diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/container_create.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/container_create.go
index febf7276b6..bb96a32a7e 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/container_create.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/container_create.go
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ func MakeContainer(ctx context.Context, rt *libpod.Runtime, s *specgen.SpecGener
 		options = append(options, libpod.WithHostUsers(s.HostUsers))
 	}
 
-	command, err := makeCommand(s, imageData, rtc)
+	command, err := makeCommand(s, imageData)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/oci.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/oci.go
index eb899a716a..fdeebe333e 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/oci.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/oci.go
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/containers/common/libimage"
-	"github.com/containers/common/pkg/config"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v4/libpod/define"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v4/pkg/specgen"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runtime-tools/generate"
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@ func addRlimits(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, g *generate.Generator) {
 }
 
 // Produce the final command for the container.
-func makeCommand(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, imageData *libimage.ImageData, rtc *config.Config) ([]string, error) {
+func makeCommand(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, imageData *libimage.ImageData) ([]string, error) {
 	finalCommand := []string{}
 
 	entrypoint := s.Entrypoint
@@ -51,13 +50,7 @@ func makeCommand(s *specgen.SpecGenerator, imageData *libimage.ImageData, rtc *c
 	}
 
 	if s.Init {
-		initPath := s.InitPath
-		if initPath == "" && rtc != nil {
-			initPath = rtc.Engine.InitPath
-		}
-		if initPath == "" {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("no path to init binary found but container requested an init")
-		}
+		// bind mount for this binary is added in addContainerInitBinary()
 		finalCommand = append([]string{define.ContainerInitPath, "--"}, finalCommand...)
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/pause_image.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/pause_image.go
index 6df46882f3..9e131625b0 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/pause_image.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/pause_image.go
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func buildPauseImage(rt *libpod.Runtime, rtConfig *config.Config) (string, error
 
 	// Also look into the path as some distributions install catatonit in
 	// /usr/bin.
-	catatonitPath, err := rtConfig.FindHelperBinary("catatonit", true)
+	catatonitPath, err := rtConfig.FindInitBinary()
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("finding pause binary: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/storage.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/storage.go
index 0c81821c62..4a7c776364 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/storage.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/storage.go
@@ -131,8 +131,11 @@ func finalizeMounts(ctx context.Context, s *specgen.SpecGenerator, rt *libpod.Ru
 	// If requested, add container init binary
 	if s.Init {
 		initPath := s.InitPath
-		if initPath == "" && rtc != nil {
-			initPath = rtc.Engine.InitPath
+		if initPath == "" {
+			initPath, err = rtc.FindInitBinary()
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("lookup init binary: %w", err)
+			}
 		}
 		initMount, err := addContainerInitBinary(s, initPath)
 		if err != nil {