diff --git a/src/build_initramfs.sh b/src/build_initramfs.sh
index b7caf81..c66cdf8 100755
--- a/src/build_initramfs.sh
+++ b/src/build_initramfs.sh
@@ -9,44 +9,72 @@ INIT="../../init-shim-rs/target/x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/release/init-shim-rs"
 echo "Using build dir: $BUILDDIR"
 rm -rf "$BUILDDIR"
 mkdir -p "$BUILDDIR"
+if [ -d pkgs ]; then
+    echo "copying package cache into build-dir"
+    cp -a pkgs "$BUILDDIR/pkgs"
+    NO_DOWNLOAD="1"
+fi
 cd "$BUILDDIR"
 mkdir "$ROOT"
 
 # adds necessary packages to initramfs build root folder
 add_pkgs() {
-    DEPS=""
-    for pkg in $1; do
-        LOCAL_DEPS=$(apt-rdepends -f Depends -s Depends "$pkg" | grep -v '^ ')
-        DEPS="$DEPS $LOCAL_DEPS"
-    done
-    # debconf and gcc are unnecessary, libboost-regex doesn't install on bullseye
-    DEPS=$(echo "$DEPS" |\
-        sed -E 's/debconf(-2\.0)?//' |\
-        sed -E 's/libboost-regex//' |\
-        sed -E 's/gcc-.{1,2}-base//')
-    apt-get download $DEPS
-    for deb in ./*.deb; do
-        dpkg-deb -x "$deb" "$ROOT"
-    done
-    rm ./*.deb
+    if [ -z "$NO_DOWNLOAD" ]; then
+        DEPS=""
+        for pkg in $1; do
+            printf " getting reverse dependencies for '%s'" "$pkg"
+            LOCAL_DEPS=$(apt-rdepends -f Depends -s Depends "$pkg" | grep -v '^ ')
+            TO_DOWNLOAD=""
+            for deb in $LOCAL_DEPS; do
+                [ ! -e "pkgs/$deb" ] && TO_DOWNLOAD="$TO_DOWNLOAD $deb"
+            done
+            [ -n "$TO_DOWNLOAD" ] && DEPS="$DEPS $TO_DOWNLOAD"
+        done
+        # debconf and gcc are unnecessary, libboost-regex doesn't install on bullseye
+        DEPS=$(echo "$DEPS" |\
+            sed -E 's/debconf(-2\.0)?//g' |\
+            sed -E 's/libboost-regex//g' |\
+            sed -E 's/gcc-.{1,2}-base//g')
+
+        if [ ! -d pkgs ]; then
+            mkdir pkgs
+        fi
+        if [ -n "$DEPS" ]; then
+            (cd pkgs; apt-get download $DEPS)
+        fi
+    fi
+    if [ -z "$DOWNLOAD_ONLY" ]; then
+        for deb in pkgs/*.deb; do
+            dpkg-deb -x "$deb" "$ROOT"
+        done
+        if [ -z "$NO_DOWNLOAD" ]; then
+            rm -rf pkgs/
+        fi
+    fi
 }
 
 make_cpio() {
+    echo "creating CPIO archive '$1'"
     fakeroot -- sh -c "
         cd '$ROOT';
         find . -print0 | cpio --null -oV --format=newc -F ../$1
     "
 }
 
-cp $INIT "$ROOT/init"
-chmod a+x "$ROOT/init" # just to be sure
+if [ -z "$DOWNLOAD_ONLY" ]; then
+    echo "copying init"
+    cp $INIT "$ROOT/init"
+    chmod a+x "$ROOT/init" # just to be sure
 
-# tell daemon it's running in the correct environment
-touch "$ROOT/restore-vm-marker"
+    # tell daemon it's running in the correct environment
+    touch "$ROOT/restore-vm-marker"
+fi
+
+echo "getting base dependencies"
 
 add_pkgs "
     libstdc++6:amd64 \
-    libssl1.1:amd64 \
+    libssl3:amd64 \
     libacl1:amd64 \
     libblkid1:amd64 \
     libuuid1:amd64 \
@@ -59,19 +87,26 @@ add_pkgs "
     thin-provisioning-tools:amd64 \
 "
 
-# install custom ZFS tools (built without libudev)
-mkdir -p "$ROOT/sbin"
-cp -a ../zfstools/sbin/* "$ROOT/sbin/"
-cp -a ../zfstools/etc/* "$ROOT/etc/"
-cp -a ../zfstools/lib/* "$ROOT/lib/"
-cp -a ../zfstools/usr/* "$ROOT/usr/"
+if [ -z "$DOWNLOAD_ONLY" ]; then
 
-rm -rf ${ROOT:?}/usr/share # contains only docs and debian stuff
-rm -rf ${ROOT:?}/usr/local/include # header files
-rm -rf ${ROOT:?}/usr/local/share # mostly ZFS tests
-rm -f ${ROOT:?}/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/*.a # static libraries
+    echo "install ZFS tool"
+    # install custom ZFS tools (built without libudev)
+    mkdir -p "$ROOT/sbin"
+    cp -a ../zfstools/sbin/* "$ROOT/sbin/"
+    cp -a ../zfstools/etc/* "$ROOT/etc/"
+    cp -a ../zfstools/lib/* "$ROOT/lib/"
+    cp -a ../zfstools/usr/* "$ROOT/usr/"
 
-make_cpio "initramfs.img"
+    echo "cleanup unused data from base dependencies"
+    rm -rf ${ROOT:?}/usr/share # contains only docs and debian stuff
+    rm -rf ${ROOT:?}/usr/local/include # header files
+    rm -rf ${ROOT:?}/usr/local/share # mostly ZFS tests
+    rm -f ${ROOT:?}/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/*.a # static libraries
+
+    make_cpio "initramfs.img"
+fi
+
+echo "getting extra/debug dependencies"
 
 # add debug helpers for debug initramfs, packages from above are included too
 add_pkgs "
@@ -80,5 +115,8 @@ add_pkgs "
     gdb:amd64 \
     strace:amd64 \
 "
-# leave /usr/share here, it contains necessary stuff for gdb
-make_cpio "initramfs-debug.img"
+
+if [ -z "$DOWNLOAD_ONLY" ]; then
+    # leave /usr/share here, it contains necessary stuff for gdb
+    make_cpio "initramfs-debug.img"
+fi