diff --git a/mkosi.build b/mkosi.build
index 38cfe25025..0e644d54cb 100755
--- a/mkosi.build
+++ b/mkosi.build
@@ -27,43 +27,46 @@ set -ex
 
 export LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8
 
-sysvinit_path=`realpath /etc/init.d`
+if [ ! -f "$BUILDDIR"/build.ninja ] ; then
+        sysvinit_path=`realpath /etc/init.d`
 
-nobody_user=`id -u -n 65534 2> /dev/null`
-if [ "$nobody_user" != "" ] ; then
-        # Validate that we can translate forth and back
-        if [ "`id -u $nobody_user`" != 65534 ] ; then
-                nobody_user=""
+        nobody_user=`id -u -n 65534 2> /dev/null`
+        if [ "$nobody_user" != "" ] ; then
+                # Validate that we can translate forth and back
+                if [ "`id -u $nobody_user`" != 65534 ] ; then
+                        nobody_user=""
+                fi
         fi
-fi
-if [ "$nobody_user" = "" ] ; then
-        if id -u nobody 2> /dev/null ; then
-                # The "nobody" user is defined already for something else, pick the Fedora name
-                nobody_user=nfsnobody
-        else
-                # The "nobody" user name is free, use it
-                nobody_user=nobody
+        if [ "$nobody_user" = "" ] ; then
+                if id -u nobody 2> /dev/null ; then
+                        # The "nobody" user is defined already for something else, pick the Fedora name
+                        nobody_user=nfsnobody
+                else
+                        # The "nobody" user name is free, use it
+                        nobody_user=nobody
+                fi
         fi
+
+        nobody_group=`id -g -n 65534 2> /dev/null`
+        if [ "$nobody_group" != "" ] ; then
+                # Validate that we can translate forth and back
+                if [ "`id -g $nobody_group`" != 65534 ] ; then
+                        nobody_group=""
+                fi
+        fi
+        if [ "$nobody_group" = "" ] ; then
+                if id -u nobody 2> /dev/null ; then
+                        # The "nobody" group is defined already for something else, pick the Fedora name
+                        nobody_group=nfsnobody
+                else
+                        # The "nobody" group name is free, use it
+                        nobody_group=nobody
+                fi
+        fi
+
+        meson "$BUILDDIR" -D "sysvinit-path=$sysvinit_path" -D default-hierarchy=unified -D man=false -D "nobody-user=$nobody_user" -D "nobody-group=$nobody_group"
 fi
 
-nobody_group=`id -g -n 65534 2> /dev/null`
-if [ "$nobody_group" != "" ] ; then
-        # Validate that we can translate forth and back
-        if [ "`id -g $nobody_group`" != 65534 ] ; then
-                nobody_group=""
-        fi
-fi
-if [ "$nobody_group" = "" ] ; then
-        if id -u nobody 2> /dev/null ; then
-                # The "nobody" group is defined already for something else, pick the Fedora name
-                nobody_group=nfsnobody
-        else
-                # The "nobody" group name is free, use it
-                nobody_group=nobody
-        fi
-fi
-
-[ -f "$BUILDDIR"/build.ninja ] || meson "$BUILDDIR" -D "sysvinit-path=$sysvinit_path" -D default-hierarchy=unified -D man=false -D "nobody-user=$nobody_user" -D "nobody-group=$nobody_group"
 ninja -C "$BUILDDIR" all
 [ "$WITH_TESTS" = 0 ] || ninja -C "$BUILDDIR" test || ( RET="$?" ; cat "$BUILDDIR"/meson-logs/testlog.txt ; exit "$RET" )
 ninja -C "$BUILDDIR" install