diff --git a/init/reboot.cpp b/init/reboot.cpp
index f7cc36e..f7bdf16 100644
--- a/init/reboot.cpp
+++ b/init/reboot.cpp
@@ -96,8 +96,10 @@
     return ret;
 }
 
-static void PersistRebootReason(const char* reason) {
-    SetProperty(LAST_REBOOT_REASON_PROPERTY, reason);
+static void PersistRebootReason(const char* reason, bool write_to_property) {
+    if (write_to_property) {
+        SetProperty(LAST_REBOOT_REASON_PROPERTY, reason);
+    }
     WriteStringToFile(reason, LAST_REBOOT_REASON_FILE);
 }
 
@@ -535,14 +537,6 @@
     Timer t;
     LOG(INFO) << "Reboot start, reason: " << reason << ", reboot_target: " << reboot_target;
 
-    // If /data isn't mounted then we can skip the extra reboot steps below, since we don't need to
-    // worry about unmounting it.
-    if (!IsDataMounted()) {
-        sync();
-        RebootSystem(cmd, reboot_target);
-        abort();
-    }
-
     // Ensure last reboot reason is reduced to canonical
     // alias reported in bootloader or system boot reason.
     size_t skip = 0;
@@ -552,9 +546,17 @@
          reasons[1] == "hard" || reasons[1] == "warm")) {
         skip = strlen("reboot,");
     }
-    PersistRebootReason(reason.c_str() + skip);
+    PersistRebootReason(reason.c_str() + skip, true);
     sync();
 
+    // If /data isn't mounted then we can skip the extra reboot steps below, since we don't need to
+    // worry about unmounting it.
+    if (!IsDataMounted()) {
+        sync();
+        RebootSystem(cmd, reboot_target);
+        abort();
+    }
+
     bool is_thermal_shutdown = cmd == ANDROID_RB_THERMOFF;
 
     auto shutdown_timeout = 0ms;
@@ -836,7 +838,8 @@
     if (!WaitForProperty("sys.boot_completed", "1", timeout)) {
         LOG(ERROR) << "Failed to boot in " << timeout.count() << "ms. Switching to full reboot";
         // In this case device is in a boot loop. Only way to recover is to do dirty reboot.
-        PersistRebootReason("userspace_failed,watchdog_triggered");
+        // Since init might be wedged, don't try to write reboot reason into a persistent property.
+        PersistRebootReason("userspace_failed,watchdog_triggered", false);
         RebootSystem(ANDROID_RB_RESTART2, "userspace_failed,watchdog_triggered");
     }
     LOG(INFO) << "Device booted, stopping userspace reboot watchdog";
diff --git a/libutils/include/utils/String16.h b/libutils/include/utils/String16.h
index 013705b..1a4b47e 100644
--- a/libutils/include/utils/String16.h
+++ b/libutils/include/utils/String16.h
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@
 ANDROID_TRIVIAL_MOVE_TRAIT(String16)
 
 static inline std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, const String16& str) {
-    os << String8(str).c_str();
+    os << String8(str);
     return os;
 }
 
diff --git a/libutils/include/utils/String8.h b/libutils/include/utils/String8.h
index d0ad314..0bcb716 100644
--- a/libutils/include/utils/String8.h
+++ b/libutils/include/utils/String8.h
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@
 #ifndef ANDROID_STRING8_H
 #define ANDROID_STRING8_H
 
-#include <string> // for std::string
+#include <iostream>
+#include <string>
 
 #include <utils/Errors.h>
 #include <utils/Unicode.h>
@@ -232,6 +233,11 @@
 // require any change to the underlying SharedBuffer contents or reference count.
 ANDROID_TRIVIAL_MOVE_TRAIT(String8)
 
+static inline std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, const String8& str) {
+    os << str.c_str();
+    return os;
+}
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // No user servicable parts below.