    "Load the Linux kernel module whose contents are in bytevector "
++	    "DATA (the contents of a @code{.ko} file), with the arguments "
++	    "from the OPTIONS string.")
++#define FUNC_NAME s_scm_load_linux_module
++{
++  long err;
++  void *c_data;
++  unsigned long c_len;
++  char *c_options;
++
++  SCM_VALIDATE_BYTEVECTOR (SCM_ARG1, data);
++
++  c_data = SCM_BYTEVECTOR_CONTENTS (data);
++  c_len = SCM_BYTEVECTOR_LENGTH (data);
++  c_options =
++    scm_to_locale_string (SCM_UNBNDP (options) ? scm_nullstr : options);
++
++  err = init_module (c_data, c_len, c_options);
++
++  free (c_options);
++
++  if (err != 0)
++    SCM_SYSERROR;
++
++  return SCM_UNSPECIFIED;
++}
++#undef FUNC_NAME
++
++SCM_DEFINE (scm_load_linux_module_fd, "load-linux-module/fd", 1, 2, 0,
++	    (SCM fd, SCM options, SCM flags),
++	    "Load the Linux kernel module from the file at FD, "
++	    "with the arguments from the OPTIONS string, and "
++            "optionally the given FLAGS.")
++#define FUNC_NAME s_scm_load_linux_module_fd
++{
++  long err;
++  int c_fd, c_flags;
++  char *c_options;
++
++  c_fd = scm_to_int (fd);
++  c_options =
++    scm_to_locale_string (SCM_UNBNDP (options) ? scm_nullstr : options);
++  c_flags = SCM_UNBNDP (flags) ? 0 : scm_to_int (flags);
++
++  err = finit_module (c_fd, c_options, c_flags);
++
++  free (c_options);
++
++  if (err != 0)
++    SCM_SYSERROR;
++
++  return SCM_UNSPECIFIED;
++}
++#undef FUNC_NAME
++
++
++/* Rebooting, halting, and all that.  */
++
++#include <sys/reboot.h>
++
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_RB_AUTOBOOT, "RB_AUTOBOOT",
++		   scm_from_int (RB_AUTOBOOT));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_RB_HALT_SYSTEM, "RB_HALT_SYSTEM",
++		   scm_from_int (RB_HALT_SYSTEM));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_RB_ENABLE_CAD, "RB_ENABLE_CAD",
++		   scm_from_int (RB_ENABLE_CAD));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_RB_DISABLE_CAD, "RB_DISABLE_CAD",
++		   scm_from_int (RB_DISABLE_CAD));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_RB_POWER_OFF, "RB_POWER_OFF",
++		   scm_from_int (RB_POWER_OFF));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_RB_SW_SUSPEND, "RB_SW_SUSPEND",
++		   scm_from_int (RB_SW_SUSPEND));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_RB_KEXEC, "RB_KEXEC",
++		   scm_from_int (RB_KEXEC));
++
++SCM_DEFINE (scm_reboot, "reboot", 0, 1, 0,
++	    (SCM command),
++	    "Reboot the system.  @var{command} must be one of the @code{RB_} "
++	    "constants; if omitted, @var{RB_AUTOBOOT} is used, thus "
++	    "performing a hard reset.")
++#define FUNC_NAME s_scm_reboot
++{
++  int c_command;
++
++  if (SCM_UNBNDP (command))
++    c_command = RB_AUTOBOOT;
++  else
++    c_command = scm_to_int (command);
++
++  reboot (c_command);
++
++  return SCM_UNSPECIFIED;			  /* likely unreached */
++}
++#undef FUNC_NAME
++
++/* Linux network interfaces.  See <linux/if.h>.  */
++
++#include <linux/if.h>
++#include <linux/sockios.h>
++#include "libguile/socket.h"
++
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_IFF_UP, "IFF_UP",
++		   scm_from_int (IFF_UP));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_IFF_BROADCAST, "IFF_BROADCAST",
++		   scm_from_int (IFF_BROADCAST));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_IFF_DEBUG, "IFF_DEBUG",
++		   scm_from_int (IFF_DEBUG));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_IFF_LOOPBACK, "IFF_LOOPBACK",
++		   scm_from_int (IFF_LOOPBACK));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_IFF_POINTOPOINT, "IFF_POINTOPOINT",
++		   scm_from_int (IFF_POINTOPOINT));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_IFF_NOTRAILERS, "IFF_NOTRAILERS",
++		   scm_from_int (IFF_NOTRAILERS));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_IFF_RUNNING, "IFF_RUNNING",
++		   scm_from_int (IFF_RUNNING));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_IFF_NOARP, "IFF_NOARP",
++		   scm_from_int (IFF_NOARP));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_IFF_PROMISC, "IFF_PROMISC",
++		   scm_from_int (IFF_PROMISC));
++SCM_VARIABLE_INIT (flag_IFF_ALLMULTI, "IFF_ALLMULTI",
++		   scm_from_int (IFF_ALLMULTI));
++
++SCM_DEFINE (scm_set_network_interface_address, "set-network-interface-address",
++	    3, 0, 0,
++	    (SCM socket, SCM name, SCM address),
++	    "Configure network interface @var{name}.")
++#define FUNC_NAME s_scm_set_network_interface_address
++{
++  char *c_name;
++  struct ifreq ifr;
++  struct sockaddr *c_address;
++  size_t sa_len;
++  int fd, err;
++
++  socket = SCM_COERCE_OUTPORT (socket);
++  SCM_VALIDATE_OPFPORT (1, socket);
++  fd = SCM_FPORT_FDES (socket);
++
++  memset (&ifr, 0, sizeof ifr);
++  c_name = scm_to_locale_string (name);
++  c_address = scm_to_sockaddr (address, &sa_len);
++
++  strncpy (ifr.ifr_name, c_name, sizeof ifr.ifr_name - 1);
++  memcpy (&ifr.ifr_addr, c_address, sa_len);
++
++  err = ioctl (fd, SIOCSIFADDR, &ifr);
++  if (err != 0)
++    err = errno;
++
++  free (c_name);
++  free (c_address);
++
++  if (err != 0)
++    {
++      errno = err;
++      SCM_SYSERROR;
++    }
++
++  return SCM_UNSPECIFIED;
++}
++#undef FUNC_NAME
++
++SCM_DEFINE (scm_set_network_interface_flags, "set-network-interface-flags",
++	    3, 0, 0,
++	    (SCM socket, SCM name, SCM flags),
++	    "Change the flags of network interface @var{name} to "
++	    "@var{flags}.")
++#define FUNC_NAME s_scm_set_network_interface_flags
++{
++  struct ifreq ifr;
++  char *c_name;
++  int fd, err;
++
++  socket = SCM_COERCE_OUTPORT (socket);
++  SCM_VALIDATE_OPFPORT (1, socket);
++  fd = SCM_FPORT_FDES (socket);
++
++  memset (&ifr, 0, sizeof ifr);
++  c_name = scm_to_locale_string (name);
++  strncpy (ifr.ifr_name, c_name, sizeof ifr.ifr_name - 1);
++  ifr.ifr_flags = scm_to_short (flags);
++
++  err = ioctl (fd, SIOCSIFFLAGS, &ifr);
++  if (err != 0)
++    err = errno;
++
++  free (c_name);
++
++  if (err != 0)
++    {
++      errno = err;
++      SCM_SYSERROR;
++    }
++
++  return SCM_UNSPECIFIED;
++}
++#undef FUNC_NAME
++
++SCM_DEFINE (scm_network_interface_flags, "network-interface-flags",
++	    2, 0, 0,
++	    (SCM socket, SCM name),
++	    "Return the flags of network interface @var{name}.")
++#define FUNC_NAME s_scm_network_interface_flags
++{
++  struct ifreq ifr;
++  char *c_name;
++  int fd, err;
++
++  socket = SCM_COERCE_OUTPORT (socket);
++  SCM_VALIDATE_OPFPORT (1, socket);
++  fd = SCM_FPORT_FDES (socket);
++
++  memset (&ifr, 0, sizeof ifr);
++  c_name = scm_to_locale_string (name);
++  strncpy (ifr.ifr_name, c_name, sizeof ifr.ifr_name - 1);
++
++  err = ioctl (fd, SIOCGIFFLAGS, &ifr);
++  if (err != 0)
++    err = errno;
++
++  free (c_name);
++
++  if (err != 0)
++    {
++      errno = err;
++      SCM_SYSERROR;
++    }
++
++  return scm_from_short (ifr.ifr_flags);
++}
++#undef FUNC_NAME
++#endif
++
+ void
+ scm_init_posix ()
+ {
+-- 
+2.25.2
+
diff --git a/gnu/packages/patches/guile-3.0-relocatable.patch b/gnu/packages/patches/guile-3.0-relocatable.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2ffc79fa70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnu/packages/patches/guile-3.0-relocatable.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+From 5bd112b292a2b177a479099cc06e998747025587 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Marius Bakke <marius@devup.no>
+Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 12:49:02 +0100
+Subject: [PATCH] add guile relocatable
+
+---
+ libguile/load.c | 35 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------
+ 1 file changed, 29 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
+
+diff --git a/libguile/load.c b/libguile/load.c
+index e95c36db1..53d27b0b4 100644
+--- a/libguile/load.c
++++ b/libguile/load.c
+@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
+ #include <stat-time.h>
+ #include <string.h>
+ #include <stdio.h>
++#include <libgen.h>
+ #include <sys/types.h>
+ #include <sys/stat.h>
+ #include <unistd.h>
+@@ -334,6 +335,32 @@ scm_init_load_path ()
+   SCM cpath = SCM_EOL;
+ 
+ #ifdef SCM_LIBRARY_DIR
++  char *program, *bin_dir, *prefix, *module_dir, *ccache_dir;
++
++  /* Determine the source and compiled module directories at run-time,
++     relative to the executable's location.
++
++     Note: Use /proc/self/exe instead of argv[0] because the latter is
++     not necessarily an absolute, nor a valid file name.  */
++
++  program = scm_gc_malloc_pointerless (256, "string");
++  readlink ("/proc/self/exe", program, 256);
++
++  bin_dir = dirname (strdupa (program));
++
++  prefix = scm_gc_malloc_pointerless (strlen (bin_dir) + 4, "string");
++  strcpy (prefix, bin_dir);
++  strcat (prefix, "/..");
++  prefix = canonicalize_file_name (prefix);
++
++  module_dir = scm_gc_malloc_pointerless (strlen (prefix) + 50, "string");
++  strcpy (module_dir, prefix);
++  strcat (module_dir, "/share/guile/" SCM_EFFECTIVE_VERSION);
++
++  ccache_dir = scm_gc_malloc_pointerless (strlen (prefix) + 50, "string");
++  strcpy (ccache_dir, prefix);
++  strcat (ccache_dir, "/lib/guile/" SCM_EFFECTIVE_VERSION "/ccache");
++
+   env = scm_i_mirror_backslashes (getenv ("GUILE_SYSTEM_PATH"));
+   if (env && strcmp (env, "") == 0)
+     /* special-case interpret system-path=="" as meaning no system path instead
+@@ -342,10 +369,7 @@ scm_init_load_path ()
+   else if (env)
+     path = scm_parse_path (scm_from_locale_string (env), path);
+   else
+-    path = scm_list_4 (scm_from_utf8_string (SCM_LIBRARY_DIR),
+-                       scm_from_utf8_string (SCM_SITE_DIR),
+-                       scm_from_utf8_string (SCM_GLOBAL_SITE_DIR),
+-                       scm_from_utf8_string (SCM_PKGDATA_DIR));
++    path = scm_list_1 (scm_from_locale_string (module_dir));
+ 
+   env = scm_i_mirror_backslashes (getenv ("GUILE_SYSTEM_COMPILED_PATH"));
+   if (env && strcmp (env, "") == 0)
+@@ -355,8 +379,7 @@ scm_init_load_path ()
+     cpath = scm_parse_path (scm_from_locale_string (env), cpath);
+   else
+     {
+-      cpath = scm_list_2 (scm_from_utf8_string (SCM_CCACHE_DIR),
+-                          scm_from_utf8_string (SCM_SITE_CCACHE_DIR));
++      cpath = scm_list_1 (scm_from_locale_string (ccache_dir));
+     }
+ 
+ #endif /* SCM_LIBRARY_DIR */
+-- 
+2.25.2
+
diff --git a/gnu/system/linux-initrd.scm b/gnu/system/linux-initrd.scm
index dcc9b6b937..818aac63f3 100644
--- a/gnu/system/linux-initrd.scm
+++ b/gnu/system/linux-initrd.scm
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
   #:use-module ((gnu packages xorg)
                 #:select (console-setup xkeyboard-config))
   #:use-module ((gnu packages make-bootstrap)
-                #:select (%guile-static-stripped))
+                #:select (make-guile-static make-guile-static-stripped))
   #:use-module (gnu system file-systems)
   #:use-module (gnu system mapped-devices)
   #:use-module (gnu system keyboard)
@@ -59,10 +59,14 @@
 ;;;
 ;;; Code:
 
-
 (define* (expression->initrd exp
                              #:key
-                             (guile %guile-static-stripped)
+                             (guile (make-guile-static-stripped
+                                     (make-guile-static
+                                      guile-3.0
+                                      '("guile-2.2-default-utf8.patch"
+                                        "guile-3.0-linux-syscalls.patch"
+                                        "guile-3.0-relocatable.patch"))))
                              (gzip gzip)
                              (name "guile-initrd")
                              (system (%current-system)))
