diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/systemd/initrd.nix b/nixos/modules/system/boot/systemd/initrd.nix
index 2bf68adc0f92..b1efa96e8672 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/systemd/initrd.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/boot/systemd/initrd.nix
@@ -563,6 +563,8 @@ in
 
         # Resolving sysroot symlinks without code exec
         "${pkgs.chroot-realpath}/bin/chroot-realpath"
+        # Find the etc paths
+        "${config.system.nixos-init.package}/bin/find-etc"
       ]
       ++ lib.optionals config.system.nixos-init.enable [
         "${config.system.nixos-init.package}/bin/initrd-init"
diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/etc/etc-activation.nix b/nixos/modules/system/etc/etc-activation.nix
index 40cb28d0434f..25c3ea7274a6 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/etc/etc-activation.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/etc/etc-activation.nix
@@ -144,15 +144,10 @@
           {
             initrd-find-etc = {
               description = "Find the path to the etc metadata image and based dir";
-              requires = [
-                config.boot.initrd.systemd.services.initrd-find-nixos-closure.name
-              ];
-              after = [
-                config.boot.initrd.systemd.services.initrd-find-nixos-closure.name
-              ];
               before = [ "shutdown.target" ];
               conflicts = [ "shutdown.target" ];
               requiredBy = [ "initrd.target" ];
+              path = [ config.system.nixos-init.package ];
               unitConfig = {
                 DefaultDependencies = false;
                 RequiresMountsFor = "/sysroot/nix/store";
@@ -160,20 +155,8 @@
               serviceConfig = {
                 Type = "oneshot";
                 RemainAfterExit = true;
+                ExecStart = "${config.system.nixos-init.package}/bin/find-etc";
               };
-
-              script = # bash
-                ''
-                  set -uo pipefail
-
-                  closure="$(realpath /nixos-closure)"
-
-                  metadata_image="$(${pkgs.chroot-realpath}/bin/chroot-realpath /sysroot "$closure/etc-metadata-image")"
-                  ln -s "/sysroot$metadata_image" /etc-metadata-image
-
-                  basedir="$(${pkgs.chroot-realpath}/bin/chroot-realpath /sysroot "$closure/etc-basedir")"
-                  ln -s "/sysroot$basedir" /etc-basedir
-                '';
             };
           }
         ];