diff --git a/modules/outputs/tftpboot.nix b/modules/outputs/tftpboot.nix
index 84ae4b69..e91c988e 100644
--- a/modules/outputs/tftpboot.nix
+++ b/modules/outputs/tftpboot.nix
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ in {
           cmdline = concatStringsSep " " config.boot.commandLine;
           objcopy = "${pkgs.stdenv.cc.bintools.targetPrefix}objcopy";
           stripAndZip = ''
-            cp vmlinux vmlinux.elf; chmod +w vmlinux.elf
             ${objcopy} -O binary -R .reginfo -R .notes -R .note -R .comment -R .mdebug -R .note.gnu.build-id -S vmlinux.elf vmlinux.bin
             rm -f vmlinux.bin.lzma ; lzma -k -z  vmlinux.bin
           '';
@@ -97,7 +96,7 @@ in {
             # decompression code will assume that any memory after the
             # end of the kernel is free
 
-            imageStart=$(($rootfsStart + $rootfsSize))
+            dtbStart=$(($rootfsStart + $rootfsSize))
             ${if cfg.compressRoot
               then ''
                 lzma -z9cv ${o.rootfs} > rootfs.lz
@@ -129,30 +128,22 @@ in {
 
             dtbSize=$(binsize ./dtb )
 
-            ${stripAndZip}
-            cat ${../../pkgs/kernel/kernel_fdt.its} > mkimage.its
-cat << _VARS  >> mkimage.its
-/ {
-    images {
-        kernel {
-            description = "${arch} Liminix kernel";
-            data = /incbin/("./vmlinux.bin.lzma");
-            load = <0x${lib.toHexString hw.loadAddress}>;
-            entry = <0x${lib.toHexString hw.entryPoint}>;
-            arch = "${arch}";
-            compression = "lzma";
-        };
-        fdt-1 {
-            description = "${arch} Liminix DTB";
-            data = /incbin/("./dtb");
-            arch = "${arch}";
-        };
-    };
-};
-_VARS
-    mkimage -f mkimage.its image
-            tftpcmd="tftpboot $(hex $imageStart) result/image "
-            bootcmd="bootm $(hex $imageStart)"
+            ${if cfg.appendDTB then ''
+              imageStart=$dtbStart
+              # re-package image with updated dtb
+              cat ${o.kernel} > vmlinux.elf
+              ${objcopy} --update-section .appended_dtb=dtb vmlinux.elf
+              ${stripAndZip}
+              mkimage -A ${arch} -O linux -T kernel -C lzma -a $(hex ${toString hw.loadAddress}) -e $(hex ${toString hw.entryPoint}) -n '${lib.toUpper arch} Liminix Linux tftpboot' -d vmlinux.bin.lzma image
+              # dtc -I dtb -O dts -o /dev/stdout dtb | grep -A10 chosen ; exit 1
+              tftpcmd="tftpboot $(hex $imageStart) result/image "
+              bootcmd="bootm $(hex $imageStart)"
+            '' else ''
+              imageStart=$(($dtbStart + $dtbSize))
+              tftpcmd="tftpboot $(hex $imageStart) result/image; tftpboot $(hex $dtbStart) result/dtb "
+              ln -s ${image} image
+              bootcmd="${bootCommand} $(hex $imageStart) - $(hex $dtbStart)"
+            ''}
 
             cat > boot.scr << EOF
             setenv serverip ${cfg.serverip}
@@ -166,7 +157,7 @@ _VARS
               then "lzmadec $(hex $rootfsLzStart)  $(hex $rootfsStart); "
               else ""
              } $bootcmd
-EOF
+            EOF
          '';
 
     };