diff --git a/lib/img-functions b/lib/img-functions
index c65742f3..d973f29e 100644
--- a/lib/img-functions
+++ b/lib/img-functions
@@ -158,11 +158,8 @@ function select_boot_kernel_initrd () {
             exit 1
         fi
     elif [ -f $TARGET_ROOT/etc/debian_version ]; then
-        KERNEL=$(basename $(ls -1rv $BOOTDIR/vmlinuz*generic | head -1))
-        RAMDISK=$(basename $(ls -1rv $BOOTDIR/initrd*generic | head -1))
-        # in case files with "generic" suffix were not found, fall back to default
-        KERNEL=${KERNEL:-$(basename $(ls -1rv $BOOTDIR/vmlinuz* | head -1))}
-        RAMDISK=${RAMDISK:-$(basename $(ls -1rv $BOOTDIR/initrd* | head -1))}
+        KERNEL=$(basename $(ls -1rv $BOOTDIR/vmlinuz*generic 2>/dev/null || ls -1rv $BOOTDIR/vmlinuz* | head -1))
+        RAMDISK=$(basename $(ls -1rv $BOOTDIR/initrd*generic 2>/dev/null || ls -1rv $BOOTDIR/initrd* | head -1))
     elif [ -f $TARGET_ROOT/etc/SuSE-release ]; then
         KERNEL=$(basename $(readlink -e $BOOTDIR/vmlinuz))
         RAMDISK=$(basename $(readlink -e $BOOTDIR/initrd))