diff --git a/archlinux/PKGBUILD.in b/archlinux/PKGBUILD.in
index 27e6dcb8..8e9b78ca 100644
--- a/archlinux/PKGBUILD.in
+++ b/archlinux/PKGBUILD.in
@@ -90,8 +90,8 @@ package_qubes-vm-core() {
 
     cd "${_pkgnvr}"
 
-    install -D -m 0644 -- "boot/grub.qubes" "${pkgdir}/etc/default/grub.qubes"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2154
+    make -C boot DESTDIR="$pkgdir" install
     make install-corevm DESTDIR="$pkgdir" SBINDIR=/usr/bin LIBDIR=/usr/lib SYSLIBDIR=/usr/lib SYSTEM_DROPIN_DIR=/usr/lib/systemd/system USER_DROPIN_DIR=/usr/lib/systemd/user DIST=archlinux
     make -C app-menu install DESTDIR="$pkgdir" install LIBDIR=/usr/lib SYSLIBDIR=/usr/lib
     make -C misc install DESTDIR="$pkgdir" install LIBDIR=/usr/lib SYSLIBDIR=/usr/lib
diff --git a/boot/Makefile b/boot/Makefile
index 7cb97ff5..c9b4123f 100644
--- a/boot/Makefile
+++ b/boot/Makefile
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 LIBDIR ?= /usr/lib
 SYSCONFDIR ?= /etc
-GRUBCONFDIR ?= $(SYSCONFDIR)/grub.d
+GRUBCONFDIR ?= $(SYSCONFDIR)/default
 DRACUTCONFDIR ?= $(LIBDIR)/dracut/dracut.conf.d
+GRUBCFGNAME ?= grub.qubes
 
 .PHONY: install
 
 install:
-	install -D -m 0644 grub.qubes $(DESTDIR)$(GRUBCONFDIR)/30_qubes
+	install -D -m 0644 grub.qubes $(DESTDIR)$(GRUBCONFDIR)/$(GRUBCFGNAME)
 	install -D -m 0644 dracut-qubes.conf $(DESTDIR)$(DRACUTCONFDIR)/30-qubes.conf
diff --git a/boot/dracut-qubes.conf b/boot/dracut-qubes.conf
index 9f65bbea..ea6d6b69 100644
--- a/boot/dracut-qubes.conf
+++ b/boot/dracut-qubes.conf
@@ -14,3 +14,10 @@ omit_dracutmodules+=" ifcfg qemu-net i18n resume mdraid terminfo crypt lunmask n
 # confidential computing is not a Qubes feature). This saves about 5MB (20%) of
 # initramfs size.
 omit_dracutmodules+=" tpm2-tss "
+
+# Exclude plymouth, as it pulls in a lot of graphical stack, including GPU
+# drivers, and none of the boot screen is visible in a qube anyway
+omit_dracutmodules+=" plymouth "
+
+# Exclude microcode, as VM cannot load it anyway, saves over 10MB of space
+early_microcode="no"
diff --git a/debian/qubes-core-agent.install b/debian/qubes-core-agent.install
index fecac009..3015aa9f 100644
--- a/debian/qubes-core-agent.install
+++ b/debian/qubes-core-agent.install
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ usr/bin/qvm-run-vm
 usr/bin/qvm-connect-tcp
 usr/bin/qvm-sync-clock
 usr/lib/environment.d/60-gnome-software-fix.conf
+usr/lib/dracut/dracut.conf.d/30-qubes.conf
 usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/qubesagent-*.egg-info/*
 usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/qubesagent/*
 usr/lib/qubes-bind-dirs.d/30_cron.conf
diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 01ac851b..63eb1dc5 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ override_dh_auto_install:
 	make -C qubes-rpc/kde install
 	make -C qubes-rpc/nautilus install
 	make -C qubes-rpc/thunar install
-	install -D -m 0644 boot/grub.qubes $(DESTDIR)/etc/default/grub.d/30-qubes.cfg
+	make -C boot install GRUBCFGNAME=grub.d/30-qubes.cfg
 
 override_dh_fixperms:
 	dh_fixperms -a -Xqfile-unpacker
diff --git a/rpm_spec/core-agent.spec.in b/rpm_spec/core-agent.spec.in
index 6fa3a0e3..143dc02f 100644
--- a/rpm_spec/core-agent.spec.in
+++ b/rpm_spec/core-agent.spec.in
@@ -487,6 +487,7 @@ usermod -L root
 
 make install-vm PYTHON=%{__python3} "DESTDIR=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT" SYSTEM_DROPIN_DIR=%{_unitdir} SYSLIBDIR=/usr/lib ENABLE_SELINUX=%with_selinux
 make -C app-menu DESTDIR=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT install
+make -C boot DESTDIR=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT install
 make -C boot/redhat DESTDIR=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT install
 make -C config-overrides DESTDIR=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT install
 make -C filesystem DESTDIR=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT install
@@ -520,9 +521,6 @@ sed -i \
         $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/etc/yum.repos.d/qubes-*.repo
 %endif
 
-install -D -m 0644 boot/dracut-qubes.conf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/usr/lib/dracut/dracut.conf.d/30-qubes.conf
-install -D -m 0644 boot/grub.qubes $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/etc/default/grub.qubes
-
 %if ! %with_sysvinit
     rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/etc/init.d/qubes-* $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/etc/sysconfig/modules/qubes-core.modules
 %endif