/etc/namedb->_at_ referrs to NIL after crash or typing "reboot" (not shutdown -r)

I have running a CURRENT box (running most recent sources, recompiling
world at least four times a week) acting as a local MASTER DNS server
for my private LAN at home. The configuration is simple, the setup is
stored in /etc/namedb/named.conf. /etc/namedb is effectively a link
to /var/named/etc/namedb.

I can reproduceable truncate the link in /etc/ to be NIL by typing
simply "reboot" when rebooting the box or, in some cases, while
crashing (CURRENT has sometimes flaws ...) in case, the service "named"
has already been started.

This seems strange. The problem is easily solvable if I restore the
link, but it is very bad on remotely located boxes if this happens
there.

Isn't /var considered a "volatile" place? I would expect having
everything in /etc/ and then symbolically linked to somewhere else,
like /var/named/etc.

How does the link get lost during a simple "reboot"? 

Regards,
Oliver