diff --git a/bootstrap/src/exec.rs b/bootstrap/src/exec.rs
index a3f7e22e5a..84931075e0 100644
--- a/bootstrap/src/exec.rs
+++ b/bootstrap/src/exec.rs
@@ -252,7 +252,10 @@ pub fn main() -> ! {
         let _ = libredox::call::write(1, alloc::format!("fexec_impl failed: {}\n", e).as_bytes());
         e
     })
-    .expect("failed to execute init");
+    .expect("failed to execute init")
+    else {
+        panic!("fexec_impl returned None for init");
+    };
 
     // According to elf(5), PT_INTERP requires that the interpreter path be
     // null-terminated. Violating this should therefore give the "format error" ENOEXEC.