diff --git a/package/base-files/files/etc/init.d/boot b/package/base-files/files/etc/init.d/boot
index 885031182..3461eab2f 100755
--- a/package/base-files/files/etc/init.d/boot
+++ b/package/base-files/files/etc/init.d/boot
@@ -35,5 +35,11 @@ start() {
 	/sbin/hotplug2 --persistent --max-children 5 &
 	echo /sbin/hotplug-call > /proc/sys/kernel/hotplug
 
+	# create /dev/root if it doesn't exist
+	[ -e /dev/root ] || {
+		rootdev=$(awk 'BEGIN { RS=" "; FS="="; } $1 == "root" { print $2 }' < /proc/cmdline)
+		[ -n "$rootdev" ] && ln -s "$rootdev" /dev/root
+	}
+
 	load_modules /etc/modules.d/*
 }