diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/BootstrapConfigStorageFactory.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/BootstrapConfigStorageFactory.php
index 1df8f07..57bea76 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/BootstrapConfigStorageFactory.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/BootstrapConfigStorageFactory.php
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 
 namespace Drupal\Core\Config;
 
-use Drupal\Component\Utility\Settings;
 use Drupal\Core\Database\Database;
 
 /**
@@ -16,19 +15,20 @@
 class BootstrapConfigStorageFactory {
 
   /**
-   * Returns a configuration storage implementation.
+   * Returns a Database configuration storage implementation.
    *
-   * @return \Drupal\Core\Config\StorageInterface
-   *   A configuration storage implementation.
+   * @return \Drupal\Core\Config\DatabaseStorage
    */
-  public static function get() {
-    $drupal_bootstrap_config_storage = Settings::get('drupal_bootstrap_config_storage');
-    if ($drupal_bootstrap_config_storage && is_callable($drupal_bootstrap_config_storage)) {
-      return call_user_func($drupal_bootstrap_config_storage);
-    }
-    else {
-      return new DatabaseStorage(Database::getConnection(), 'config');
-    }
+  public static function getDatabaseStorage() {
+    return new DatabaseStorage(Database::getConnection(), 'config');
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Returns a File-based configuration storage implementation.
+   *
+   * @return \Drupal\Core\Config\FileStorage
+   */
+  public static function getFileStorage() {
+    return new FileStorage(config_get_config_directory(CONFIG_ACTIVE_DIRECTORY));
+  }
 }
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php
index 8812cab..0482bc6 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php
@@ -7,10 +7,9 @@
 
 namespace Drupal\Core;
 
+use Drupal\Component\Utility\Settings;
 use Drupal\Core\PhpStorage\PhpStorageFactory;
-use Drupal\Core\Config\BootstrapConfigStorageFactory;
 use Drupal\Core\Config\NullStorage;
-use Drupal\Core\CoreServiceProvider;
 use Drupal\Core\DependencyInjection\ContainerBuilder;
 use Drupal\Core\DependencyInjection\ServiceProviderInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\DependencyInjection\YamlFileLoader;
@@ -649,13 +648,17 @@ protected function storage() {
    */
   protected function getConfigStorage() {
     if (!isset($this->configStorage)) {
+      $this->configStorage = new NullStorage();
       // The active configuration storage may not exist yet; e.g., in the early
       // installer. Catch the exception thrown by config_get_config_directory().
       try {
-        $this->configStorage = BootstrapConfigStorageFactory::get();
+        $bootstrap_config_storage = Settings::get('bootstrap_config_storage');
+        if (is_callable($bootstrap_config_storage)) {
+          $this->configStorage = call_user_func($bootstrap_config_storage);
+        }
       }
       catch (\Exception $e) {
-        $this->configStorage = new NullStorage();
+        // Use the NullStorage.
       }
     }
     return $this->configStorage;
diff --git a/sites/default/default.settings.php b/sites/default/default.settings.php
index 3eac574..d9003ed 100644
--- a/sites/default/default.settings.php
+++ b/sites/default/default.settings.php
@@ -601,6 +601,19 @@
 # $cookie_domain = '.example.com';
 
 /**
+ * Active configuration settings.
+ *
+ * By default, the active configuration is stored in the database in the
+ * {config} table. To install Drupal with a different active configuration
+ * storage, you need to override the setting here, in addition to overriding
+ * the config.storage.active service definition in a module or profile.
+ *
+ * The 'bootstrap_config_storage' setting needs to be a callable that returns
+ * core.services.yml.
+ */
+ $settings['bootstrap_config_storage'] = array('Drupal\Core\Config\BootstrapConfigStorageFactory', 'getDatabaseStorage');
+
+/**
  * Configuration overrides.
  *
  * To globally override specific configuration values for this site,