diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_common b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_common
index bfabbeaa8..b170c1f5e 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_common
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/base_common
@@ -165,7 +165,8 @@ inputrc,mke2fs.conf,nsswitch.conf,protocols,request-key.conf,securetty,services}
     _file_rename /usr/share/archboot/base/etc/sysctl.d/99-sysctl.conf /etc/sysctl.d/99-sysctl.conf
     # add root user with empty password
     echo "root::0:root" > "${_ROOTFS}/etc/group"
-    echo "root::0:0:Super User:/root:/bin/bash" > "${_ROOTFS}/etc/passwd"
+    echo "root:x:0:0:Super User:/root:/bin/bash" > "${_ROOTFS}/etc/passwd"
+    echo "root::0::::::" > "${_ROOTFS}/etc/shadow"
     ### add pacman
     _map _binary pacman pacman-conf pacman-key pacman-db-upgrade makepkg \
           repo-add repo-elephant testpkg vercmp curl gpg-agent gpg \
diff --git a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/init b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/init
index 896571ae3..7954c0c64 100644
--- a/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/init
+++ b/usr/lib/archboot/cpio/hooks/init
@@ -63,7 +63,8 @@ _run ()
     echo "alias reboot='echo b >/proc/sysrq-trigger'" >> "${_ROOTFS}/root/.bashrc"
     echo "alias poweroff='echo o >/proc/sysrq-trigger'" >> "${_ROOTFS}/root/.bashrc"
     echo "root::0:root" > "${_ROOTFS}/etc/group"
-    echo "root::0:0:Super User:/root:/bin/bash" > "${_ROOTFS}/etc/passwd"
+    echo "root:x:0:0:Super User:/root:/bin/bash" > "${_ROOTFS}/etc/passwd"
+    echo "root::0::::::" > "${_ROOTFS}/etc/shadow"
     _file_rename /usr/share/archboot/base/etc/profile.d/custom-bash-options.sh \
                  /etc/profile.d/custom-bash-options.sh
     _file /usr/lib/archboot/cpio/init.sh