diff --git a/mkinitrd b/mkinitrd
index 00b5992..b76d06d 100755
--- a/mkinitrd
+++ b/mkinitrd
@@ -1471,6 +1471,16 @@ fi
 
 if [ $ncryptodevs -ne 0 ]; then
     inst /sbin/cryptsetup "$MNTIMAGE"
+
+    # set up so we can load a keymap before prompting for passphrases
+    LOADKEYS=loadkeys
+    if [ "${LANG}" != "${LANG%%.UTF-8}" -o "${LANG}" != "${LANG%%.utf8}" ]; then
+        LOADKEYS="loadkeys -u"
+    fi
+    # this way we don't have to worry about includes, filenames or any of that
+    dumpkeys > "$MNTIMAGE/etc/keymap"
+    inst /bin/loadkeys "$MNTIMAGE"
+    KEYMAP=/etc/keymap
 fi
 
 echo -n >| $RCFILE
@@ -1639,6 +1649,11 @@ if [ -n "$raiddevices" ]; then
     done
 fi
 
+if [ -n "$LOADKEYS" -a -n "$KEYMAP" ]; then
+    emit "echo Loading keymap."
+    emit "$LOADKEYS $KEYMAP"
+fi
+
 emitcrypto()
 {
     emit "echo Setting up disk encryption: $1"