diff --git a/src/system/boot/loader/partitions.cpp b/src/system/boot/loader/partitions.cpp
index 78a5d05d66..430f3fcd36 100644
--- a/src/system/boot/loader/partitions.cpp
+++ b/src/system/boot/loader/partitions.cpp
@@ -222,6 +222,7 @@ Partition::AddChild()
 status_t
 Partition::_Mount(file_system_module_info *module, Directory **_fileSystem)
 {
+	static int fileMapDiskDepth = 0;
 	TRACE(("%p Partition::_Mount check for file_system: %s\n", 
 		this, module->pretty_name));
 
@@ -236,13 +237,16 @@ Partition::_Mount(file_system_module_info *module, Directory **_fileSystem)
 
 		fIsFileSystem = true;
 
-		// see if it contains an image file we could mount in turn
-		// XXX: avoid recursing too much
-		FileMapDisk *disk = FileMapDisk::FindAnyFileMapDisk(fileSystem);
-		if (disk) {
-			TRACE(("%p Partition::_Mount: found FileMapDisk\n", this));
-			add_partitions_for(disk, true, false);
+		// if we aren't already mounting an image
+		if (!fileMapDiskDepth++) {
+			// see if it contains an image file we could mount in turn
+			FileMapDisk *disk = FileMapDisk::FindAnyFileMapDisk(fileSystem);
+			if (disk) {
+				TRACE(("%p Partition::_Mount: found FileMapDisk\n", this));
+				add_partitions_for(disk, true, false);
+			}
 		}
+		fileMapDiskDepth--;
 
 		return B_OK;
 	}