diff --git a/chain/actors/manifest.go b/chain/actors/manifest.go
index ac3733737..3c600ecf2 100644
--- a/chain/actors/manifest.go
+++ b/chain/actors/manifest.go
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/filecoin-project/specs-actors/v8/actors/builtin/manifest"
 )
 
-var manifestCids map[Version]cid.Cid = map[Version]cid.Cid{
-	// TODO manifest CIDs for v8 and upwards
+var ManifestCids map[Version]cid.Cid = map[Version]cid.Cid{
+	// TODO fill in manifest CIDs for v8 and upwards once these are fixed
 }
 
 var manifests map[Version]*manifest.Manifest
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func LoadManifests(ctx context.Context, store cbor.IpldStore) error {
 	manifests = make(map[Version]*manifest.Manifest)
 	actorMeta = make(map[cid.Cid]actorEntry)
 
-	for av, mfCid := range manifestCids {
+	for av, mfCid := range ManifestCids {
 		mf := &manifest.Manifest{}
 		if err := adtStore.Get(ctx, mfCid, mf); err != nil {
 			return xerrors.Errorf("error reading manifest for network version %d (cid: %s): %w", av, mfCid, err)
diff --git a/chain/consensus/filcns/upgrades.go b/chain/consensus/filcns/upgrades.go
index ba1d7736b..cced0c0f9 100644
--- a/chain/consensus/filcns/upgrades.go
+++ b/chain/consensus/filcns/upgrades.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/blockstore"
 	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/build"
+	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/chain/actors"
 	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/chain/actors/builtin"
 	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/chain/actors/builtin/multisig"
 	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/chain/state"
@@ -88,6 +89,11 @@ func legacyPreMigration(f LegacyPreMigrationFunc) stmgr.PreMigrationFunc {
 func DefaultUpgradeSchedule() stmgr.UpgradeSchedule {
 	var us stmgr.UpgradeSchedule
 
+	v8ManifestCid, ok := actors.ManifestCids[actors.Version8]
+	if !ok {
+		v8ManifestCid = cid.Undef
+	}
+
 	updates := []stmgr.Upgrade{{
 		Height:    build.UpgradeBreezeHeight,
 		Network:   network.Version1,
@@ -239,7 +245,7 @@ func DefaultUpgradeSchedule() stmgr.UpgradeSchedule {
 			DontStartWithin: 60,
 			StopWithin:      5,
 		}},
-		Manifest:  cid.Undef, // TODO this should be the real manifest CID
+		Manifest:  v8ManifestCid,
 		Expensive: true,
 	},
 	}
diff --git a/node/builder.go b/node/builder.go
index f0106ad97..759d04bbb 100644
--- a/node/builder.go
+++ b/node/builder.go
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ var (
 	ConnGaterKey         = special{12} // libp2p option
 	DAGStoreKey          = special{13} // constructor returns multiple values
 	ResourceManagerKey   = special{14} // Libp2p option
+	BuiltinActorsKey     = special{15} // builtin actors bundle loading
 )
 
 type invoke int
diff --git a/node/builder_chain.go b/node/builder_chain.go
index 226ecac68..5581e5096 100644
--- a/node/builder_chain.go
+++ b/node/builder_chain.go
@@ -48,6 +48,13 @@ var ChainNode = Options(
 	// Full node or lite node
 	// TODO: Fix offline mode
 
+	// FVM: builtin actor bundle loading
+	//      Note: this has to load before the upgrade schedule, so that we can patch in the
+	//      right manifest cid.
+	//      This restriction will be lifted once we have the final actors v8 bundle and we know
+	//      the manifest cid.
+	Override(BuiltinActorsKey, modules.LoadBultinActors),
+
 	// Consensus settings
 	Override(new(dtypes.DrandSchedule), modules.BuiltinDrandConfig),
 	Override(new(stmgr.UpgradeSchedule), filcns.DefaultUpgradeSchedule()),
diff --git a/node/modules/builtin_actors.go b/node/modules/builtin_actors.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..88cb567d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/node/modules/builtin_actors.go
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+package modules
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+
+	"go.uber.org/fx"
+	"golang.org/x/xerrors"
+
+	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/build"
+	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/chain/actors"
+	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/node/modules/dtypes"
+	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/node/modules/helpers"
+
+	cbor "github.com/ipfs/go-ipld-cbor"
+	car "github.com/ipld/go-car"
+)
+
+func LoadBultinActors(lc fx.Lifecycle, mctx helpers.MetricsCtx, bs dtypes.UniversalBlockstore) error {
+	ctx := helpers.LifecycleCtx(mctx, lc)
+
+	// TODO eventually we want this to start with bundle/manifest CIDs and fetch them from IPFS if
+	//      not already loaded.
+	//      For now, we just embed the v8 bundle and adjust the manifest CIDs for the migration/actor
+	//      metadata.
+	blobr := bytes.NewReader(build.BuiltinActorsV8Bundle())
+	hdr, err := car.LoadCar(ctx, bs, blobr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return xerrors.Errorf("error loading builtin actors v8 bundle: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	manifestCid := hdr.Roots[0]
+	actors.ManifestCids[actors.Version8] = manifestCid
+
+	cborStore := cbor.NewCborStore(bs)
+	if err := actors.LoadManifests(ctx, cborStore); err != nil {
+		return xerrors.Errorf("error loading actor manifests: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}