diff --git a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_fstab.cpp b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_fstab.cpp
index 9b51529..d68b7e8 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_fstab.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_fstab.cpp
@@ -530,67 +530,37 @@
 
 }  // namespace
 
-bool ReadFstabFromFp(FILE* fstab_file, bool proc_mounts, Fstab* fstab_out) {
-    ssize_t len;
-    size_t alloc_len = 0;
-    char *line = NULL;
-    const char *delim = " \t";
-    char *save_ptr, *p;
+bool ParseFstabFromString(const std::string& fstab_str, bool proc_mounts, Fstab* fstab_out) {
+    const int expected_fields = proc_mounts ? 4 : 5;
+
     Fstab fstab;
 
-    while ((len = getline(&line, &alloc_len, fstab_file)) != -1) {
-        /* if the last character is a newline, shorten the string by 1 byte */
-        if (line[len - 1] == '\n') {
-            line[len - 1] = '\0';
+    for (const auto& line : android::base::Split(fstab_str, "\n")) {
+        auto fields = android::base::Tokenize(line, " \t");
+
+        // Ignore empty lines and comments.
+        if (fields.empty() || android::base::StartsWith(fields.front(), '#')) {
+            continue;
         }
 
-        /* Skip any leading whitespace */
-        p = line;
-        while (isspace(*p)) {
-            p++;
+        if (fields.size() < expected_fields) {
+            LERROR << "Error parsing fstab: expected " << expected_fields << " fields, got "
+                   << fields.size();
+            return false;
         }
-        /* ignore comments or empty lines */
-        if (*p == '#' || *p == '\0')
-            continue;
 
         FstabEntry entry;
+        auto it = fields.begin();
 
-        if (!(p = strtok_r(line, delim, &save_ptr))) {
-            LERROR << "Error parsing mount source";
-            goto err;
-        }
-        entry.blk_device = p;
-
-        if (!(p = strtok_r(NULL, delim, &save_ptr))) {
-            LERROR << "Error parsing mount_point";
-            goto err;
-        }
-        entry.mount_point = p;
-
-        if (!(p = strtok_r(NULL, delim, &save_ptr))) {
-            LERROR << "Error parsing fs_type";
-            goto err;
-        }
-        entry.fs_type = p;
-
-        if (!(p = strtok_r(NULL, delim, &save_ptr))) {
-            LERROR << "Error parsing mount_flags";
-            goto err;
-        }
-
-        ParseMountFlags(p, &entry);
+        entry.blk_device = std::move(*it++);
+        entry.mount_point = std::move(*it++);
+        entry.fs_type = std::move(*it++);
+        ParseMountFlags(std::move(*it++), &entry);
 
         // For /proc/mounts, ignore everything after mnt_freq and mnt_passno
-        if (proc_mounts) {
-            p += strlen(p);
-        } else if (!(p = strtok_r(NULL, delim, &save_ptr))) {
-            LERROR << "Error parsing fs_mgr_options";
-            goto err;
-        }
-
-        if (!ParseFsMgrFlags(p, &entry)) {
+        if (!proc_mounts && !ParseFsMgrFlags(std::move(*it++), &entry)) {
             LERROR << "Error parsing fs_mgr_flags";
-            goto err;
+            return false;
         }
 
         if (entry.fs_mgr_flags.logical) {
@@ -602,21 +572,17 @@
 
     if (fstab.empty()) {
         LERROR << "No entries found in fstab";
-        goto err;
+        return false;
     }
 
     /* If an A/B partition, modify block device to be the real block device */
     if (!fs_mgr_update_for_slotselect(&fstab)) {
         LERROR << "Error updating for slotselect";
-        goto err;
+        return false;
     }
-    free(line);
+
     *fstab_out = std::move(fstab);
     return true;
-
-err:
-    free(line);
-    return false;
 }
 
 void TransformFstabForDsu(Fstab* fstab, const std::string& dsu_slot,
@@ -715,16 +681,16 @@
 }
 
 bool ReadFstabFromFile(const std::string& path, Fstab* fstab_out) {
-    auto fstab_file = std::unique_ptr<FILE, decltype(&fclose)>{fopen(path.c_str(), "re"), fclose};
-    if (!fstab_file) {
-        PERROR << __FUNCTION__ << "(): cannot open file: '" << path << "'";
+    const bool is_proc_mounts = (path == "/proc/mounts");
+
+    std::string fstab_str;
+    if (!android::base::ReadFileToString(path, &fstab_str, /* follow_symlinks = */ true)) {
+        PERROR << __FUNCTION__ << "(): failed to read file: '" << path << "'";
         return false;
     }
 
-    bool is_proc_mounts = path == "/proc/mounts";
-
     Fstab fstab;
-    if (!ReadFstabFromFp(fstab_file.get(), is_proc_mounts, &fstab)) {
+    if (!ParseFstabFromString(fstab_str, is_proc_mounts, &fstab)) {
         LERROR << __FUNCTION__ << "(): failed to load fstab from : '" << path << "'";
         return false;
     }
@@ -771,15 +737,7 @@
         return false;
     }
 
-    std::unique_ptr<FILE, decltype(&fclose)> fstab_file(
-        fmemopen(static_cast<void*>(const_cast<char*>(fstab_buf.c_str())),
-                 fstab_buf.length(), "r"), fclose);
-    if (!fstab_file) {
-        if (verbose) PERROR << __FUNCTION__ << "(): failed to create a file stream for fstab dt";
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    if (!ReadFstabFromFp(fstab_file.get(), false, fstab)) {
+    if (!ParseFstabFromString(fstab_buf, /* proc_mounts = */ false, fstab)) {
         if (verbose) {
             LERROR << __FUNCTION__ << "(): failed to load fstab from kernel:" << std::endl
                    << fstab_buf;
diff --git a/fs_mgr/fuzz/fs_mgr_fstab_fuzzer.cpp b/fs_mgr/fuzz/fs_mgr_fstab_fuzzer.cpp
index 1fddbf8..6a8a191 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fuzz/fs_mgr_fstab_fuzzer.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/fuzz/fs_mgr_fstab_fuzzer.cpp
@@ -19,12 +19,8 @@
 #include <fstab/fstab.h>
 
 extern "C" int LLVMFuzzerTestOneInput(const uint8_t* data, size_t size) {
-    std::unique_ptr<FILE, decltype(&fclose)> fstab_file(
-            fmemopen(static_cast<void*>(const_cast<uint8_t*>(data)), size, "r"), fclose);
-    if (fstab_file == nullptr) {
-        return 0;
-    }
+    std::string make_fstab_str(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(data), size);
     android::fs_mgr::Fstab fstab;
-    android::fs_mgr::ReadFstabFromFp(fstab_file.get(), /* proc_mounts= */ false, &fstab);
+    android::fs_mgr::ParseFstabFromString(make_fstab_str, /* proc_mounts = */ false, &fstab);
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/fs_mgr/include_fstab/fstab/fstab.h b/fs_mgr/include_fstab/fstab/fstab.h
index d9c326d..054300e 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/include_fstab/fstab/fstab.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/include_fstab/fstab/fstab.h
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@
 // Unless explicitly requested, a lookup on mount point should always return the 1st one.
 using Fstab = std::vector<FstabEntry>;
 
-// Exported for testability. Regular users should use ReadFstabFromfile().
-bool ReadFstabFromFp(FILE* fstab_file, bool proc_mounts, Fstab* fstab_out);
+// Exported for testability. Regular users should use ReadFstabFromFile().
+bool ParseFstabFromString(const std::string& fstab_str, bool proc_mounts, Fstab* fstab_out);
 
 bool ReadFstabFromFile(const std::string& path, Fstab* fstab);
 bool ReadFstabFromDt(Fstab* fstab, bool verbose = true);
diff --git a/rootdir/init.rc b/rootdir/init.rc
index 939b92d..b09c2f1 100644
--- a/rootdir/init.rc
+++ b/rootdir/init.rc
@@ -460,11 +460,6 @@
     class_stop charger
     trigger late-init
 
-on load_persist_props_action
-    load_persist_props
-    start logd
-    start logd-reinit
-
 # Indicate to fw loaders that the relevant mounts are up.
 on firmware_mounts_complete
     rm /dev/.booting
@@ -491,9 +486,6 @@
     # /data, which in turn can only be loaded when system properties are present.
     trigger post-fs-data
 
-    # Load persist properties and override properties (if enabled) from /data.
-    trigger load_persist_props_action
-
     # Should be before netd, but after apex, properties and logging is available.
     trigger load_bpf_programs
 
@@ -583,6 +575,7 @@
     restorecon_recursive /metadata/apex
 
     mkdir /metadata/staged-install 0770 root system
+    mkdir /metadata/sepolicy 0700 root root
 on late-fs
     # Ensure that tracefs has the correct permissions.
     # This does not work correctly if it is called in post-fs.
@@ -676,6 +669,18 @@
     # use of MAX_BOOT_LEVEL keys.
     exec - system system -- /system/bin/vdc keymaster earlyBootEnded
 
+    # Multi-installed APEXes are selected using persist props.
+    # Load persist properties and override properties (if enabled) from /data,
+    # before starting apexd.
+    load_persist_props
+    start logd
+    start logd-reinit
+    # Some existing vendor rc files use 'on load_persist_props_action' to know
+    # when persist props are ready. These are difficult to change due to GRF,
+    # so continue triggering this action here even though props are already loaded
+    # by the 'load_persist_props' call above.
+    trigger load_persist_props_action
+
     # /data/apex is now available. Start apexd to scan and activate APEXes.
     #
     # To handle userspace reboots as well as devices that use FDE, make sure