diff --git a/dracut.sh b/dracut.sh
index 3b292910f3..cd8d3ae0b0 100755
--- a/dracut.sh
+++ b/dracut.sh
@@ -2091,8 +2091,17 @@ for ((i = 0; i < ${#include_src[@]}; i++)); do
     fi
 done
 
+clamp_mtimes() {
+    find "$1" -newer "$dracutbasedir/dracut-functions.sh" -print0 \
+        | xargs -r -0 touch -h -m -c -r "$dracutbasedir/dracut-functions.sh"
+}
+
 if [[ $do_hardlink == yes ]] && command -v hardlink > /dev/null; then
     dinfo "*** Hardlinking files ***"
+    if [[ $DRACUT_REPRODUCIBLE ]]; then
+        # hardlink only de-dupes identical mtimes; clamp any dynamically-generated files.
+        clamp_mtimes "$initdir"
+    fi
     hardlink "$initdir" 2>&1 | ddebug
     dinfo "*** Hardlinking files done ***"
 fi
@@ -2299,8 +2308,7 @@ if [[ $uefi == yes ]]; then
 fi
 
 if [[ $DRACUT_REPRODUCIBLE ]]; then
-    find "$initdir" -newer "$dracutbasedir/dracut-functions.sh" -print0 \
-        | xargs -r -0 touch -h -m -c -r "$dracutbasedir/dracut-functions.sh"
+    clamp_mtimes "$initdir"
 
     if [[ "$(cpio --help)" == *--reproducible* ]]; then
         CPIO_REPRODUCIBLE=1
@@ -2315,8 +2323,7 @@ if [[ $create_early_cpio == yes ]]; then
     echo 1 > "$early_cpio_dir/d/early_cpio"
 
     if [[ $DRACUT_REPRODUCIBLE ]]; then
-        find "$early_cpio_dir/d" -newer "$dracutbasedir/dracut-functions.sh" -print0 \
-            | xargs -r -0 touch -h -m -c -r "$dracutbasedir/dracut-functions.sh"
+        clamp_mtimes "$early_cpio_dir/d"
     fi
 
     # The microcode blob is _before_ the initramfs blob, not after