diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ce68c33f7e1382f03405ca9bd0a863e01b9bf750
--- /dev/null
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+ssh_initramfs:
+  copy_from_root: false
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index 7b2ea3027bbc3157bf75c0459aec0cdf4049e41f..beb06ccddb4f6eb506ccb5003d436a9dbbf79ee5 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
     group: root
 
 - name: write authorized_keys file for dropbear-initramfs
+  when: not ssh_initramfs.copy_from_root
   notify: update initramfs
   template:
     src: authorized_keys.j2
@@ -19,3 +20,14 @@
     mode: 0644
     owner: root
     group: root
+
+- name: copy authorized_keys file from root user to dropbear-initramfs
+  when: ssh_initramfs.copy_from_root
+  notify: update initramfs
+  copy:
+    src: /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
+    remote_src: true
+    dest: /etc/dropbear-initramfs/authorized_keys
+    mode: 0644
+    owner: root
+    group: root