diff --git a/man/freedombone-image.1.gz b/man/freedombone-image.1.gz
index e00ea81f..497cc86f 100644
Binary files a/man/freedombone-image.1.gz and b/man/freedombone-image.1.gz differ
diff --git a/src/freedombone-image b/src/freedombone-image
index 828015c7..001a983c 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-image
+++ b/src/freedombone-image
@@ -118,6 +118,9 @@ WIFI_PASSPHRASE=
 WIFI_HOTSPOT='no'
 WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE=~/${PROJECT_NAME}-wifi.cfg
 
+# Whether to install non-free wifi drivers for the mesh client
+INSECURE='no'
+
 mesh_router_setup_script() {
 	# create a setup script for a mesh router
 	mesh_script_filename=$1
@@ -265,6 +268,10 @@ do
 			shift
 			WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE="$1"
 			;;
+		--insecure)
+			shift
+			INSECURE="$1"
+			;;
 		*)
 			# unknown option
 			;;
@@ -376,7 +383,8 @@ make $IMAGE_TYPE \
 	 WIFI_HOTSPOT="$WIFI_HOTSPOT" \
 	 WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE="$WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE" \
 	 VARIANT="$VARIANT" \
-	 MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH="$MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH"
+	 MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH="$MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH" \
+	 INSECURE="$INSECURE"
 
 if [ ! "$?" = "0" ]; then
 	echo $'Build failed'
diff --git a/src/freedombone-image-customise b/src/freedombone-image-customise
index 8647447a..612c738b 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-image-customise
+++ b/src/freedombone-image-customise
@@ -91,6 +91,9 @@ WIFI_PASSPHRASE=
 WIFI_HOTSPOT='no'
 WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE=~/${PROJECT_NAME}-wifi.cfg
 
+# Whether to install non-free wifi drivers for the mesh client
+INSECURE='no'
+
 enable_eatmydata_override() {
 	chroot $rootdir apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y eatmydata
 	if [ -x $rootdir/usr/bin/eatmydata ] && \
@@ -963,6 +966,23 @@ initialise_mesh() {
 		return
 	fi
 
+	if [[ $INSECURE == $'yes' ]]; then
+		echo  '*********************************************************'
+		echo $'WARNING: non-free wifi drivers are being installed.'
+		echo $'         This may compromise the security of your system.'
+		echo  '*********************************************************'
+
+		# enable non-free repo
+		if ! grep -q "non-free" $rootdir/etc/apt/sources.list; then
+			chroot "$rootdir" sed -i "s| main| main non-free|g" /etc/apt/sources.list
+			chroot "$rootdir" apt-get update
+		fi
+
+		# install proprietary wifi drivers
+		# see https://wiki.debian.org/iwlwifi
+		chroot "$rootdir" apt-get -y install firmware-iwlwifi
+	fi
+
 	mesh_firewall
 	mesh_avahi
 	mesh_batman
diff --git a/src/freedombone-image-make b/src/freedombone-image-make
index bdb21489..25ab91aa 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-image-make
+++ b/src/freedombone-image-make
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ export WIFI_HOTSPOT
 export WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE
 export VARIANT
 export MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH
+export INSECURE
 
 # Locate vmdebootstrap program fetched in Makefile
 basedir=`pwd`
@@ -197,6 +198,7 @@ sudo sed -i "s|WIFI_HOTSPOT=.*|WIFI_HOTSPOT=\"${WIFI_HOTSPOT}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMI
 sudo sed -i "s|WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE=.*|WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE=\"${WIFI_NETWORKS_FILE}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMISE
 sudo sed -i "s|VARIANT=.*|VARIANT=\"${VARIANT}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMISE
 sudo sed -i "s|MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH=.*|MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH=\"${MINIMUM_PASSWORD_LENGTH}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMISE
+sudo sed -i "s|INSECURE=.*|INSECURE=\"${INSECURE}\"|g" $TEMP_CUSTOMISE
 
 echo $"starting $VMDEBOOTSTRAP"
 # Run vmdebootstrap script to create image