diff --git a/cmd/podman/common/create.go b/cmd/podman/common/create.go
index 1121806d5ed7..16a796233956 100644
--- a/cmd/podman/common/create.go
+++ b/cmd/podman/common/create.go
@@ -493,8 +493,8 @@ func DefineCreateFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, cf *entities.ContainerCreateOptions,
 			"Make containers root filesystem read-only",
 		)
 		createFlags.BoolVar(
-			&cf.ReadOnlyTmpFS,
-			"read-only-tmpfs", true,
+			&cf.ReadWriteTmpFS,
+			"read-write-tmpfs", true,
 			"When running containers in read-only mode mount a read-write tmpfs on /run, /tmp and /var/tmp",
 		)
 		requiresFlagName := "requires"
diff --git a/cmd/podman/common/create_opts.go b/cmd/podman/common/create_opts.go
index a4f94616c7d9..cb3e766b5f32 100644
--- a/cmd/podman/common/create_opts.go
+++ b/cmd/podman/common/create_opts.go
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ func ContainerCreateToContainerCLIOpts(cc handlers.CreateContainerConfig, rtc *c
 		PublishAll:        cc.HostConfig.PublishAllPorts,
 		Quiet:             false,
 		ReadOnly:          cc.HostConfig.ReadonlyRootfs,
-		ReadOnlyTmpFS:     true, // podman default
+		ReadWriteTmpFS:    true, // podman default
 		Rm:                cc.HostConfig.AutoRemove,
 		SecurityOpt:       cc.HostConfig.SecurityOpt,
 		StopSignal:        cc.Config.StopSignal,
diff --git a/cmd/podman/containers/create.go b/cmd/podman/containers/create.go
index 89d2e5515038..6e96cb5c0fac 100644
--- a/cmd/podman/containers/create.go
+++ b/cmd/podman/containers/create.go
@@ -111,6 +111,9 @@ func create(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if cmd.Flags().Changed("read-write-tmpfs") && !cliVals.ReadOnly {
+		return errors.New("--read-write-tmpfs is only used if --read-write=true")
+	}
 	// Check if initctr is used with --pod and the value is correct
 	if initctr := InitContainerType; cmd.Flags().Changed("init-ctr") {
 		if !cmd.Flags().Changed("pod") {
diff --git a/cmd/podman/utils/alias.go b/cmd/podman/utils/alias.go
index 4d5b625d02b9..b04d476c229e 100644
--- a/cmd/podman/utils/alias.go
+++ b/cmd/podman/utils/alias.go
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ func AliasFlags(f *pflag.FlagSet, name string) pflag.NormalizedName {
 		name = "os"
 	case "override-variant":
 		name = "variant"
+	case "read-only-tmpfs":
+		name = "read-write-tmpfs"
 	}
 	return pflag.NormalizedName(name)
 }
diff --git a/docs/source/markdown/podman-create.1.md b/docs/source/markdown/podman-create.1.md
index 2a0f3b738a5f..0904558aa931 100644
--- a/docs/source/markdown/podman-create.1.md
+++ b/docs/source/markdown/podman-create.1.md
@@ -851,9 +851,9 @@ By default a container will have its root filesystem writable allowing processes
 to write files anywhere. By specifying the `--read-only` flag the container will have
 its root filesystem mounted as read only prohibiting any writes.
 
-#### **--read-only-tmpfs**
+#### **--read-write-tmpfs**
 
-If container is running in --read-only mode, then mount a read-write tmpfs on /run, /tmp, and /var/tmp. The default is *true*
+If container is running in --read-only mode, then mount a read-write tmpfs on /run, /tmp, and /var/tmp. When false, Podman the entire container has no tmpfs that are read/write unless specified on the command line.  Podman mounts /dev, /dev/mqueue, /dev/pts, /dev/shm as read only. The default is *true*
 
 #### **--replace**
 
diff --git a/docs/source/markdown/podman-run.1.md b/docs/source/markdown/podman-run.1.md
index 239cf3b832c0..71959e977689 100644
--- a/docs/source/markdown/podman-run.1.md
+++ b/docs/source/markdown/podman-run.1.md
@@ -891,9 +891,9 @@ By default a container will have its root filesystem writable allowing processes
 to write files anywhere. By specifying the **--read-only** flag, the container will have
 its root filesystem mounted as read only prohibiting any writes.
 
-#### **--read-only-tmpfs**
+#### **--read-write-tmpfs**
 
-If container is running in **--read-only** mode, then mount a read-write tmpfs on _/run_, _/tmp_, and _/var/tmp_. The default is **true**.
+If container is running in --read-only mode, then mount a read-write tmpfs on /run, /tmp, and /var/tmp. When false, Podman the entire container has no tmpfs that are read/write unless specified on the command line.  Podman mounts /dev, /dev/mqueue, /dev/pts, /dev/shm as read only. The default is *true*
 
 #### **--replace**
 
diff --git a/pkg/domain/entities/pods.go b/pkg/domain/entities/pods.go
index 7922db4e6f61..b924f9d0db13 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/entities/pods.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/entities/pods.go
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ type ContainerCreateOptions struct {
 	Pull              string
 	Quiet             bool
 	ReadOnly          bool
-	ReadOnlyTmpFS     bool
+	ReadWriteTmpFS    bool
 	Restart           string
 	Replace           bool
 	Requires          []string
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/oci.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/oci.go
index 945c994ea8a8..29b67e877d39 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/oci.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/oci.go
@@ -182,8 +182,6 @@ func SpecGenToOCI(ctx context.Context, s *specgen.SpecGenerator, rt *libpod.Runt
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	// Remove the default /dev/shm mount to ensure we overwrite it
-	g.RemoveMount("/dev/shm")
 	g.HostSpecific = true
 	addCgroup := true
 
@@ -430,5 +428,18 @@ func SpecGenToOCI(ctx context.Context, s *specgen.SpecGenerator, rt *libpod.Runt
 	}
 	setProcOpts(s, &g)
 
+	if s.ReadOnlyTmpFS {
+		for n, m := range configSpec.Mounts {
+			switch m.Destination {
+			case "/dev", "/dev/shm", "/dev/mqueue", "/dev/pts":
+				m.Options = append(m.Options, "ro")
+				configSpec.Mounts[n] = m
+			}
+		}
+	} else {
+		// Remove the default /dev/shm mount to ensure we overwrite it
+		g.RemoveMount("/dev/shm")
+	}
+
 	return configSpec, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/specgen.go b/pkg/specgen/specgen.go
index 7f6f79b8739a..229949301593 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/specgen.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/specgen.go
@@ -367,6 +367,9 @@ type ContainerSecurityConfig struct {
 	// ReadOnlyFilesystem indicates that everything will be mounted
 	// as read-only
 	ReadOnlyFilesystem bool `json:"read_only_filesystem,omitempty"`
+	// ReadOnlyTmpfs indicates that tmpfs will be mounted
+	// as read-only
+	ReadOnlyTmpFS bool `json:"read_only_tmpfs,omitempty"`
 	// Umask is the umask the init process of the container will be run with.
 	Umask string `json:"umask,omitempty"`
 	// ProcOpts are the options used for the proc mount.
diff --git a/pkg/specgenutil/specgen.go b/pkg/specgenutil/specgen.go
index 17699a0380f8..993125d86c28 100644
--- a/pkg/specgenutil/specgen.go
+++ b/pkg/specgenutil/specgen.go
@@ -522,6 +522,7 @@ func FillOutSpecGen(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, c *entities.ContainerCreateOptions
 	s.CapDrop = c.CapDrop
 	s.Privileged = c.Privileged
 	s.ReadOnlyFilesystem = c.ReadOnly
+	s.ReadOnlyTmpFS = !c.ReadWriteTmpFS
 	s.ConmonPidFile = c.ConmonPIDFile
 
 	s.DependencyContainers = c.Requires
@@ -529,9 +530,6 @@ func FillOutSpecGen(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, c *entities.ContainerCreateOptions
 	// TODO
 	// outside of specgen and oci though
 	// defaults to true, check spec/storage
-	// s.readonly = c.ReadOnlyTmpFS
-	//  TODO convert to map?
-	// check if key=value and convert
 	sysmap := make(map[string]string)
 	for _, ctl := range c.Sysctl {
 		splitCtl := strings.SplitN(ctl, "=", 2)
@@ -590,7 +588,7 @@ func FillOutSpecGen(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, c *entities.ContainerCreateOptions
 
 	// Only add read-only tmpfs mounts in case that we are read-only and the
 	// read-only tmpfs flag has been set.
-	mounts, volumes, overlayVolumes, imageVolumes, err := parseVolumes(c.Volume, c.Mount, c.TmpFS, c.ReadOnlyTmpFS && c.ReadOnly)
+	mounts, volumes, overlayVolumes, imageVolumes, err := parseVolumes(c.Volume, c.Mount, c.TmpFS, c.ReadWriteTmpFS && c.ReadOnly)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/specgenutil/volumes.go b/pkg/specgenutil/volumes.go
index 2bd79b186ab9..bb0f966e0016 100644
--- a/pkg/specgenutil/volumes.go
+++ b/pkg/specgenutil/volumes.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ var (
 // Does not handle image volumes, init, and --volumes-from flags.
 // Can also add tmpfs mounts from read-only tmpfs.
 // TODO: handle options parsing/processing via containers/storage/pkg/mount
-func parseVolumes(volumeFlag, mountFlag, tmpfsFlag []string, addReadOnlyTmpfs bool) ([]spec.Mount, []*specgen.NamedVolume, []*specgen.OverlayVolume, []*specgen.ImageVolume, error) {
+func parseVolumes(volumeFlag, mountFlag, tmpfsFlag []string, readWriteTmpfs bool) ([]spec.Mount, []*specgen.NamedVolume, []*specgen.OverlayVolume, []*specgen.ImageVolume, error) {
 	// Get mounts from the --mounts flag.
 	unifiedMounts, unifiedVolumes, unifiedImageVolumes, err := getMounts(mountFlag)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -68,10 +68,10 @@ func parseVolumes(volumeFlag, mountFlag, tmpfsFlag []string, addReadOnlyTmpfs bo
 	}
 
 	// If requested, add tmpfs filesystems for read-only containers.
-	if addReadOnlyTmpfs {
-		readonlyTmpfs := []string{"/tmp", "/var/tmp", "/run"}
+	if readWriteTmpfs {
+		tmpfs := []string{"/tmp", "/var/tmp", "/run"}
 		options := []string{"rw", "rprivate", "nosuid", "nodev", "tmpcopyup"}
-		for _, dest := range readonlyTmpfs {
+		for _, dest := range tmpfs {
 			if _, ok := unifiedMounts[dest]; ok {
 				continue
 			}