diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0fe0a3a878..078891b619 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ DEFAULTSDIR := $(SHAREDIR)/defaults
 COLLECT_SCRIPT = data/kata-collect-data.sh
 COLLECT_SCRIPT_SRC = $(COLLECT_SCRIPT).in
 
+# @RUNTIME_NAME@ should be replaced with the target in generated files
+RUNTIME_NAME = $(TARGET)
+
 GENERATED_FILES += $(COLLECT_SCRIPT)
 SCRIPTS += $(COLLECT_SCRIPT)
 SCRIPTS_DIR := $(BINDIR)
@@ -394,17 +397,24 @@ SHAREDIR := $(SHAREDIR)
 # list of variables the user may wish to override
 USER_VARS += ARCH
 USER_VARS += BINDIR
+USER_VARS += CONFIG_ACRN_IN
+USER_VARS += CONFIG_CLH_IN
+USER_VARS += CONFIG_FC_IN
 USER_VARS += CONFIG_PATH
+USER_VARS += CONFIG_QEMU_IN
+USER_VARS += CONFIG_QEMU_VIRTIOFS_IN
 USER_VARS += DESTDIR
 USER_VARS += DEFAULT_HYPERVISOR
+USER_VARS += DEFENABLEMSWAP
 USER_VARS += ACRNCMD
 USER_VARS += ACRNCTLCMD
 USER_VARS += ACRNPATH
-USER_VARS += ACRNPATHLIST
+USER_VARS += ACRNVALIDHYPERVISORPATHS
 USER_VARS += ACRNCTLPATH
 USER_VARS += ACRNVALIDCTLPATHS
 USER_VARS += CLHPATH
 USER_VARS += CLHVALIDHYPERVISORPATHS
+USER_VARS += FIRMWAREPATH_CLH
 USER_VARS += FCCMD
 USER_VARS += FCPATH
 USER_VARS += FCVALIDHYPERVISORPATHS
@@ -421,6 +431,11 @@ USER_VARS += KERNELTYPE
 USER_VARS += KERNELTYPE_FC
 USER_VARS += KERNELTYPE_ACRN
 USER_VARS += KERNELTYPE_CLH
+USER_VARS += KERNELPATH_ACRN
+USER_VARS += KERNELPATH
+USER_VARS += KERNELPATH_CLH
+USER_VARS += KERNELPATH_FC
+USER_VARS += KERNELVIRTIOFSPATH
 USER_VARS += FIRMWAREPATH
 USER_VARS += MACHINEACCELERATORS
 USER_VARS += CPUFEATURES
@@ -433,18 +448,23 @@ USER_VARS += PKGLIBDIR
 USER_VARS += PKGLIBEXECDIR
 USER_VARS += PKGRUNDIR
 USER_VARS += PREFIX
+USER_VARS += PROJECT_BUG_URL
 USER_VARS += PROJECT_NAME
+USER_VARS += PROJECT_ORG
 USER_VARS += PROJECT_PREFIX
+USER_VARS += PROJECT_TAG
 USER_VARS += PROJECT_TYPE
+USER_VARS += PROJECT_URL
 USER_VARS += PROXYPATH
 USER_VARS += NETMONPATH
 USER_VARS += QEMUBINDIR
 USER_VARS += QEMUCMD
 USER_VARS += QEMUPATH
-USER_VARS += QEMUVALIDPATHS
+USER_VARS += QEMUVALIDHYPERVISORPATHS
 USER_VARS += QEMUVIRTIOFSCMD
 USER_VARS += QEMUVIRTIOFSPATH
 USER_VARS += QEMUVALIDVIRTIOFSPATHS
+USER_VARS += RUNTIME_NAME
 USER_VARS += SHAREDIR
 USER_VARS += SHIMPATH
 USER_VARS += SYSCONFDIR
@@ -455,6 +475,7 @@ USER_VARS += DEFMEMSZ
 USER_VARS += DEFMEMSLOTS
 USER_VARS += DEFBRIDGES
 USER_VARS += DEFNETWORKMODEL_ACRN
+USER_VARS += DEFNETWORKMODEL_CLH
 USER_VARS += DEFNETWORKMODEL_FC
 USER_VARS += DEFNETWORKMODEL_QEMU
 USER_VARS += DEFDISABLEGUESTSECCOMP
@@ -471,6 +492,7 @@ USER_VARS += DEFVALIDVIRTIOFSDAEMONPATHS
 USER_VARS += DEFVIRTIOFSCACHESIZE
 USER_VARS += DEFVIRTIOFSCACHE
 USER_VARS += DEFVIRTIOFSEXTRAARGS
+USER_VARS += DEFENABLEANNOTATIONS
 USER_VARS += DEFENABLEIOTHREADS
 USER_VARS += DEFENABLEMEMPREALLOC
 USER_VARS += DEFENABLEHUGEPAGES
@@ -612,101 +634,19 @@ $(TARGET).coverage: $(SOURCES) $(GENERATED_FILES) $(MAKEFILE_LIST)
 	$(QUIET_TEST)go test -o $@ -covermode count
 
 GENERATED_FILES += $(CONFIGS)
+GENERATED_VARS = \
+		VERSION \
+		CONFIG_ACRN_IN \
+		CONFIG_QEMU_IN \
+		CONFIG_QEMU_VIRTIOFS_IN \
+		CONFIG_CLH_IN \
+		CONFIG_FC_IN \
+		$(USER_VARS)
 
 $(GENERATED_FILES): %: %.in $(MAKEFILE_LIST) VERSION .git-commit
 	$(QUIET_GENERATE)$(SED) \
 		-e "s|@COMMIT@|$(shell cat .git-commit)|g" \
-		-e "s|@VERSION@|$(VERSION)|g" \
-		-e "s|@CONFIG_ACRN_IN@|$(CONFIG_ACRN_IN)|g" \
-		-e "s|@CONFIG_QEMU_IN@|$(CONFIG_QEMU_IN)|g" \
-		-e "s|@CONFIG_QEMU_VIRTIOFS_IN@|$(CONFIG_QEMU_VIRTIOFS_IN)|g" \
-		-e "s|@CONFIG_CLH_IN@|$(CONFIG_CLH_IN)|g" \
-		-e "s|@CONFIG_FC_IN@|$(CONFIG_FC_IN)|g" \
-		-e "s|@CONFIG_PATH@|$(CONFIG_PATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@FCPATH@|$(FCPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@FCVALIDHYPERVISORPATHS@|$(FCVALIDHYPERVISORPATHS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@FCJAILERPATH@|$(FCJAILERPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@FCVALIDJAILERPATHS@|$(FCVALIDJAILERPATHS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@ACRNPATH@|$(ACRNPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@ACRNVALIDHYPERVISORPATHS@|$(ACRNVALIDHYPERVISORPATHS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@ACRNCTLPATH@|$(ACRNCTLPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@ACRNVALIDCTLPATHS@|$(ACRNVALIDCTLPATHS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@CLHPATH@|$(CLHPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@CLHVALIDHYPERVISORPATHS@|$(CLHVALIDHYPERVISORPATHS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@SYSCONFIG@|$(SYSCONFIG)|g" \
-		-e "s|@IMAGEPATH@|$(IMAGEPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@KERNELPATH_ACRN@|$(KERNELPATH_ACRN)|g" \
-		-e "s|@KERNELPATH_FC@|$(KERNELPATH_FC)|g" \
-		-e "s|@KERNELPATH_CLH@|$(KERNELPATH_CLH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@KERNELPATH@|$(KERNELPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@KERNELVIRTIOFSPATH@|$(KERNELVIRTIOFSPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@INITRDPATH@|$(INITRDPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@FIRMWAREPATH@|$(FIRMWAREPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@MACHINEACCELERATORS@|$(MACHINEACCELERATORS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@CPUFEATURES@|$(CPUFEATURES)|g" \
-		-e "s|@FIRMWAREPATH_CLH@|$(FIRMWAREPATH_CLH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFMACHINETYPE_CLH@|$(DEFMACHINETYPE_CLH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@KERNELPARAMS@|$(KERNELPARAMS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@LOCALSTATEDIR@|$(LOCALSTATEDIR)|g" \
-		-e "s|@PKGLIBEXECDIR@|$(PKGLIBEXECDIR)|g" \
-		-e "s|@PKGRUNDIR@|$(PKGRUNDIR)|g" \
-		-e "s|@PROXYPATH@|$(PROXYPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@NETMONPATH@|$(NETMONPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@PROJECT_BUG_URL@|$(PROJECT_BUG_URL)|g" \
-		-e "s|@PROJECT_ORG@|$(PROJECT_ORG)|g" \
-		-e "s|@PROJECT_URL@|$(PROJECT_URL)|g" \
-		-e "s|@PROJECT_NAME@|$(PROJECT_NAME)|g" \
-		-e "s|@PROJECT_TAG@|$(PROJECT_TAG)|g" \
-		-e "s|@PROJECT_TYPE@|$(PROJECT_TYPE)|g" \
-		-e "s|@QEMUPATH@|$(QEMUPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@QEMUVALIDHYPERVISORPATHS@|$(QEMUVALIDHYPERVISORPATHS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@QEMUVIRTIOFSPATH@|$(QEMUVIRTIOFSPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@QEMUVALIDVIRTIOFSPATHS@|$(QEMUVALIDVIRTIOFSPATHS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@RUNTIME_NAME@|$(TARGET)|g" \
-		-e "s|@MACHINETYPE@|$(MACHINETYPE)|g" \
-		-e "s|@SHIMPATH@|$(SHIMPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFVCPUS@|$(DEFVCPUS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFMAXVCPUS@|$(DEFMAXVCPUS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFMAXVCPUS_ACRN@|$(DEFMAXVCPUS_ACRN)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFMEMSZ@|$(DEFMEMSZ)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFMEMSLOTS@|$(DEFMEMSLOTS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFBRIDGES@|$(DEFBRIDGES)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFNETWORKMODEL_ACRN@|$(DEFNETWORKMODEL_ACRN)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFNETWORKMODEL_CLH@|$(DEFNETWORKMODEL_CLH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFNETWORKMODEL_FC@|$(DEFNETWORKMODEL_FC)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFNETWORKMODEL_QEMU@|$(DEFNETWORKMODEL_QEMU)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFENABLEANNOTATIONS@|$(DEFENABLEANNOTATIONS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFDISABLEGUESTSECCOMP@|$(DEFDISABLEGUESTSECCOMP)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFAULTEXPFEATURES@|$(DEFAULTEXPFEATURES)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFDISABLEBLOCK@|$(DEFDISABLEBLOCK)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFBLOCKSTORAGEDRIVER_ACRN@|$(DEFBLOCKSTORAGEDRIVER_ACRN)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFBLOCKSTORAGEDRIVER_FC@|$(DEFBLOCKSTORAGEDRIVER_FC)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFBLOCKSTORAGEDRIVER_QEMU@|$(DEFBLOCKSTORAGEDRIVER_QEMU)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFBLOCKSTORAGEDRIVER_QEMU_VIRTIOFS@|$(DEFBLOCKSTORAGEDRIVER_QEMU_VIRTIOFS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFSHAREDFS@|$(DEFSHAREDFS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFSHAREDFS_QEMU_VIRTIOFS@|$(DEFSHAREDFS_QEMU_VIRTIOFS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFVIRTIOFSDAEMON@|$(DEFVIRTIOFSDAEMON)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFVALIDVIRTIOFSDAEMONPATHS@|$(DEFVALIDVIRTIOFSDAEMONPATHS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFVIRTIOFSCACHESIZE@|$(DEFVIRTIOFSCACHESIZE)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFVIRTIOFSCACHE@|$(DEFVIRTIOFSCACHE)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFVIRTIOFSEXTRAARGS@|$(DEFVIRTIOFSEXTRAARGS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFENABLEIOTHREADS@|$(DEFENABLEIOTHREADS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFENABLEMEMPREALLOC@|$(DEFENABLEMEMPREALLOC)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFENABLEHUGEPAGES@|$(DEFENABLEHUGEPAGES)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFENABLEVHOSTUSERSTORE@|$(DEFENABLEVHOSTUSERSTORE)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFVHOSTUSERSTOREPATH@|$(DEFVHOSTUSERSTOREPATH)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFVALIDVHOSTUSERSTOREPATHS@|$(DEFVALIDVHOSTUSERSTOREPATHS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFFILEMEMBACKEND@|$(DEFFILEMEMBACKEND)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFVALIDFILEMEMBACKENDS@|$(DEFVALIDFILEMEMBACKENDS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFENABLEMSWAP@|$(DEFENABLESWAP)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFENABLEDEBUG@|$(DEFENABLEDEBUG)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFDISABLENESTINGCHECKS@|$(DEFDISABLENESTINGCHECKS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFMSIZE9P@|$(DEFMSIZE9P)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFHOTPLUGVFIOONROOTBUS@|$(DEFHOTPLUGVFIOONROOTBUS)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFPCIEROOTPORT@|$(DEFPCIEROOTPORT)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFENTROPYSOURCE@|$(DEFENTROPYSOURCE)|g" \
-		-e "s|@DEFSANDBOXCGROUPONLY@|$(DEFSANDBOXCGROUPONLY)|g" \
-		-e "s|@FEATURE_SELINUX@|$(FEATURE_SELINUX)|g" \
+		$(foreach v,$(GENERATED_VARS),-e "s|@$v@|$($v)|g") \
 		$< > $@
 
 generate-config: $(CONFIGS)