diff --git a/src/core/main.c b/src/core/main.c
index 35f31c2c..7d411d6a 100644
--- a/src/core/main.c
+++ b/src/core/main.c
@@ -88,11 +88,8 @@ __asmcall int main ( void ) {
 		 * booting fails for any reason, offer a second chance
 		 * to enter the shell for diagnostics.
 		 */
-		if ( have_images() ) {
-			for_each_image ( image ) {
-				image_exec ( image );
-				break;
-			}
+		if ( ( image = first_image() ) != NULL ) {
+			image_exec ( image );
 		} else {
 			autoboot();
 		}
diff --git a/src/include/ipxe/image.h b/src/include/ipxe/image.h
index 2865ea05..96466ee4 100644
--- a/src/include/ipxe/image.h
+++ b/src/include/ipxe/image.h
@@ -124,6 +124,15 @@ static inline int have_images ( void ) {
 	return ( ! list_empty ( &images ) );
 }
 
+/**
+ * Retrieve first image
+ *
+ * @ret image		Image, or NULL
+ */
+static inline struct image * first_image ( void ) {
+	return list_first_entry ( &images, struct image, list );
+}
+
 extern struct image * alloc_image ( void );
 extern void image_set_uri ( struct image *image, struct uri *uri );
 extern int image_set_cmdline ( struct image *image, const char *cmdline );