diff --git a/mkdumprd b/mkdumprd
index f6438e9..f5bfd65 100644
--- a/mkdumprd
+++ b/mkdumprd
@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ to_mount() {
     # with 'noauto' in fstab nfs and non-root disk mount will fail in 2nd
     # kernel, filter it out here.
     _options=$(echo $_options | sed 's/\(^\|,\)noauto\($\|,\)/\1/g')
+    # use both nofail and x-systemd.before to ensure systemd will try best to
+    # mount it before kdump starts, this is an attempt to improve robustness
+    _options="$_options,nofail,x-systemd.before=initrd-fs.target"
 
     echo "$_pdev $_new_mntpoint $_fstype $_options"
 }