diff --git a/tools/mkcomposefs.c b/tools/mkcomposefs.c
index 7fb7487a..1712e91a 100644
--- a/tools/mkcomposefs.c
+++ b/tools/mkcomposefs.c
@@ -323,7 +323,8 @@ static int fill_payload(struct lcfs_node_s *node, const char *path, size_t len,
 		ret = lcfs_node_set_payload(node, target);
 		if (ret < 0)
 			return ret;
-	} else if ((lcfs_node_get_mode(node) & S_IFMT) == S_IFREG) {
+	} else if ((lcfs_node_get_mode(node) & S_IFMT) == S_IFREG &&
+		   lcfs_node_get_content(node) == NULL) {
 		const uint8_t *digest = NULL;
 
 		if (by_digest)
@@ -354,7 +355,7 @@ static int fill_payload(struct lcfs_node_s *node, const char *path, size_t len,
 static void usage(const char *argv0)
 {
 	fprintf(stderr,
-		"usage: %s [--use-epoch] [--skip-xattrs] [--absolute] [--by-digest] [--digest-store=path] [--print-digest] [--print-digest-only] [--skip-devices] [--compute-digest] SOURCEDIR IMAGE\n",
+		"usage: %s [--use-epoch] [--skip-xattrs] [--absolute] [--no-inline] [--by-digest] [--digest-store=path] [--print-digest] [--print-digest-only] [--skip-devices] [--compute-digest] SOURCEDIR IMAGE\n",
 		argv0);
 }
 
@@ -368,6 +369,7 @@ static void usage(const char *argv0)
 #define OPT_PRINT_DIGEST 109
 #define OPT_FORMAT 110
 #define OPT_PRINT_DIGEST_ONLY 111
+#define OPT_NO_INLINE 112
 
 static ssize_t write_cb(void *_file, void *buf, size_t count)
 {
@@ -409,6 +411,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			flag: NULL,
 			val: OPT_COMPUTE_DIGEST
 		},
+		{
+			name: "no-inline",
+			has_arg: no_argument,
+			flag: NULL,
+			val: OPT_NO_INLINE
+		},
 		{
 			name: "by-digest",
 			has_arg: no_argument,
@@ -460,6 +468,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	FILE *out_file;
 	char *failed_path;
 
+	buildflags = LCFS_BUILD_INLINE_SMALL;
 	while ((opt = getopt_long(argc, argv, ":CR", longopts, NULL)) != -1) {
 		switch (opt) {
 		case OPT_USE_EPOCH:
@@ -474,6 +483,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		case OPT_COMPUTE_DIGEST:
 			buildflags |= LCFS_BUILD_COMPUTE_DIGEST;
 			break;
+		case OPT_NO_INLINE:
+			buildflags &= ~LCFS_BUILD_INLINE_SMALL;
+			break;
 		case OPT_ABSOLUTE:
 			absolute_path = true;
 			break;