diff --git a/init/do_mounts.c b/init/do_mounts.c
index bb008d064c1..5f839be4d36 100644
--- a/init/do_mounts.c
+++ b/init/do_mounts.c
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ int __initdata rd_doload;	/* 1 = load RAM disk, 0 = don't load */
 int root_mountflags = MS_RDONLY | MS_SILENT;
 static char * __initdata root_device_name;
 static char __initdata saved_root_name[64];
-static int __initdata root_wait;
+static int __initdata root_wait = 1;
 
 dev_t ROOT_DEV;