diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_common b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_common
index ce98b88a5..20efe9adc 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_common
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_common
@@ -60,8 +60,7 @@ _run ()
     # disable systemd automount:
     _symlink /etc/systemd/system/proc-sys-fs-binfmt_misc.automount /dev/null
     # vconsole terminus font
-    _map _file /usr/share/{kbd/consolefonts/ter-v{16,32}n.psf.gz,terminfo/l/linux,\
-licenses/terminus-font/LICENSE}
+    _map _file /usr/share/{kbd/consolefonts/ter-v{16,32}n.psf.gz,terminfo/l/linux}
 }
 
 # vim: set ft=sh ts=4 sw=4 et:
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_common_system b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_common_system
index 087d1fb56..112dcb7f3 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_common_system
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_common_system
@@ -138,10 +138,6 @@ linux-with-alt-and-altgr,linux-keys-bare}.inc,qwerty/us.map.gz} \
     _symlink "/etc/ssl/cert.pem" "../ca-certificates/extracted/tls-ca-bundle.pem"
     _symlink "/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt" "../../ca-certificates/extracted/tls-ca-bundle.pem"
     _map _file /usr/share/{ca-certificates/trust-source/mozilla.trust.p11-kit,p11-kit/modules/p11-kit-trust.module}
-    # fix licenses
-    _map _file /usr/share/licenses/{bat/LICENSE-{APACHE,MIT},dbus/COPYING,duktape/LICENSE.txt,eza/LICENSE,\
-fd/LICENSE-MIT,iana-etc/LICENSE,p11-kit/COPYING,procs/LICENSE,ripgrep/{COPYING,LICENSE-MIT,UNLICENSE},\
-sd/LICENSE,shadow/COPYING}
 }
 
 # vim: set ft=sh ts=4 sw=4 et:
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_system b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_system
index 4d32edbb4..0f71bc15f 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_system
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_system
@@ -40,9 +40,6 @@ _run ()
     _map _binary groups ch{age,fn,sh} expiry {fail,last}log \
           {chg,ch,g}passwd group{add,del,mems,mod} grp{ck,conv,unconv} \
           newusers pw{ck,conv,unconv} user{add,del,mod} sg getsubids
-    # fix licenses
-    _map _file /usr/share/licenses/{file/COPYING,bzip2/LICENSE,hdparm/LICENSE.TXT,\
-ncurses/COPYING,sdparm/LICENSE,zlib/LICENSE}
 }
 
 # vim: set ft=sh ts=4 sw=4 et:
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/filesystems b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/filesystems
index 21383f769..b19a11e9d 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/filesystems
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/filesystems
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@ growfs,info,io,logprint,metadump,mdrestore,mkfile,ncheck,quota,repair,rtcp,space
     _map _full_dir /etc/{cifs-utils,request-key.d,nvme}
     # fix libinih for plasma wallpaper
     _map _file /usr/lib/libINI*
-    # fix licenses
-    _file /usr/share/licenses/e2fsprogs/MIT-LICENSE
 }
 
 # vim: set ft=sh ts=4 sw=4 et:
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/firmware b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/firmware
index f798822a5..ee8ca1688 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/firmware
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/firmware
@@ -4,14 +4,14 @@
 
 _run ()
 {
-    # add firmware files and licenses
+    # add firmware files
     tar -C / --exclude=lib/firmware/{agere_*,airoha,amd-ucode,amdtee,amlogic,amphion,ar3k,ar70*,ar9[0-9]*,arm,as102*,\
 atusb,av7110,cadence,cavium,cmmb*,cirrus,cis,cpia2,cnm,ct*,cxgb*,cmmb*,cypress,dabusb,dpaa2,dsp56k,dvb*,\
 edgeport,emi26,emi62,ess,f2255usb*,go7007,hfi1*,INT*,inside-secure,isdbt*,intel{-ucode,/vsc},ixp4xx,keyspan*,\
 korg,lgs8g75*,lt9611uxc*,matrox,meson,microchip,moxa,mrvl/prestera,mts*,myri10ge*,myricom,nxp,ositech,phanfw*,powervr,qat*,\
 qca,r128,r8a*,rockchip,rp2*,rtl_bt,sb16,s2250*,s5p-*,sdd_*,sms1*,sxg,tdmb*,ttusb-budget,ueagle-atm,usbdux*,\
 TAS*,TIAS*,ti,ti-keystone,tlg2300*,tsse_*,v4l*,vicam,vntw*,vxge,wsm_*,wfx,whiteheat*,yam,yamaha,*.txt*,*README*} \
---hard-dereference -cpf - lib/firmware usr/share/licenses/linux-firmware | tar -C "${_ROOTFS}" -xpf -
+--hard-dereference -cpf - lib/firmware | tar -C "${_ROOTFS}" -xpf -
 }
 
 # vim: set ft=sh ts=4 sw=4 et:
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/kms_mods b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/kms_mods
index bfd5d831b..0cb345e62 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/kms_mods
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/kms_mods
@@ -4,11 +4,10 @@
 
 _run ()
 {
-    # add firmware files and licenses
+    # add firmware files
     for i in amdgpu i915 nvidia radeon; do
         [[ -d "/lib/firmware/${i}" ]] && _full_dir /lib/firmware/${i}
     done
-    _full_dir /usr/share/licenses/linux-firmware
     ### kmx modules
     # AGP and DRM modules for GPUs
     _map _all_mods '/drivers/char/agp/' '/drivers/gpu/drm/'
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/licenses b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/licenses
index 24de3c03a..bf2e61a89 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/licenses
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/licenses
@@ -4,7 +4,131 @@
 
 _run ()
 {
-    _full_dir /usr/share/licenses/spdx
+for i in
+terminus-font/LICENSE
+argon2/LICENSE
+brotli/LICENSE
+curl/COPYING
+dust/LICENSE
+gcc-libs/RUNTIME.LIBRARY.EXCEPTION
+gnupg/BSD-2-Clause.txt
+gnupg/BSD-3-Clause.txt
+gnupg/BSD-4-Clause.txt
+gnupg/MIT.txt
+gnupg/Unicode-TOU.txt
+gssproxy/COPYING
+icu/LICENSE
+iputils/LICENSE.BSD
+json-c/COPYING
+libarchive/COPYING
+libbpf/LICENSE
+libbpf/LICENSE.BSD-2-Clause
+libbpf/LICENSE.LGPL-2.1
+libbsd/LICENSE
+libcap/License
+libcss/COPYING
+libdom/COPYING
+libedit/COPYING
+libevent/LICENSE
+libffi/LICENSE
+libgpg-error/COPYING
+libgpg-error/COPYING.LIB
+libhubbub/COPYING
+libinih/LICENSE.txt
+libmd/COPYING
+libnghttp2/COPYING
+libnghttp3/COPYING
+libp11-kit/COPYING
+libparserutils/COPYING
+libpsl/COPYING
+libsasl/COPYING
+libsodium/LICENSE
+libssh2/LICENSE
+libtirpc/LICENSE
+libuv/LICENSE
+libverto/COPYING
+libvterm/LICENSE
+libwapcaplet/COPYING
+libwebsockets/LICENSE
+libxml2/Copyright
+known_spdx_license_exceptions.txt
+known_spdx_license_identifiers.txt
+linux-firmware-whence/WHENCE
+lua/LICENSE
+lua51-lpeg/LICENSE
+luajit/COPYRIGHT
+msgpack-c/LICENSE
+openssh/BSD-2-Clause.txt
+openssh/blowfish.BSD-3-Clause.txt
+openssh/openbsd-compat.BSD-3-Clause.txt
+openssh/openbsd-compat.ISC.txt
+openssh/openbsd-compat.MIT.txt
+openssh/replacement.BSD-2-Clause.txt
+openssh/rijndael.Public-Domain.txt
+openssh/snprintf.Public-Domain.txt
+openssh/ssh.BSD-3-Clause.txt
+pcre2/LICENSE
+popt/LICENSE
+tpm2-tss/LICENSE
+tre/LICENSE
+tree-sitter/LICENSE
+tree-sitter-bash/LICENSE
+tree-sitter-c/LICENSE
+tree-sitter-lua/LICENSE.md
+tree-sitter-markdown/LICENSE
+tree-sitter-python/LICENSE
+tree-sitter-query/LICENSE
+tree-sitter-vimdoc/LICENSE
+tzdata/LICENSE
+util-linux/COPYING.BSD-2-Clause
+util-linux/COPYING.BSD-3-Clause
+util-linux/COPYING.BSD-4-Clause-UC
+util-linux/COPYING.ISC
+util-linux/util-linux-BSD-2-Clause.txt
+util-linux-libs/COPYING.BSD-2-Clause
+util-linux-libs/COPYING.BSD-3-Clause
+util-linux-libs/COPYING.BSD-4-Clause-UC
+util-linux-libs/COPYING.ISC
+util-linux-libs/util-linux-BSD-2-Clause.txt
+xxhash/LICENSE
+xz/COPYING
+zstd/LICENSE
+bat/LICENSE-{APACHE,MIT}
+dbus/COPYING
+duktape/LICENSE.txt
+eza/LICENSE
+fd/LICENSE-MIT
+iana-etc/LICENSE
+p11-kit/COPYING
+procs/LICENSE
+ripgrep/{COPYING,LICENSE-MIT,UNLICENSE}
+sd/LICENSE
+shadow/COPYING
+file/COPYING
+bzip2/LICENSE
+hdparm/LICENSE.TXT
+ncurses/COPYING
+sdparm/LICENSE
+zlib/LICENSE
+neovim/LICENSE.txt
+sbctl/LICENSE
+expat/COPYING
+wireless-regdb/LICENSE
+libldap/LICENSE
+nfsidmap/LICENSE
+tmux/LICENSE
+ttyd/LICENSE
+krb5/LICENSE
+openssh/LICENCE
+openssl/LICENSE.txt
+sqlite/license.txt
+e2fsprogs/MIT-LICENSE; do
+    _file ${i}
+done
+    if [[ "${_RUNNING_ARCH}" == "x86_64" ]]; then
+        _file /usr/share/licenses/broadcom-wl/LICENSE
+    fi
+    _full_dir /usr/share/licenses/{spdx,linux-firmware}
 }
 
 # vim: set ft=sh ts=4 sw=4 et:
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/neovim b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/neovim
index 9a9a6531b..317486b4a 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/neovim
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/neovim
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ _run ()
 {
     _binary nvim
     _map _full_dir /usr/share/nvim /usr/lib/tree_sitter /usr/lib/lua/5.1
-    _map _file /usr/share/licenses/neovim/LICENSE.txt
     # add lastplace plugin:
     # https://github.com/neovim/neovim/issues/16339
     _file_rename /usr/share/archboot/nvim/nvim-lastplace.lua /usr/share/nvim/runtime/plugin/nvim-lastplace.lua
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/net b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/net
index 5350e8037..f22f519cc 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/net
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/net
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@ _run ()
     # add elinks defaults
     _file_rename /usr/share/archboot/net/etc/elinks/bookmarks /etc/elinks/bookmarks
     _file_rename /usr/share/archboot/net/etc/profile.d/elinks.sh /etc/profile.d/elinks.sh
-    # fixing licenses
-    _map _file /usr/share/licenses/{krb5/LICENSE,openssh/LICENCE,openssl/LICENSE.txt,sqlite/license.txt}
 }
 
 # vim: set ft=sh ts=4 sw=4 et:
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/remote b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/remote
index b798cf776..2863a0f17 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/remote
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/remote
@@ -48,8 +48,7 @@ _run ()
                  /etc/systemd/system/ttyd.service
     _symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/ttyd.service \
              /etc/systemd/system/ttyd.service
-    # fix licenses
-    _map _file /usr/share/licenses/{libldap/LICENSE,nfsidmap/LICENSE,tmux/LICENSE,ttyd/LICENSE}
+
 }
 
 # vim: set ft=sh ts=4 sw=4 et:
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/secureboot b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/secureboot
index 57888b13f..ba8ba13c7 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/secureboot
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/secureboot
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 _run ()
 {
     _map _binary mokutil openssl sb{attach,ctl,keysync,siglist,sign,varsign,verify}
-    _map _file /etc/ssl/openssl.cnf /usr/share/licenses/sbctl/LICENSE
+    _file /etc/ssl/openssl.cnf
     # add mkkeys.sh, 
     # curl -s -L -O https://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/mkkeys.sh
     # modified to use uuidgen instead of python
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/wireless b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/wireless
index e0f5414db..a7a8b3681 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/wireless
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/wireless
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@ _run ()
     _binary archboot-hwsim.sh
     # crda support
     _map _file /etc/conf.d/wireless-regdom /usr/lib/crda/{regulatory.bin,pubkeys/wens.key.pub.pem}
-    # fixing licenses
-    _map _file /usr/share/licenses/{expat/COPYING,wireless-regdb/LICENSE}
 }
 
 # vim: set ft=sh ts=4 sw=4 et:
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/wireless_mods b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/wireless_mods
index 03f53d775..4a49d2140 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/wireless_mods
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/wireless_mods
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@ _run ()
     if [[ "${_RUNNING_ARCH}" == "x86_64" ]]; then
         # add broadcom wl support
         _mod wl
-        _map _file /usr/lib/modprobe.d/broadcom-wl.conf \
-                     /usr/share/licenses/broadcom-wl/LICENSE
+        _file /usr/lib/modprobe.d/broadcom-wl.conf
     fi
 }