diff --git a/pkg/getty/etc/init.d/001-getty b/pkg/getty/etc/init.d/001-getty
index a36c70590..46205b2e9 100755
--- a/pkg/getty/etc/init.d/001-getty
+++ b/pkg/getty/etc/init.d/001-getty
@@ -2,4 +2,6 @@
 
 # if we are here, then we need to debug a linuxkit build
 # so we always run in INSECURE mode
-INSECURE=true /usr/bin/rungetty.sh
+export INITGETTY=true
+export INSECURE=true
+/usr/bin/rungetty.sh
diff --git a/pkg/getty/usr/bin/rungetty.sh b/pkg/getty/usr/bin/rungetty.sh
index e8ae401f5..8cb89e877 100755
--- a/pkg/getty/usr/bin/rungetty.sh
+++ b/pkg/getty/usr/bin/rungetty.sh
@@ -56,5 +56,5 @@ for opt in $(cat /proc/cmdline); do
 	esac
 done
 
-# wait for all our child process to exit; tini will handle subreaping, if necessary
-wait
+# if we are in a container (not in root init) wait for all our child process to exit; tini will handle subreaping, if necessary
+[ -z "$INITGETTY" ] && wait