diff --git a/packages/initramfs/sysutils/busybox-initramfs/scripts/init b/packages/initramfs/sysutils/busybox-initramfs/scripts/init
index 2358171fdc..aecbe8dbb6 100755
--- a/packages/initramfs/sysutils/busybox-initramfs/scripts/init
+++ b/packages/initramfs/sysutils/busybox-initramfs/scripts/init
@@ -407,8 +407,10 @@
 
           mount_part "/flash/$IMAGE_SYSTEM" "/sysroot" "ro,loop"
           echo "Creating empty file, this can take a long time..."
-          dd if=/dev/zero of="$storage_loop_file" bs=1M count=$STORAGE_USE &>/dev/null
+          # use dd from SYSTEM (may change later, needs CONFIG_DD_* & so in busybox-initramfs.conf)
+          /sysroot/bin/busybox dd if=/dev/zero of="$storage_loop_file" bs=1M count=$STORAGE_USE &>/dev/null
           echo "Formating to EXT4 filesystem, this can take a long time..."
+          # use mkfs.ext4 from SYSTEM
           LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/sysroot/usr/lib /sysroot/sbin/mkfs.ext4 -F -L StorageLive "$storage_loop_file" &>/dev/null
           sync
           umount /sysroot