diff --git a/meta/conf/distro/include/init-manager-none.inc b/meta/conf/distro/include/init-manager-none.inc
index bbedf898f7..6ece5c9906 100644
--- a/meta/conf/distro/include/init-manager-none.inc
+++ b/meta/conf/distro/include/init-manager-none.inc
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_init_manager ??= "sysvinit"
 VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_initscripts ??= "initscripts"
 VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_login_manager ??= "busybox"
+VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_dev_manager ??= "udev"
diff --git a/meta/conf/distro/include/init-manager-sysvinit.inc b/meta/conf/distro/include/init-manager-sysvinit.inc
index aa2393944d..e2d17b358d 100644
--- a/meta/conf/distro/include/init-manager-sysvinit.inc
+++ b/meta/conf/distro/include/init-manager-sysvinit.inc
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ DISTRO_FEATURES_BACKFILL_CONSIDERED:append = " systemd"
 VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_init_manager ??= "sysvinit"
 VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_initscripts ??= "initscripts"
 VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_login_manager ??= "busybox"
+VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_dev_manager ??= "udev"
diff --git a/meta/recipes-core/images/core-image-tiny-initramfs.bb b/meta/recipes-core/images/core-image-tiny-initramfs.bb
index 7a71d55b1e..c2aa68c788 100644
--- a/meta/recipes-core/images/core-image-tiny-initramfs.bb
+++ b/meta/recipes-core/images/core-image-tiny-initramfs.bb
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ first 'init' program more efficiently. core-image-tiny-initramfs doesn't \
 actually generate an image but rather generates boot and rootfs artifacts \
 that can subsequently be picked up by external image generation tools such as wic."
 
+# if distro does not override VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_dev_manager and default in different, busybox is compiled without mdev support
+# however this keeps the image small by not installing heavy-weight manager and in initramfs it may not even be necessary
+# override in distro if needed
 VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_dev_manager ?= "busybox-mdev"
 
 PACKAGE_INSTALL = "initramfs-live-boot-tiny packagegroup-core-boot dropbear ${VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_base-utils} ${VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_dev_manager} base-passwd ${ROOTFS_BOOTSTRAP_INSTALL}"
diff --git a/meta/recipes-core/packagegroups/packagegroup-core-boot.bb b/meta/recipes-core/packagegroups/packagegroup-core-boot.bb
index fecc3334ea..fa06092e27 100644
--- a/meta/recipes-core/packagegroups/packagegroup-core-boot.bb
+++ b/meta/recipes-core/packagegroups/packagegroup-core-boot.bb
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ PACKAGE_ARCH = "${MACHINE_ARCH}"
 inherit packagegroup
 
 # Distro can override the following VIRTUAL-RUNTIME providers:
-VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_dev_manager ?= "udev"
 VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_keymaps ?= "keymaps"
 
 EFI_PROVIDER ??= "grub-efi"