diff --git a/src/fstab-generator/fstab-generator.c b/src/fstab-generator/fstab-generator.c
index 612b1789e3..d35f2f993e 100644
--- a/src/fstab-generator/fstab-generator.c
+++ b/src/fstab-generator/fstab-generator.c
@@ -353,6 +353,12 @@ static int add_mount(
                 "Documentation=man:fstab(5) man:systemd-fstab-generator(8)\n",
                 source);
 
+        /* All mounts under /sysroot need to happen later, at initrd-fs.target time. IOW, it's not
+         * technically part of the basic initrd filesystem itself, and so shouldn't inherit the default
+         * Before=local-fs.target dependency. */
+        if (in_initrd() && path_startswith(where, "/sysroot"))
+                fprintf(f, "DefaultDependencies=no\n");
+
         if (STRPTR_IN_SET(fstype, "nfs", "nfs4") && !(flags & AUTOMOUNT) &&
             fstab_test_yes_no_option(opts, "bg\0" "fg\0")) {
                 /* The default retry timeout that mount.nfs uses for 'bg' mounts