diff --git a/crates/boot/src/actions/chainload.rs b/crates/boot/src/actions/chainload.rs
index f89a5b3..1753384 100644
--- a/crates/boot/src/actions/chainload.rs
+++ b/crates/boot/src/actions/chainload.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ use alloc::rc::Rc;
 use alloc::vec::Vec;
 use anyhow::{Context, Result, bail};
 use edera_sprout_config::actions::chainload::ChainloadConfiguration;
-use edera_sprout_parsing::{combine_options, empty_is_none};
+use edera_sprout_parsing::{append_initrd, combine_options, empty_is_none};
 use eficore::bootloader_interface::BootloaderInterface;
 use eficore::loader::source::ImageSource;
 use eficore::loader::{ImageLoadRequest, ImageLoader};
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ pub fn chainload(context: Rc<SproutContext>, configuration: &ChainloadConfigurat
             continue;
         };
         match initrd.as_mut() {
-            Some(initrd) => initrd.extend_from_slice(&content),
+            Some(initrd) => append_initrd(initrd, &content),
             None => initrd = Some(content),
         }
     }
diff --git a/crates/boot/src/actions/edera.rs b/crates/boot/src/actions/edera.rs
index 2fe8abf..d031d8d 100644
--- a/crates/boot/src/actions/edera.rs
+++ b/crates/boot/src/actions/edera.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ use alloc::{format, vec};
 use anyhow::{Context, Result, bail};
 use edera_sprout_config::actions::chainload::ChainloadConfiguration;
 use edera_sprout_config::actions::edera::EderaConfiguration;
-use edera_sprout_parsing::{build_xen_config, combine_options, empty_is_none};
+use edera_sprout_parsing::{append_initrd, build_xen_config, combine_options, empty_is_none};
 use eficore::media_loader::{
     MediaLoaderHandle,
     constants::xen::{
@@ -94,7 +94,10 @@ pub fn edera(context: Rc<SproutContext>, configuration: &EderaConfiguration) ->
         .chain(configuration.initrd_chain.iter())
     {
         if let Some(p) = empty_is_none(Some(p)) {
-            initrd_bytes.extend(read_loader_payload(&context, "initrd", p)?);
+            append_initrd(
+                &mut initrd_bytes,
+                &read_loader_payload(&context, "initrd", p)?,
+            );
         }
     }
     PlatformTpm::log_event(
diff --git a/crates/parsing/src/lib.rs b/crates/parsing/src/lib.rs
index 2ac51b8..c93380d 100644
--- a/crates/parsing/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/parsing/src/lib.rs
@@ -90,6 +90,18 @@ pub fn combine_options<T: AsRef<str>>(options: impl Iterator<Item = T>) -> Strin
         .join(" ")
 }
 
+/// The alignment of each initrd when initrds are concatenated.
+const INITRD_ALIGNMENT: usize = 4;
+
+/// Append the `initrd` to the concatenated `initrds`, padding with zeros so that it starts
+/// on a 4-byte boundary. Linux only finds a cpio archive at a 4-byte aligned offset when
+/// unpacking concatenated initrds, as GRUB and systemd-boot pad them the same way.
+pub fn append_initrd(initrds: &mut Vec<u8>, initrd: &[u8]) {
+    let padded = initrds.len().next_multiple_of(INITRD_ALIGNMENT);
+    initrds.resize(padded, 0);
+    initrds.extend_from_slice(initrd);
+}
+
 /// Produce a unique hash for the input.
 /// This uses SHA-256, which is unique enough but relatively short.
 pub fn unique_hash(input: &str) -> String {
@@ -358,6 +370,24 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(config.ends_with('\n'));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn append_initrd_pads_to_four_bytes() {
+        let mut initrds = Vec::new();
+        append_initrd(&mut initrds, b"abcde");
+        assert_eq!(initrds, b"abcde");
+        append_initrd(&mut initrds, b"fg");
+        assert_eq!(initrds, b"abcde\0\0\0fg");
+        append_initrd(&mut initrds, b"h");
+        assert_eq!(initrds, b"abcde\0\0\0fg\0\0h");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn append_initrd_aligned_needs_no_padding() {
+        let mut initrds = b"abcd".to_vec();
+        append_initrd(&mut initrds, b"efgh");
+        assert_eq!(initrds, b"abcdefgh");
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn kernel_prefix_exact_match() {
         assert_eq!(