diff --git a/init/src/main.rs b/init/src/main.rs
index 1148eeacd1..ca73d4acb7 100644
--- a/init/src/main.rs
+++ b/init/src/main.rs
@@ -194,7 +194,20 @@ fn main() {
         let _ = writeln!(f, "AFTER_STEP");
     }
 
-    libredox::call::setrens(0, 0).expect("init: failed to enter null namespace");
+    // Enter a null namespace containing only memory and pipe schemes. This
+// limits what daemons can access if they crash or misbehave. For the
+// initial bootstrap init (started directly by the kernel), there is no
+// prior ns_fd, so the kernel falls back to the root scheme list. If
+// setrens fails (e.g. ns_fd unavailable), we log a warning and continue
+// — the init process can still function with the full scheme set.
+    if let Err(e) = libredox::call::setrens(0, 0) {
+        eprintln!("INIT: warning, could not enter null namespace: {e}");
+        eprintln!("INIT: continuing with full scheme set");
+        if let Ok(mut f) = std::fs::OpenOptions::new().write(true).open("/scheme/debug/no-preserve") {
+            use std::io::Write;
+            let _ = writeln!(f, "INIT: setrens warning: {e}");
+        }
+    }
 
     loop {
         let mut status = 0;