diff --git a/common/startup.c b/common/startup.c
index 92bf94f..88eeee5 100644
--- a/common/startup.c
+++ b/common/startup.c
@@ -221,13 +221,6 @@
 	if (autoboot_state != AUTOBOOT_UNKNOWN)
 		return autoboot_state;
 
-	globalvar_add_simple_enum("autoboot_abort_key",
-				  &global_autoboot_abort_key,
-                                  global_autoboot_abort_keys,
-				  ARRAY_SIZE(global_autoboot_abort_keys));
-	globalvar_add_simple_int("autoboot_timeout",
-				 &global_autoboot_timeout, "%u");
-
 	menu_exists = stat(MENUFILE, &s) == 0;
 
 	if (menu_exists) {
@@ -272,6 +265,17 @@
 	enum autoboot_state autoboot;
 	struct stat s;
 
+	/*
+	 * Register autoboot variables here as they might be altered by
+	 * init scripts.
+	 */
+	globalvar_add_simple_enum("autoboot_abort_key",
+				  &global_autoboot_abort_key,
+                                  global_autoboot_abort_keys,
+				  ARRAY_SIZE(global_autoboot_abort_keys));
+	globalvar_add_simple_int("autoboot_timeout",
+				 &global_autoboot_timeout, "%u");
+
 	setenv("PATH", "/env/bin");
 
 	/* Run legacy /env/bin/init if it exists */