diff --git a/.github/scripts/test_sysupgrade.sh b/.github/scripts/test_sysupgrade.sh
index 4323ffe7d2..7df617ea55 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/test_sysupgrade.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/test_sysupgrade.sh
@@ -4721,6 +4721,26 @@ else
     bad "reboot_system must release the watchdog before it reboots (rel=$relw reboot=$rbtw)"
 fi
 
+# A boot that never finished: init reads SIGQUIT only after rcS exits, so only
+# init's own rcS is ended, and a process merely named like it is left alone.
+RB="$SB/rbproc"; rm -rf "$RB"
+mkdir -p "$RB/700" "$RB/701" "$RB/702"
+printf '/bin/sh\0/etc/init.d/rcS\0' > "$RB/700/cmdline"; printf 'PPid:\t1\n' > "$RB/700/status"
+printf '/bin/sh\0/etc/init.d/rcS\0' > "$RB/701/cmdline"; printf 'PPid:\t700\n' > "$RB/701/status"
+printf '/bin/sh\0/root/led.sh\0' > "$RB/702/cmdline"; printf 'PPid:\t1\n' > "$RB/702/status"
+rb_out=$(WDOG_PROC="$RB" dash -c '
+    busybox() { shift; echo "KILLED $*"; }
+    echo_c() { :; }
+    '"$(sed -n '/^release_boot_scripts()/,/^}/p' "$SRC")"'
+    release_boot_scripts' 3>/dev/null)
+[ "$rb_out" = "KILLED -KILL 700" ] || [ "$rb_out" = "KILLED 700" ] \
+    && ok "a stuck boot: only init's own rcS is ended before the hand-off" \
+    || bad "release_boot_scripts ended the wrong processes: [$rb_out]"
+rm -rf "$RB"
+grep -q '^	release_boot_scripts$' "$SRC" \
+    && ok "hand_off_pid1 releases the boot scripts before signalling init" \
+    || bad "hand_off_pid1 must call release_boot_scripts"
+
 grep -q '^WDOG=${WDOG:-/dev/watchdog}' "$SRC" && grep -q '^WDOG_PROC=${WDOG_PROC:-/proc}' "$SRC" \
     && ok "both watchdog paths are overridable, so this suite never scans the real /proc" \
     || bad "WDOG and WDOG_PROC must be overridable"
diff --git a/general/overlay/usr/sbin/sysupgrade b/general/overlay/usr/sbin/sysupgrade
index a0382124db..c943cf9cd1 100755
--- a/general/overlay/usr/sbin/sysupgrade
+++ b/general/overlay/usr/sbin/sysupgrade
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 # OpenIPC.org | 2025
-scr_version=1.0.83
+scr_version=1.0.84
 
 args="$@"
 LOCK_FILE=/tmp/sysupgrade.lock
@@ -2672,6 +2672,27 @@ stage_handoff() {
 	[ -x "$RAM_ROOT/sbin/init" ]
 }
 
+# Let init get past a boot that never finished.
+#
+# busybox init looks at its signals only between inittab's stages, and the
+# ::sysinit: stage lasts until rcS exits. A foreground loop in /etc/rc.local
+# (S99 runs it from rcS) therefore holds SIGQUIT unread for as long as the
+# camera is up: the hand-off waits out handoff_wait, reboots with nothing
+# written, and every later attempt does the same. init is waiting on rcS's pid
+# alone, so ending rcS lets it reach the signal; what rcS left running is killed
+# by the hand-off along with everything else.
+release_boot_scripts() {
+	local p cmd
+	for p in "$WDOG_PROC"/[0-9]*; do
+		cmd=$(tr '\0' ' ' < "$p/cmdline" 2>&3) || continue
+		case "$cmd" in *'/etc/init.d/rcS'*) ;; *) continue ;; esac
+		[ "1" = "$(awk '/^PPid:/ { print $2; exit }' "$p/status" 2>&3)" ] || continue
+		echo_c 33 "The boot scripts have not finished (often a command in /etc/rc.local running in the foreground), and PID 1 cannot take over until they do: ending them."
+		busybox kill -KILL "${p##*/}" 2>&3
+	done
+	return 0
+}
+
 # Hand PID 1 to the ramfs, and never come back.
 #
 # pivot_root has already moved PID 1's root and cwd here along with ours. What
@@ -2700,6 +2721,7 @@ hand_off_pid1() {
 	fi
 	echo_c 33 "Progress also goes to the serial console. The camera reboots by itself when it is done."
 	sync
+	release_boot_scripts
 	busybox kill -QUIT 1
 	sleep "${handoff_wait:-30}"
 	echo_c 31 "PID 1 did not hand over; rebooting (nothing was flashed)"