diff --git a/initrd/bin/kexec-boot b/initrd/bin/kexec-boot
index ccc59a01..14478879 100755
--- a/initrd/bin/kexec-boot
+++ b/initrd/bin/kexec-boot
@@ -151,13 +151,12 @@ if [ "$dryrun" = "y" ]; then exit 0; fi
 
 echo "Loading the new kernel:"
 echo "$kexeccmd"
-DO_WITH_DEBUG eval "$kexeccmd" \
+# DO_WITH_DEBUG captures the debug output from stderr to the log, we don't need
+# it on the console as well
+DO_WITH_DEBUG eval "$kexeccmd" 2>/dev/null \
 || die "Failed to load the new kernel"
 
 if [ "$CONFIG_DEBUG_OUTPUT" = "y" ];then
-	#Repeat kexec command that will be executed since in debug
-	DEBUG "kexeccmd= $kexeccmd"
-
 	#Ask user if they want to continue booting without echoing back the input (-s)
 	read -s -n 1 -p "[DEBUG] Continue booting? [Y/n]: " debug_boot_confirm
 	echo
diff --git a/initrd/etc/ash_functions b/initrd/etc/ash_functions
index 627f93d6..db591a55 100644
--- a/initrd/etc/ash_functions
+++ b/initrd/etc/ash_functions
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ TRACE() {
 	fi
 }
 
+# Write directly to the debug log (but not kmsg), never appears on console
+LOG() {
+	echo "LOG: $*" >>/tmp/debug.log
+}
+
 preserve_rom() {
 	TRACE "Under /etc/ash_functions:preserve_rom"
 	new_rom="$1"
diff --git a/initrd/etc/functions b/initrd/etc/functions
index 7ad0d794..94f77d3e 100755
--- a/initrd/etc/functions
+++ b/initrd/etc/functions
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ mask_param() {
 # readily visible in logs.
 #
 # For example:
-# ls /boot/vmlinux* | SINK_DEBUG "/boot kernels"
-SINK_DEBUG() {
+# ls /boot/vmlinux* | SINK_LOG "/boot kernels"
+SINK_LOG() {
 	local name="$1"
 	local line haveblank
 	# If the input doesn't end with a line break, read won't give us the
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ SINK_DEBUG() {
 			haveblank=y
 		else
 			haveblank=
-			DEBUG "$name: $line"
+			LOG "$name: $line"
 		fi
 	done
 }
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ DO_WITH_DEBUG() {
 	# - We capture PIPESTATUS[0] whether the command succeeds or fails,
 	#   since we don't know whether the pipeline status will be that of the
 	#   command or 'tee' (depends on set -o pipefail).
-	if ! "$@" 2> >(tee /dev/stderr | SINK_DEBUG "$1 stderr") | tee >(SINK_DEBUG "$1 stdout"); then
+	if ! "$@" 2> >(tee /dev/stderr | SINK_LOG "$1 stderr") | tee >(SINK_LOG "$1 stdout"); then
 		exit_status="${PIPESTATUS[0]}"
 	else
 		exit_status="${PIPESTATUS[0]}"