diff --git a/build/config/arm/ixp4xx/netboot.cfg b/build/config/arm/ixp4xx/netboot.cfg
index ba27e7ffe..a90770d2b 100644
--- a/build/config/arm/ixp4xx/netboot.cfg
+++ b/build/config/arm/ixp4xx/netboot.cfg
@@ -9,13 +9,20 @@ MANIFEST-INITRD = "netboot initrd"
 MANIFEST-KERNEL = "kernel image to netboot"
 
 # byteswap boot loader, initrd and kernel for NSLU2
-nslu2_initrd: $(INITRD) $(KERNEL)
-	devio "<<"/boot/apex.flash > $(TEMP)/apex.flash.swapped \
+nslu2_swap: $(INITRD) $(KERNEL)
+	cp /boot/apex.flash $(TEMP)/apex.flash
+	util/arm/nslu2/pad $(TEMP)/apex.flash 131072 # 1 block
+	devio "<<"$(TEMP)/apex.flash > $(TEMP)/apex.flash.swapped \
 	    'xp $$,4'
-	util/arm/nslu2/pad-initrd $(TEMP)
-	devio "<<"$(TEMP)/initrd.gz > $(TEMP)/initrd.gz.swapped
+	cp $(TEMP)/initrd.gz $(TEMP)/initrd.gz.nslu2
+	util/arm/nslu2/pad $(TEMP)/initrd.gz.nslu2 4194304 # 4 MB, taken randomly
+	devio "<<"$(TEMP)/initrd.gz.nslu2 > $(TEMP)/initrd.gz.swapped.nslu2
 	    'xp $$,4'
-	devio "<<"$(TEMP)/$(KERNELNAME) > $(TEMP)/$(KERNELNAME).swapped \
+	cp $(TEMP)/$(KERNELNAME) $(TEMP)/$(KERNELNAME).nslu2
+	# Let's pad the kernel to 131072 * 10 + 1 so it will be rounded up
+	# by slugimage to 131072 * 11, i.e. 11 blocks.
+	util/arm/nslu2/pad $(TEMP)/$(KERNELNAME).nslu2 1310724
+	devio "<<"$(TEMP)/$(KERNELNAME).nslu2 > $(TEMP)/$(KERNELNAME).nslu2.swapped \
 	    'xp $$,4'
 
 # Generate an image for Linksys NSLU2 which can be flashed
diff --git a/build/util/arm/nslu2/pad b/build/util/arm/nslu2/pad
index c3b0978c2..8e0030106 100755
--- a/build/util/arm/nslu2/pad
+++ b/build/util/arm/nslu2/pad
@@ -1,22 +1,16 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-TEMP=$1
+FILE=$1
+SIZE=$2
 
-if [ -z "$TEMP" ]; then
-	echo "Usage: "pad-initrd PATH""
+if [ -z "$FILE" ]; then
+	echo "Usage: "pad-initrd FILE SIZE""
 	exit 1
 fi
 
-if [ ! -e $TEMP/initrd.gz ]; then
-	echo "initrd.gz does not exist at $TEMP"
-	exit 1
-fi
-size=$(wc -c $TEMP/initrd.gz | cut -d " " -f 1)
-mod=$(($size % 4))
-pad=$((4 - $mod))
+fsize=$(wc -c $FILE | cut -d " " -f 1)
+pad=$(expr $SIZE - $fsize)
 if [ $pad -gt 0 ]; then
-	tmp=$TEMP/initrd.padding
-	dd if=/dev/zero of=$tmp bs=1 count=$pad
-	cat $tmp >> $TEMP/initrd.gz
+	dd if=/dev/zero bs=1 count=$pad 2>/dev/null >> $FILE
 fi