diff --git a/poky/scripts/lib/wic/ksparser.py b/poky/scripts/lib/wic/ksparser.py
index 913e328..3eb669d 100644
--- a/poky/scripts/lib/wic/ksparser.py
+++ b/poky/scripts/lib/wic/ksparser.py
@@ -229,6 +229,23 @@
                                 err = "%s:%d: SquashFS does not support LABEL" \
                                        % (confpath, lineno)
                                 raise KickStartError(err)
+                        if parsed.fstype == 'msdos' or parsed.fstype == 'vfat':
+                            if parsed.fsuuid:
+                                if parsed.fsuuid.upper().startswith('0X'):
+                                    if len(parsed.fsuuid) > 10:
+                                        err = "%s:%d: fsuuid %s given in wks kickstart file " \
+                                              "exceeds the length limit for %s filesystem. " \
+                                              "It should be in the form of a 32 bit hexadecimal" \
+                                              "number (for example, 0xABCD1234)." \
+                                              % (confpath, lineno, parsed.fsuuid, parsed.fstype)
+                                        raise KickStartError(err)
+                                elif len(parsed.fsuuid) > 8:
+                                    err = "%s:%d: fsuuid %s given in wks kickstart file " \
+                                          "exceeds the length limit for %s filesystem. " \
+                                          "It should be in the form of a 32 bit hexadecimal" \
+                                          "number (for example, 0xABCD1234)." \
+                                          % (confpath, lineno, parsed.fsuuid, parsed.fstype)
+                                    raise KickStartError(err)
                         if parsed.use_label and not parsed.label:
                             err = "%s:%d: Must set the label with --label" \
                                   % (confpath, lineno)
diff --git a/poky/scripts/lib/wic/partition.py b/poky/scripts/lib/wic/partition.py
index ebe250b..286c786 100644
--- a/poky/scripts/lib/wic/partition.py
+++ b/poky/scripts/lib/wic/partition.py
@@ -207,11 +207,21 @@
 
         p_prefix = os.environ.get("PSEUDO_PREFIX", "%s/usr" % native_sysroot)
         if (pseudo_dir):
+            # Canonicalize the ignore paths. This corresponds to
+            # calling oe.path.canonicalize(), which is used in bitbake.conf.
+            ignore_paths = [rootfs] + (get_bitbake_var("PSEUDO_IGNORE_PATHS") or "").split(",")
+            canonical_paths = []
+            for path in ignore_paths:
+                if "$" not in path:
+                    trailing_slash = path.endswith("/") and "/" or ""
+                    canonical_paths.append(os.path.realpath(path) + trailing_slash)
+            ignore_paths = ",".join(canonical_paths)
+
             pseudo = "export PSEUDO_PREFIX=%s;" % p_prefix
             pseudo += "export PSEUDO_LOCALSTATEDIR=%s;" % pseudo_dir
             pseudo += "export PSEUDO_PASSWD=%s;" % rootfs_dir
             pseudo += "export PSEUDO_NOSYMLINKEXP=1;"
-            pseudo += "export PSEUDO_IGNORE_PATHS=%s;" % (rootfs + "," + (get_bitbake_var("PSEUDO_IGNORE_PATHS") or ""))
+            pseudo += "export PSEUDO_IGNORE_PATHS=%s;" % ignore_paths
             pseudo += "%s " % get_bitbake_var("FAKEROOTCMD")
         else:
             pseudo = None
diff --git a/poky/scripts/lib/wic/plugins/imager/direct.py b/poky/scripts/lib/wic/plugins/imager/direct.py
index 55db826..0ca67b7 100644
--- a/poky/scripts/lib/wic/plugins/imager/direct.py
+++ b/poky/scripts/lib/wic/plugins/imager/direct.py
@@ -343,6 +343,13 @@
                     part.fsuuid = '0x' + str(uuid.uuid4())[:8].upper()
                 else:
                     part.fsuuid = str(uuid.uuid4())
+            else:
+                #make sure the fsuuid for vfat/msdos align with format 0xYYYYYYYY
+                if part.fstype == 'vfat' or part.fstype == 'msdos':
+                    if part.fsuuid.upper().startswith("0X"):
+                        part.fsuuid = '0x' + part.fsuuid.upper()[2:].rjust(8,"0")
+                    else:
+                        part.fsuuid = '0x' + part.fsuuid.upper().rjust(8,"0")
 
     def prepare(self, imager):
         """Prepare an image. Call prepare method of all image partitions."""
diff --git a/poky/scripts/lib/wic/plugins/source/empty.py b/poky/scripts/lib/wic/plugins/source/empty.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..041617d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/poky/scripts/lib/wic/plugins/source/empty.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+#
+
+# The empty wic plugin is used to create unformatted empty partitions for wic
+# images.
+# To use it you must pass "empty" as argument for the "--source" parameter in
+# the wks file. For example:
+# part foo --source empty --ondisk sda --size="1024" --align 1024
+
+import logging
+
+from wic.pluginbase import SourcePlugin
+
+logger = logging.getLogger('wic')
+
+class EmptyPartitionPlugin(SourcePlugin):
+    """
+    Populate unformatted empty partition.
+    """
+
+    name = 'empty'
+
+    @classmethod
+    def do_prepare_partition(cls, part, source_params, cr, cr_workdir,
+                             oe_builddir, bootimg_dir, kernel_dir,
+                             rootfs_dir, native_sysroot):
+        """
+        Called to do the actual content population for a partition i.e. it
+        'prepares' the partition to be incorporated into the image.
+        """
+        return