diff --git a/init/do_mounts.c b/init/do_mounts.c
index b6237c31b0e2..82f22885c87e 100644
--- a/init/do_mounts.c
+++ b/init/do_mounts.c
@@ -539,6 +539,12 @@ void __init prepare_namespace(void)
 {
 	int is_floppy;
 
+	if (root_delay) {
+		printk(KERN_INFO "Waiting %d sec before mounting root device...\n",
+		       root_delay);
+		ssleep(root_delay);
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * wait for the known devices to complete their probing
 	 *
@@ -565,12 +571,6 @@ void __init prepare_namespace(void)
 	if (initrd_load())
 		goto out;
 
-	if (root_delay) {
-		pr_info("Waiting %d sec before mounting root device...\n",
-			root_delay);
-		ssleep(root_delay);
-	}
-
 	/* wait for any asynchronous scanning to complete */
 	if ((ROOT_DEV == 0) && root_wait) {
 		printk(KERN_INFO "Waiting for root device %s...\n",