diff --git a/lib/src/bootloader.rs b/lib/src/bootloader.rs
index 2ca9a881..4bd09aab 100644
--- a/lib/src/bootloader.rs
+++ b/lib/src/bootloader.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use anyhow::Result;
+use anyhow::{anyhow, bail, Context, Result};
 use camino::Utf8Path;
 use fn_error_context::context;
 
@@ -28,3 +28,80 @@ pub(crate) fn install_via_bootupd(
         .verbose()
         .run()
 }
+
+#[context("Installing bootloader using zipl")]
+pub(crate) fn install_via_zipl(device: &PartitionTable, boot_uuid: &str) -> Result<()> {
+    // Identify the target boot partition from UUID
+    let fs = crate::mount::inspect_filesystem_by_uuid(boot_uuid)?;
+    let boot_dir = Utf8Path::new(&fs.target);
+    let maj_min = fs.maj_min;
+
+    // Ensure that the found partition is a part of the target device
+    let device_path = device.path();
+
+    let partitions = crate::blockdev::list_dev(device_path)?
+        .children
+        .with_context(|| format!("no partition found on {device_path}"))?;
+    let boot_part = partitions
+        .iter()
+        .find(|part| part.maj_min.as_deref() == Some(maj_min.as_str()))
+        .with_context(|| format!("partition device {maj_min} is not on {device_path}"))?;
+    let boot_part_offset = boot_part.start.unwrap_or(0);
+
+    // Find exactly one BLS configuration under /boot/loader/entries
+    // TODO: utilize the BLS parser in ostree
+    let bls_dir = boot_dir.join("boot/loader/entries");
+    let bls_entry = bls_dir
+        .read_dir_utf8()?
+        .try_fold(None, |acc, e| -> Result<_> {
+            let e = e?;
+            let name = Utf8Path::new(e.file_name());
+            if let Some("conf") = name.extension() {
+                if acc.is_some() {
+                    bail!("more than one BLS configurations under {bls_dir}");
+                }
+                Ok(Some(e.path().to_owned()))
+            } else {
+                Ok(None)
+            }
+        })?
+        .with_context(|| format!("no BLS configuration under {bls_dir}"))?;
+
+    let bls_path = bls_dir.join(bls_entry);
+    let bls_conf =
+        std::fs::read_to_string(&bls_path).with_context(|| format!("reading {bls_path}"))?;
+
+    let mut kernel = None;
+    let mut initrd = None;
+    let mut options = None;
+
+    for line in bls_conf.lines() {
+        match line.split_once(char::is_whitespace) {
+            Some(("linux", val)) => kernel = Some(val.trim().trim_start_matches('/')),
+            Some(("initrd", val)) => initrd = Some(val.trim().trim_start_matches('/')),
+            Some(("options", val)) => options = Some(val.trim()),
+            _ => (),
+        }
+    }
+
+    let kernel = kernel.ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("missing 'linux' key in default BLS config"))?;
+    let initrd = initrd.ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("missing 'initrd' key in default BLS config"))?;
+    let options = options.ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("missing 'options' key in default BLS config"))?;
+
+    let image = boot_dir.join(kernel).canonicalize_utf8()?;
+    let ramdisk = boot_dir.join(initrd).canonicalize_utf8()?;
+
+    // Execute the zipl command to install bootloader
+    let zipl_desc = format!("running zipl to install bootloader on {device_path}");
+    let zipl_task = Task::new(&zipl_desc, "zipl")
+        .args(["--target", boot_dir.as_str()])
+        .args(["--image", image.as_str()])
+        .args(["--ramdisk", ramdisk.as_str()])
+        .args(["--parameters", options])
+        .args(["--targetbase", device_path.as_str()])
+        .args(["--targettype", "SCSI"])
+        .args(["--targetblocksize", "512"])
+        .args(["--targetoffset", &boot_part_offset.to_string()])
+        .args(["--add-files", "--verbose"]);
+    zipl_task.verbose().run().context(zipl_desc)
+}
diff --git a/lib/src/install.rs b/lib/src/install.rs
index db0326e7..fcb8c3b9 100644
--- a/lib/src/install.rs
+++ b/lib/src/install.rs
@@ -573,15 +573,9 @@ async fn initialize_ostree_root_from_self(
         crate::lsm::ensure_dir_labeled(rootfs_dir, "boot", None, 0o755.into(), sepolicy)?;
     }
 
-    // Default to avoiding grub2-mkconfig etc., but we need to use zipl on s390x.
-    // TODO: Lower this logic into ostree proper.
-    let bootloader = if cfg!(target_arch = "s390x") {
-        "zipl"
-    } else {
-        "none"
-    };
     for (k, v) in [
-        ("sysroot.bootloader", bootloader),
+        // Default to avoiding grub2-mkconfig etc.
+        ("sysroot.bootloader", "none"),
         // Always flip this one on because we need to support alongside installs
         // to systems without a separate boot partition.
         ("sysroot.bootprefix", "true"),
@@ -1239,12 +1233,17 @@ async fn install_to_filesystem_impl(state: &State, rootfs: &mut RootSetup) -> Re
             })
             .context("Writing aleph version")?;
     }
+    if cfg!(target_arch = "s390x") {
+        // TODO: Integrate s390x support into install_via_bootupd
+        crate::bootloader::install_via_zipl(&rootfs.device_info, boot_uuid)?;
+    } else {
+        crate::bootloader::install_via_bootupd(
+            &rootfs.device_info,
+            &rootfs.rootfs,
+            &state.config_opts,
+        )?;
+    }
 
-    crate::bootloader::install_via_bootupd(
-        &rootfs.device_info,
-        &rootfs.rootfs,
-        &state.config_opts,
-    )?;
     tracing::debug!("Installed bootloader");
 
     // Finalize mounted filesystems