diff --git a/init/initramfs_test.c b/init/initramfs_test.c
index 8a0ddc2db2c0..bc55306d226d 100644
--- a/init/initramfs_test.c
+++ b/init/initramfs_test.c
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@
 #include <linux/fcntl.h>
 #include <linux/file.h>
 #include <linux/fs.h>
+#include <linux/init.h>
 #include <linux/init_syscalls.h>
+#include <linux/initrd.h>
 #include <linux/stringify.h>
 #include <linux/timekeeping.h>
 #include "initramfs_internal.h"
@@ -560,8 +562,21 @@ static struct kunit_case __refdata initramfs_test_cases[] = {
 	{},
 };
 
-static struct kunit_suite initramfs_test_suite = {
+static int __init initramfs_test_init(struct kunit_suite *suite)
+{
+	/*
+	 * unpack_to_rootfs() uses module-static state (victim, byte_count,
+	 * state, ...). The boot-time async do_populate_rootfs() may still be
+	 * running, so wait for it to finish before we call unpack_to_rootfs()
+	 * from the test thread, otherwise the two writers race and crash.
+	 */
+	wait_for_initramfs();
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static struct kunit_suite __refdata initramfs_test_suite = {
 	.name = "initramfs",
+	.suite_init = initramfs_test_init,
 	.test_cases = initramfs_test_cases,
 };
 kunit_test_init_section_suites(&initramfs_test_suite);