diff --git a/package/openrc/openrc.mk b/package/openrc/openrc.mk
index e3f51d45d1..63aec7615e 100644
--- a/package/openrc/openrc.mk
+++ b/package/openrc/openrc.mk
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ else
 OPENRC_CONF_OPTS += -Dpam=false
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(BR2_ROOTFS_MERGED_USR),y)
+OPENRC_CONF_OPTS += -Dsplit-usr=false
+else
+OPENRC_CONF_OPTS += -Dsplit-usr=true
+endif
+
 define OPENRC_INSTALL_SYSV_RCS_SCRIPT
 	$(INSTALL) -D -m 0755 $(OPENRC_PKGDIR)/sysv-rcs \
 		$(TARGET_DIR)/etc/init.d/sysv-rcs
diff --git a/support/testing/tests/init/test_openrc.py b/support/testing/tests/init/test_openrc.py
index c6ade7676d..a1eb8fe213 100644
--- a/support/testing/tests/init/test_openrc.py
+++ b/support/testing/tests/init/test_openrc.py
@@ -44,3 +44,16 @@ class TestInitSystemOpenrcRwFull(InitSystemOpenrcBase):
     def test_run(self):
         self.start_emulator("ext2")
         self.check_init()
+
+
+class TestInitSystemOpenrcMergedUsrFull(InitSystemOpenrcBase):
+    config = InitSystemOpenrcBase.config + \
+        """
+        BR2_ROOTFS_MERGED_USR=y
+        BR2_SYSTEM_DHCP="eth0"
+        BR2_TARGET_ROOTFS_EXT2=y
+        """
+
+    def test_run(self):
+        self.start_emulator("ext2")
+        self.check_init()