diff --git a/drivers/char/random.c b/drivers/char/random.c
index a90d96f4b3bb..1cb53495e8f7 100644
--- a/drivers/char/random.c
+++ b/drivers/char/random.c
@@ -772,18 +772,13 @@ static int random_pm_notification(struct notifier_block *nb, unsigned long actio
 static struct notifier_block pm_notifier = { .notifier_call = random_pm_notification };
 
 /*
- * The first collection of entropy occurs at system boot while interrupts
- * are still turned off. Here we push in latent entropy, RDSEED, a timestamp,
- * utsname(), and the command line. Depending on the above configuration knob,
- * RDSEED may be considered sufficient for initialization. Note that much
- * earlier setup may already have pushed entropy into the input pool by the
- * time we get here.
+ * This is called extremely early, before time keeping functionality is
+ * available, but arch randomness is. Interrupts are not yet enabled.
  */
-int __init random_init(const char *command_line)
+void __init random_init_early(const char *command_line)
 {
-	ktime_t now = ktime_get_real();
-	size_t i, longs, arch_bits;
 	unsigned long entropy[BLAKE2S_BLOCK_SIZE / sizeof(long)];
+	size_t i, longs, arch_bits;
 
 #if defined(LATENT_ENTROPY_PLUGIN)
 	static const u8 compiletime_seed[BLAKE2S_BLOCK_SIZE] __initconst __latent_entropy;
@@ -803,34 +798,46 @@ int __init random_init(const char *command_line)
 			i += longs;
 			continue;
 		}
-		entropy[0] = random_get_entropy();
-		_mix_pool_bytes(entropy, sizeof(*entropy));
 		arch_bits -= sizeof(*entropy) * 8;
 		++i;
 	}
-	_mix_pool_bytes(&now, sizeof(now));
-	_mix_pool_bytes(utsname(), sizeof(*(utsname())));
+
 	_mix_pool_bytes(command_line, strlen(command_line));
+
+	if (trust_cpu)
+		credit_init_bits(arch_bits);
+}
+
+/*
+ * This is called a little bit after the prior function, and now there is
+ * access to timestamps counters. Interrupts are not yet enabled.
+ */
+void __init random_init(void)
+{
+	unsigned long entropy = random_get_entropy();
+	ktime_t now = ktime_get_real();
+
+	_mix_pool_bytes(utsname(), sizeof(*(utsname())));
+	_mix_pool_bytes(&now, sizeof(now));
+	_mix_pool_bytes(&entropy, sizeof(entropy));
 	add_latent_entropy();
 
 	/*
-	 * If we were initialized by the bootloader before jump labels are
-	 * initialized, then we should enable the static branch here, where
+	 * If we were initialized by the cpu or bootloader before jump labels
+	 * are initialized, then we should enable the static branch here, where
 	 * it's guaranteed that jump labels have been initialized.
 	 */
 	if (!static_branch_likely(&crng_is_ready) && crng_init >= CRNG_READY)
 		crng_set_ready(NULL);
 
+	/* Reseed if already seeded by earlier phases. */
 	if (crng_ready())
 		crng_reseed();
-	else if (trust_cpu)
-		_credit_init_bits(arch_bits);
 
 	WARN_ON(register_pm_notifier(&pm_notifier));
 
-	WARN(!random_get_entropy(), "Missing cycle counter and fallback timer; RNG "
-				    "entropy collection will consequently suffer.");
-	return 0;
+	WARN(!entropy, "Missing cycle counter and fallback timer; RNG "
+		       "entropy collection will consequently suffer.");
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/include/linux/random.h b/include/linux/random.h
index 3fec206487f6..a9e6e16f9774 100644
--- a/include/linux/random.h
+++ b/include/linux/random.h
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ static inline unsigned long get_random_canary(void)
 	return get_random_long() & CANARY_MASK;
 }
 
-int __init random_init(const char *command_line);
+void __init random_init_early(const char *command_line);
+void __init random_init(void);
 bool rng_is_initialized(void);
 int wait_for_random_bytes(void);
 
diff --git a/init/main.c b/init/main.c
index 1fe7942f5d4a..0866e5d0d467 100644
--- a/init/main.c
+++ b/init/main.c
@@ -976,6 +976,9 @@ asmlinkage __visible void __init __no_sanitize_address start_kernel(void)
 		parse_args("Setting extra init args", extra_init_args,
 			   NULL, 0, -1, -1, NULL, set_init_arg);
 
+	/* Architectural and non-timekeeping rng init, before allocator init */
+	random_init_early(command_line);
+
 	/*
 	 * These use large bootmem allocations and must precede
 	 * kmem_cache_init()
@@ -1035,17 +1038,13 @@ asmlinkage __visible void __init __no_sanitize_address start_kernel(void)
 	hrtimers_init();
 	softirq_init();
 	timekeeping_init();
-	kfence_init();
 	time_init();
 
-	/*
-	 * For best initial stack canary entropy, prepare it after:
-	 * - setup_arch() for any UEFI RNG entropy and boot cmdline access
-	 * - timekeeping_init() for ktime entropy used in random_init()
-	 * - time_init() for making random_get_entropy() work on some platforms
-	 * - random_init() to initialize the RNG from from early entropy sources
-	 */
-	random_init(command_line);
+	/* This must be after timekeeping is initialized */
+	random_init();
+
+	/* These make use of the fully initialized rng */
+	kfence_init();
 	boot_init_stack_canary();
 
 	perf_event_init();
