diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/luksroot.nix b/nixos/modules/system/boot/luksroot.nix
index 8978b73749b..6e867b67439 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/luksroot.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/boot/luksroot.nix
@@ -6,29 +6,38 @@ let
   luks = config.boot.initrd.luks;
 
   openCommand = name': { name, device, header, keyFile, keyFileSize, allowDiscards, yubikey, ... }: assert name' == name; ''
-    # Wait for luksRoot to appear, e.g. if on a usb drive.
-    # XXX: copied and adapted from stage-1-init.sh - should be
-    # available as a function.
-    if ! test -e ${device}; then
-        echo -n "waiting 10 seconds for device ${device} to appear..."
-        for try in $(seq 10); do
-            sleep 1
-            if test -e ${device}; then break; fi
-            echo -n .
-        done
-        echo "ok"
-    fi
+
+    # Wait for a target (e.g. device, keyFile, header, ...) to appear.
+    wait_target() {
+        local name="$1"
+        local target="$2"
+
+        if [ ! -e $target ]; then
+            echo -n "Waiting 10 seconds for $name $target to appear"
+            local success=false;
+            for try in $(seq 10); do
+                echo -n "."
+                sleep 1
+                if [ -e $target ]; then success=true break; fi
+            done
+            if [ $success = true ]; then
+                echo " - success";
+            else
+                echo " - failure";
+            fi
+        fi
+    }
+
+    # Wait for luksRoot (and optionally keyFile and/or header) to appear, e.g.
+    # if on a USB drive.
+    wait_target "device" ${device}
 
     ${optionalString (keyFile != null) ''
-    if ! test -e ${keyFile}; then
-        echo -n "waiting 10 seconds for key file ${keyFile} to appear..."
-        for try in $(seq 10); do
-            sleep 1
-            if test -e ${keyFile}; then break; fi
-            echo -n .
-        done
-        echo "ok"
-    fi
+      wait_target "key file" ${keyFile}
+    ''}
+
+    ${optionalString (header != null) ''
+      wait_target "header" ${header}
     ''}
 
     open_normally() {