diff --git a/src/shared/bootspec.c b/src/shared/bootspec.c
index 5715c94d68..c662e89068 100644
--- a/src/shared/bootspec.c
+++ b/src/shared/bootspec.c
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ static void boot_entry_free(BootEntry *entry) {
 
         free(entry->id);
         free(entry->path);
+        free(entry->root);
         free(entry->title);
         free(entry->show_title);
         free(entry->version);
@@ -39,13 +40,18 @@ static void boot_entry_free(BootEntry *entry) {
         free(entry->device_tree);
 }
 
-static int boot_entry_load(const char *path, BootEntry *entry) {
+static int boot_entry_load(
+                const char *root,
+                const char *path,
+                BootEntry *entry) {
+
         _cleanup_(boot_entry_free) BootEntry tmp = {};
         _cleanup_fclose_ FILE *f = NULL;
         unsigned line = 1;
         char *b, *c;
         int r;
 
+        assert(root);
         assert(path);
         assert(entry);
 
@@ -62,6 +68,10 @@ static int boot_entry_load(const char *path, BootEntry *entry) {
         if (!tmp.path)
                 return log_oom();
 
+        tmp.root = strdup(root);
+        if (!tmp.root)
+                return log_oom();
+
         f = fopen(path, "re");
         if (!f)
                 return log_error_errno(errno, "Failed to open \"%s\": %m", path);
@@ -215,13 +225,19 @@ static int boot_entry_compare(const BootEntry *a, const BootEntry *b) {
         return str_verscmp(a->id, b->id);
 }
 
-static int boot_entries_find(const char *dir, BootEntry **ret_entries, size_t *ret_n_entries) {
+static int boot_entries_find(
+                const char *root,
+                const char *dir,
+                BootEntry **ret_entries,
+                size_t *ret_n_entries) {
+
         _cleanup_strv_free_ char **files = NULL;
         char **f;
         int r;
         BootEntry *array = NULL;
         size_t n_allocated = 0, n = 0;
 
+        assert(root);
         assert(dir);
         assert(ret_entries);
         assert(ret_n_entries);
@@ -234,7 +250,7 @@ static int boot_entries_find(const char *dir, BootEntry **ret_entries, size_t *r
                 if (!GREEDY_REALLOC0(array, n_allocated, n + 1))
                         return log_oom();
 
-                r = boot_entry_load(*f, array + n);
+                r = boot_entry_load(root, *f, array + n);
                 if (r < 0)
                         continue;
 
@@ -369,7 +385,7 @@ int boot_entries_load_config(const char *esp_path, BootConfig *config) {
                 return r;
 
         p = strjoina(esp_path, "/loader/entries");
-        r = boot_entries_find(p, &config->entries, &config->n_entries);
+        r = boot_entries_find(esp_path, p, &config->entries, &config->n_entries);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
@@ -799,7 +815,6 @@ found:
 
 int find_default_boot_entry(
                 const char *esp_path,
-                char **esp_where,
                 BootConfig *config,
                 const BootEntry **e) {
 
@@ -824,8 +839,5 @@ int find_default_boot_entry(
         *e = &config->entries[config->default_entry];
         log_debug("Found default boot entry in file \"%s\"", (*e)->path);
 
-        if (esp_where)
-                *esp_where = TAKE_PTR(where);
-
         return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/shared/bootspec.h b/src/shared/bootspec.h
index 8a22fd5cdd..0fac051398 100644
--- a/src/shared/bootspec.h
+++ b/src/shared/bootspec.h
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@
 
 typedef struct BootEntry {
         char *id;       /* This is the file basename without extension */
-        char *path;     /* This is the full path to the file */
+        char *path;     /* This is the full path to the drop-in file */
+        char *root;     /* The root path in which the drop-in was found, i.e. to which 'kernel', 'efi' and 'initrd' are relative */
         char *title;
         char *show_title;
         char *version;
@@ -49,4 +50,4 @@ static inline const char* boot_entry_title(const BootEntry *entry) {
 int find_esp_and_warn(const char *path, bool unprivileged_mode, char **ret_path, uint32_t *ret_part, uint64_t *ret_pstart, uint64_t *ret_psize, sd_id128_t *ret_uuid);
 int find_xbootldr_and_warn(const char *path, bool unprivileged_mode, char **ret_path,sd_id128_t *ret_uuid);
 
-int find_default_boot_entry(const char *esp_path, char **esp_where, BootConfig *config, const BootEntry **e);
+int find_default_boot_entry(const char *esp_path, BootConfig *config, const BootEntry **e);
diff --git a/src/systemctl/systemctl.c b/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
index 63dae2c872..6900f61e9e 100644
--- a/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
+++ b/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
@@ -3519,7 +3519,7 @@ static int prepare_firmware_setup(void) {
 
 static int load_kexec_kernel(void) {
         _cleanup_(boot_config_free) BootConfig config = {};
-        _cleanup_free_ char *where = NULL, *kernel = NULL, *initrd = NULL, *options = NULL;
+        _cleanup_free_ char *kernel = NULL, *initrd = NULL, *options = NULL;
         const BootEntry *e;
         pid_t pid;
         int r;
@@ -3532,7 +3532,7 @@ static int load_kexec_kernel(void) {
         if (access(KEXEC, X_OK) < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(errno, KEXEC" is not available: %m");
 
-        r = find_default_boot_entry(arg_esp_path, &where, &config, &e);
+        r = find_default_boot_entry(arg_esp_path, &config, &e);
         if (r == -ENOKEY) /* find_default_boot_entry() doesn't warn about this case */
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Cannot find the ESP partition mount point.");
         if (r < 0)
@@ -3544,9 +3544,9 @@ static int load_kexec_kernel(void) {
                 return -EINVAL;
         }
 
-        kernel = path_join(where, e->kernel);
+        kernel = path_join(e->root, e->kernel);
         if (!strv_isempty(e->initrd))
-                initrd = path_join(where, *e->initrd);
+                initrd = path_join(e->root, *e->initrd);
         options = strv_join(e->options, " ");
         if (!options)
                 return log_oom();