diff --git a/src/basic/proc-cmdline.c b/src/basic/proc-cmdline.c
index b386c705e1..647c61ce73 100644
--- a/src/basic/proc-cmdline.c
+++ b/src/basic/proc-cmdline.c
@@ -66,7 +66,8 @@ int proc_cmdline_parse_given(const char *line, proc_cmdline_parse_t parse_item,
 
                         if (flags & PROC_CMDLINE_STRIP_RD_PREFIX)
                                 key = q;
-                }
+                } else if (in_initrd() && flags & PROC_CMDLINE_RD_STRICT)
+                        continue;
 
                 value = strchr(key, '=');
                 if (value)
diff --git a/src/basic/proc-cmdline.h b/src/basic/proc-cmdline.h
index ffc45fddb9..bb8b18d3b1 100644
--- a/src/basic/proc-cmdline.h
+++ b/src/basic/proc-cmdline.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 enum {
         PROC_CMDLINE_STRIP_RD_PREFIX = 1,
         PROC_CMDLINE_VALUE_OPTIONAL = 2,
+        PROC_CMDLINE_RD_STRICT = 4
 };
 
 typedef int (*proc_cmdline_parse_t)(const char *key, const char *value, void *data);