diff --git a/initrd/etc/gui_functions b/initrd/etc/gui_functions
index f636e5912..cd5758223 100755
--- a/initrd/etc/gui_functions
+++ b/initrd/etc/gui_functions
@@ -5,10 +5,48 @@
 # Pause for the configured timeout before booting automatically.  Returns 0 to
 # continue with automatic boot, nonzero if user interrupted.
 pause_automatic_boot() {
-	if IFS= read -t "$CONFIG_AUTO_BOOT_TIMEOUT" -s -n 1 -r -p \
-		$'Automatic boot in '"$CONFIG_AUTO_BOOT_TIMEOUT"$' seconds unless interrupted by keypress...\n'; then
-		return 1 # Interrupt automatic boot
-	fi
+	local remaining="$CONFIG_AUTO_BOOT_TIMEOUT"
+
+	echo "Automatic boot in $CONFIG_AUTO_BOOT_TIMEOUT seconds unless interrupted by keypress..."
+	printf "\n" # Reserve space for the updating line
+
+	while [ $remaining -gt 0 ]; do
+		# Record the start time of this loop iteration (epoch seconds)
+		local loop_start now_str status_line elapsed sleep_time
+		loop_start=$(date +%s)
+
+		now_str=$(date -u '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S UTC')
+		status_line="$now_str | Booting in $remaining seconds..."
+
+		if [ "$CONFIG_TPM" = "y" ] && [ "$CONFIG_TOTP_SKIP_QRCODE" != "y" ]; then
+			# Get current TOTP if available and not skipped
+			local current_totp
+			if ! current_totp=$(unseal-totp 2>/dev/null); then
+				die "Failed to unseal TOTP"
+			fi
+			status_line="$status_line | TOTP: $current_totp"
+		fi
+
+		# Update the status line in place (overwrites previous output)
+		printf "\r%s" "$status_line"
+
+		# Calculate elapsed time for this loop iteration
+		elapsed=$(( $(date +%s) - loop_start ))
+		# Calculate how much time to wait to complete 1 second
+		sleep_time=$(( 1 - elapsed ))
+		[ $sleep_time -lt 0 ] && sleep_time=0
+
+		# Wait for keypress for the remaining time in this second
+		# IFS= disables word splitting, -t sets timeout, -s disables echo, -n 1 reads one char, -r disables backslash escapes
+		if IFS= read -t $sleep_time -s -n 1 -r; then
+			printf "\n" # New line after interrupt
+			return 1 # Interrupt automatic boot
+		fi
+
+		remaining=$((remaining - 1))
+	done
+
+	printf "\n" # New line after countdown
 	return 0 # Continue with automatic boot
 }