diff --git a/docs/rtpengine-recording.md b/docs/rtpengine-recording.md
index 9e836fa1b..4df310e48 100644
--- a/docs/rtpengine-recording.md
+++ b/docs/rtpengine-recording.md
@@ -138,15 +138,27 @@ sufficient for a standard installation of rtpengine.
     Points to the shared object file (__.so__) containing the reference
     implementation for the EVS codec. See the `README` for more details.
 
-- __\-\-output-storage=file__\|__db__\|__db-mem__\|__both__
-
-    Where to store media files. By default, media files are written directly to the
-    file system (see __output-dir__). They can also be stored as a __BLOB__ in a
-    MySQL database, either instead of, or in addition to, being written to the file
-    system. Database storage can either be facilitated using temporary files
-    (__db__) which are then read back and deleted, or without temporary files
-    (__db-mem__) by spooling the audio data in memory until the recording is
-    complete.
+- __\-\-output-storage=file__\|__db__\|__memory__
+
+    Where to store media files. This option can be given multiple times (or, in
+    the config file, using a comma-separated list) to enable multiple storage
+    modes. By default only the __file__ storage is enabled.
+
+    The __file__ storage writes media files directly to the file system (see
+    __output-dir__).
+
+    The __db__ storage writes media files as a __BLOB__ in a MySQL database.
+
+    The string __both__ is recognised as legacy alternative to enabling both
+    __file__ and __db__ storage.
+
+    The string __memory__ acts as a modifier and can be used if __file__
+    storage is not enabled. Without the __memory__ modifier, media is first written
+    to a temporary file before being placed into its destination storage when
+    recording is finished. With __memory__ set, use of temporary files is disabled
+    and media is kept in memory only until recording is complete.
+
+    __db-mem__ can be used as a shortcut to setting both __db__ and __memory__.
 
 - __\-\-output-dir=__*PATH*
 
diff --git a/etc/rtpengine-recording.conf b/etc/rtpengine-recording.conf
index 02dc8199f..a3dd277bb 100644
--- a/etc/rtpengine-recording.conf
+++ b/etc/rtpengine-recording.conf
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ table = 0
 ### where to forward to (unix socket)
 # forward-to = /run/rtpengine/sock
 
-### where to store recordings: file (default), db, both
-# output-storage = db
+### where to store recordings: file (default), db, memory
+# output-storage = db;memory
 
 ### format of stored recordings: wav (default), mp3
 # output-format = mp3
diff --git a/recording-daemon/main.c b/recording-daemon/main.c
index e1c653e3a..b80640ac5 100644
--- a/recording-daemon/main.c
+++ b/recording-daemon/main.c
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 
 int ktable = 0;
 int num_threads;
-enum output_storage_enum output_storage = OUTPUT_STORAGE_FILE;
+enum output_storage_enum output_storage;
 char *spool_dir = NULL;
 char *output_dir = NULL;
 static char *output_format = NULL;
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ static mode_t chmod_parse(const char *s) {
 
 
 static void options(int *argc, char ***argv) {
-	g_autoptr(char) os_str = NULL;
+	g_autoptr(char_p) os_a = NULL;
 	g_autoptr(char) chmod_mode = NULL;
 	g_autoptr(char) chmod_dir_mode = NULL;
 	g_autoptr(char) user_uid = NULL;
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ static void options(int *argc, char ***argv) {
 		{ "table",		't', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_INT,	&ktable,	"Kernel table rtpengine uses",		"INT"		},
 		{ "spool-dir",		0,   0, G_OPTION_ARG_FILENAME,	&spool_dir,	"Directory containing rtpengine metadata files", "PATH" },
 		{ "num-threads",	0,   0, G_OPTION_ARG_INT,	&num_threads,	"Number of worker threads",		"INT"		},
-		{ "output-storage",	0,   0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&os_str,	"Where to store audio streams",	        "file|db|both"	},
+		{ "output-storage",	0,   0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING_ARRAY,&os_a,	"Where to store audio streams",	        "file|db|memory"},
 		{ "output-dir",		0,   0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&output_dir,	"Where to write media files to",	"PATH"		},
 		{ "output-pattern",	0,   0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&output_pattern,"File name pattern for recordings",	"STRING"	},
 		{ "output-format",	0,   0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&output_format,	"Write audio files of this type",	"wav|mp3|none"	},
@@ -289,16 +289,31 @@ static void options(int *argc, char ***argv) {
 	if (!tls_send_to && !tcp_send_to)
 		tls_mixed = false;
 
-	if (!os_str || !strcmp(os_str, "file"))
+	// output config
+	for (char *const *iter = os_a; iter && *iter; iter++) {
+		if (!strcmp(*iter, "file"))
+			output_storage |= OUTPUT_STORAGE_FILE;
+		else if (!strcmp(*iter, "db"))
+			output_storage |= OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB;
+		else if (!strcmp(*iter, "db-mem"))
+			output_storage |= OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB | OUTPUT_STORAGE_MEMORY;
+		else if (!strcmp(*iter, "mem") || !strcmp(*iter, "memory"))
+			output_storage |= OUTPUT_STORAGE_MEMORY;
+		else if (!strcmp(*iter, "both"))
+			output_storage |= OUTPUT_STORAGE_FILE | OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB;
+		else
+			die("Invalid 'output-storage' option '%s'", *iter);
+	}
+
+	// default:
+	if (output_storage == 0)
 		output_storage = OUTPUT_STORAGE_FILE;
-	else if (!strcmp(os_str, "db"))
-		output_storage = OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB;
-	else if (!strcmp(os_str, "db-mem"))
-		output_storage = OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB | OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB_MEMORY;
-	else if (!strcmp(os_str, "both"))
-		output_storage = OUTPUT_STORAGE_BOTH;
-	else
-		die("Invalid 'output-storage' option");
+
+	// sane config?
+	if ((output_storage & OUTPUT_STORAGE_MASK) == 0)
+		die("No output storage configured");
+	if ((output_storage & OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB) && (!c_mysql_host || !c_mysql_db))
+		die("DB output storage is enabled but no DB is configured");
 
 	if (!mix_method_str || !mix_method_str[0] || !strcmp(mix_method_str, "direct"))
 		mix_method = MM_DIRECT;
@@ -312,6 +327,8 @@ static void options(int *argc, char ***argv) {
 
 	if ((output_storage & OUTPUT_STORAGE_FILE) && !strcmp(output_dir, spool_dir))
 		die("The spool-dir cannot be the same as the output-dir");
+	if ((output_storage & OUTPUT_STORAGE_FILE) && (output_storage & OUTPUT_STORAGE_MEMORY))
+		die("Memory storage and file storage are mutually exclusive");
 
 	// no threads here, so safe to use the non-_r versions of these lookups
 	if (user_uid && *user_uid) {
diff --git a/recording-daemon/main.h b/recording-daemon/main.h
index 232a9abef..81b13eafb 100644
--- a/recording-daemon/main.h
+++ b/recording-daemon/main.h
@@ -10,8 +10,11 @@
 enum output_storage_enum {
 	OUTPUT_STORAGE_FILE = 0x1,
 	OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB = 0x2,
-	OUTPUT_STORAGE_BOTH = 0x3,
-	OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB_MEMORY = 0x4,
+
+	OUTPUT_STORAGE_MASK = 0xff,
+
+	// modifier flags below
+	OUTPUT_STORAGE_MEMORY = 0x100,
 };
 enum mix_method {
 	MM_DIRECT = 0,
diff --git a/recording-daemon/output.c b/recording-daemon/output.c
index 71aa29f7b..070f04966 100644
--- a/recording-daemon/output.c
+++ b/recording-daemon/output.c
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ static bool output_config_(sink_t *sink, output_t *output, const format_t *reque
 
 	char *full_fn = NULL;
 
-	if ((output_storage & OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB_MEMORY))
+	if ((output_storage & OUTPUT_STORAGE_MEMORY))
 		goto no_output_file;
 
 	char suff[16] = "";
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ got_fn:
 	output->filename = full_fn;
 
 	err = "failed to open output file";
-	if (!(output_storage & OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB_MEMORY)) {
+	if (!(output_storage & OUTPUT_STORAGE_MEMORY)) {
 		output->fp = fopen(full_fn, (output_storage & OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB) ? "wb+" : "wb");
 		if (!output->fp)
 			goto err;
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ no_output_file:
 	if (!avio_buf)
 		goto err;
 
-	if (!(output_storage & OUTPUT_STORAGE_DB_MEMORY))
+	if (!(output_storage & OUTPUT_STORAGE_MEMORY))
 		output->avioctx = avio_alloc_context(avio_buf, DEFAULT_AVIO_BUFSIZE, 1, output,
 				NULL, output_avio_write, output_avio_seek);
 	else {