diff --git a/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/bsdinstall.8 b/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/bsdinstall.8
index 781660bf5ef1..ee23fb4cecc4 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/bsdinstall.8
+++ b/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/bsdinstall.8
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 .\"
 .\" $FreeBSD$
 .\"
-.Dd March 22, 2021
+.Dd March 26, 2021
 .Dt BSDINSTALL 8
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -158,7 +158,13 @@ Multiple disk setups are separated by semicolons.
 The
 .Ar disk
 argument specifies the disk on which to operate (which will be erased),
-while the
+or the special value
+.Em DEFAULT ,
+which will result in either a selection window (as in
+.Cm autopart )
+for the destination disk or, if there is only one possible disk, will
+automatically select it.
+The
 .Ar scheme
 argument specifies the
 .Xr gpart 8
@@ -208,6 +214,10 @@ A shorter invocation to use the default partitioning (as
 would have used) on the same disk:
 .Pp
 bsdinstall scriptedpart ada0
+.Pp
+or, even shorter:
+.Pp
+bsdinstall scriptedpart DEFAULT
 .It Cm mount
 Mounts the file systems previously configured by
 .Cm autopart ,
@@ -279,7 +289,9 @@ See
 of
 the
 .Sx TARGETS
-section for format details.
+section for format details. If this variable is unset, the installer will
+use the default partitioning as in
+.Cm autopart .
 Default: unset
 .It Ev BSDINSTALL_DISTDIR
 The directory in which the distribution files can be found (or to which they
@@ -468,7 +480,7 @@ the interpreter for the setup script.
 A typical bsdinstall script, using the default filesystem layout and the UFS
 filesystem, looks like this:
 .Bd -literal -offset indent
-PARTITIONS=ada0
+PARTITIONS=DEFAULT
 DISTRIBUTIONS="kernel.txz base.txz"
 
 #!/bin/sh
diff --git a/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/part_wizard.c b/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/part_wizard.c
index 3160e1f049ea..9f7158a4801e 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/part_wizard.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/part_wizard.c
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@
 #define MIN_FREE_SPACE		(1024*1024*1024) /* 1 GB */
 #define SWAP_SIZE(available)	MIN(available/20, 4*1024*1024*1024LL)
 
-static char *boot_disk(struct gmesh *mesh);
 static char *wizard_partition(struct gmesh *mesh, const char *disk);
 
 int
@@ -65,7 +64,7 @@ part_wizard(const char *fsreq)
 
 	dlg_put_backtitle();
 	error = geom_gettree(&mesh);
-	disk = boot_disk(&mesh);
+	disk = boot_disk_select(&mesh);
 	if (disk == NULL)
 		return (1);
 
@@ -91,8 +90,8 @@ part_wizard(const char *fsreq)
 	return (0);
 }
 
-static char *
-boot_disk(struct gmesh *mesh)
+char *
+boot_disk_select(struct gmesh *mesh)
 {
 	struct gclass *classp;
 	struct gconfig *gc;
diff --git a/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/partedit.h b/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/partedit.h
index 1dccc653aea1..5c0405922d21 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/partedit.h
+++ b/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/partedit.h
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ void delete_part_metadata(const char *name);
 
 int part_wizard(const char *fstype);
 int scripted_editor(int argc, const char **argv);
+char *boot_disk_select(struct gmesh *mesh);
 int wizard_makeparts(struct gmesh *mesh, const char *disk, const char *fstype,
     int interactive);
 
diff --git a/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/scripted.c b/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/scripted.c
index 57dcbca816a3..37ac6de131b5 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/scripted.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/scripted.c
@@ -183,10 +183,14 @@ int parse_disk_config(char *input)
 		}
 	} while (input != NULL && *input != 0);
 
-	if (disk != NULL)
-		return (part_config(disk, scheme, partconfig));
+	if (disk == NULL || strcmp(disk, "DEFAULT") == 0) {
+		struct gmesh mesh;
+		geom_gettree(&mesh);
+		disk = boot_disk_select(&mesh);
+		geom_deletetree(&mesh);
+	}
 
-	return (0);
+	return (part_config(disk, scheme, partconfig));
 }
 
 int