diff --git a/init/src/main.rs b/init/src/main.rs
index 275275e64b..f660673d0f 100644
--- a/init/src/main.rs
+++ b/init/src/main.rs
@@ -130,16 +130,6 @@ fn main() {
     scheduler
         .schedule_start_and_report_errors(&mut unit_store, UnitId("00_logd.service".to_owned()));
     scheduler.step(&mut unit_store, &mut init_config);
-    // NOTE: init/daemon stdio is deliberately kept on the kernel console
-    // rather than being redirected into /scheme/log. Redirecting made the boot
-    // "go dark" after logd on text/recovery ISOs (bare/mini): the graphical
-    // bootlog (fbbootlogd, VT1) does not reliably surface /scheme/log to the
-    // framebuffer, and logd's console mirror is racy, so the console showed
-    // nothing between logd and the login VT — indistinguishable from a hang.
-    // Keeping stdio on the console makes the full boot observable on
-    // `-serial` and the framebuffer. (A quiet/splash mode for the graphical
-    // full ISO can re-enable the redirect once fbbootlogd rendering is fixed.)
-    let _ = switch_stdio;
 
     let runtime_target = UnitId("00_runtime.target".to_owned());
     scheduler.schedule_start_and_report_errors(&mut unit_store, runtime_target.clone());
@@ -155,6 +145,29 @@ fn main() {
         Path::new("/usr"),
         Path::new("/etc"),
     );
+
+    // Pin init/daemon stdio to the dedicated boot-log VT (fbcon/1) before the
+    // /usr units run. Rationale: stdio otherwise stays on the kernel console
+    // (/scheme/debug), which fbcond renders onto the *active* VT. Once the
+    // `29_activate_console` unit switches the active VT to 2 for the getty
+    // login, any daemon that logs afterwards — late async driver attach
+    // (i2c-hidd, evdevd, dw-acpi-i2cd) or smolnetd's bounded NIC wait — paints
+    // its output on top of the login banner/prompt, so the prompt is never the
+    // last thing on screen. Pinning daemon output to VT1 (a fixed VT, not the
+    // active one) keeps the boot log fully visible — VT1 is the active console
+    // during boot, and fbcond still mirrors it to the serial line — while
+    // leaving VT2 clean for a login prompt that lands last.
+    //
+    // This is deliberately NOT the old `/scheme/log` redirect that made boot
+    // "go dark": that depended on fbbootlogd surfacing /scheme/log to the
+    // framebuffer (racy/unreliable). A real VT renders directly, so full-boot
+    // observability is preserved. Best-effort: if fbcon/1 cannot be opened
+    // (e.g. fbcond absent on a headless/serial-only boot), stdio stays on the
+    // kernel console and the boot remains observable exactly as before.
+    if let Err(err) = switch_stdio("/scheme/fbcon/1") {
+        eprintln!("INIT: keeping stdio on kernel console (fbcon/1 unavailable: {err})");
+    }
+
     {
         // FIXME introduce multi-user.target unit and replace the config dir iteration
         // scheduler.schedule_start_and_report_errors(&mut unit_store, UnitId("multi-user.target".to_owned()));