diff --git a/packages/initramfs/sysutils/busybox-initramfs/scripts/init b/packages/initramfs/sysutils/busybox-initramfs/scripts/init
index 746447a399..7df6cc475a 100755
--- a/packages/initramfs/sysutils/busybox-initramfs/scripts/init
+++ b/packages/initramfs/sysutils/busybox-initramfs/scripts/init
@@ -478,9 +478,7 @@
       if [ "$MD5_NOCHECK" -eq "0" ] ; then
         if [ -f "$UPDATE_DIR/${UPDATE_KERNEL}.md5" -a -f "$UPDATE_DIR/${UPDATE_SYSTEM}.md5" ] ; then
           # *.md5 size-check
-          SYSTEM_MD5_SIZE=$(stat -t "$UPDATE_DIR/${UPDATE_KERNEL}.md5" | awk '{print $2}')
-          KERNEL_MD5_SIZE=$(stat -t "$UPDATE_DIR/${UPDATE_SYSTEM}.md5" | awk '{print $2}')
-          if [ "$SYSTEM_MD5_SIZE" -eq 0 -o "$KERNEL_MD5_SIZE" -eq 0 ] ; then
+          if [ ! -s "$UPDATE_DIR/${UPDATE_KERNEL}.md5" -o ! -s "$UPDATE_DIR/${UPDATE_SYSTEM}.md5" ] ; then
             echo "zero-sized .md5 file..."
             MD5_FAILED="1"
           else