diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/defaults.go b/pkg/limayaml/defaults.go
index cc97b73f0e2..b1d044993e9 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/defaults.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/defaults.go
@@ -88,6 +88,19 @@ func defaultContainerdArchives() []File {
 	return containerd.Archives
 }
 
+func defaultMounts() []Mount {
+	return []Mount{
+		{
+			Location: "~",
+			Writable: ptr.Of(false),
+		},
+		{
+			Location: "/tmp/lima",
+			Writable: ptr.Of(true),
+		},
+	}
+}
+
 // FirstUsernetIndex gets the index of first usernet network under l.Network[]. Returns -1 if no usernet network found.
 func FirstUsernetIndex(l *LimaYAML) int {
 	return slices.IndexFunc(l.Networks, func(network Network) bool { return networks.IsUsernet(network.Lima) })
@@ -647,6 +660,16 @@ func FillDefault(y, d, o *LimaYAML, filePath string) {
 	}
 	y.Mounts = mounts
 
+	mounts = []Mount{}
+	for _, mount := range y.Mounts {
+		if mount.Name == "default" {
+			mounts = append(mounts, defaultMounts()...)
+			continue
+		}
+		mounts = append(mounts, mount)
+	}
+	y.Mounts = mounts
+
 	for i := range y.Mounts {
 		mount := &y.Mounts[i]
 		if mount.SSHFS.Cache == nil {
diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/limayaml.go b/pkg/limayaml/limayaml.go
index c4d19fc9933..5fa138fb72d 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/limayaml.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/limayaml.go
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ type Disk struct {
 }
 
 type Mount struct {
+	Name       string   `yaml:"name,omitempty" json:"name,omitempty"`
 	Location   string   `yaml:"location" json:"location"` // REQUIRED
 	MountPoint string   `yaml:"mountPoint,omitempty" json:"mountPoint,omitempty"`
 	Writable   *bool    `yaml:"writable,omitempty" json:"writable,omitempty"`
diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/load.go b/pkg/limayaml/load.go
index 187b3c30772..e300dff1a0d 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/load.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/load.go
@@ -13,6 +13,15 @@ import (
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
+func unmarshalMount(dst *Mount, b []byte) error {
+	var s string
+	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(b, &s); err == nil {
+		*dst = Mount{Name: s}
+		return nil
+	}
+	return yaml.Unmarshal(b, dst)
+}
+
 func unmarshalDisk(dst *Disk, b []byte) error {
 	var s string
 	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(b, &s); err == nil {
@@ -32,6 +41,7 @@ func unmarshalImage(dst *Image, b []byte) error {
 }
 
 var customMarshalers = []yaml.DecodeOption{
+	yaml.CustomUnmarshaler[Mount](unmarshalMount),
 	yaml.CustomUnmarshaler[Disk](unmarshalDisk),
 	yaml.CustomUnmarshaler[Image](unmarshalImage),
 }
diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/validate.go b/pkg/limayaml/validate.go
index f8516e7b9f9..709e19b8645 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/validate.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/validate.go
@@ -153,6 +153,13 @@ func Validate(y *LimaYAML, warn bool) error {
 	reservedHome := fmt.Sprintf("/home/%s.linux", u.Username)
 
 	for i, f := range y.Mounts {
+		if f.Name != "" {
+			if f.Name != "default" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("field `mounts[%d].name` refers to an unknown name: %q",
+					i, f.Name)
+			}
+			continue
+		}
 		if !filepath.IsAbs(f.Location) && !strings.HasPrefix(f.Location, "~") {
 			return fmt.Errorf("field `mounts[%d].location` must be an absolute path, got %q",
 				i, f.Location)