diff --git a/lsinitrd.sh b/lsinitrd.sh
index 8dc90323..a697bc2b 100755
--- a/lsinitrd.sh
+++ b/lsinitrd.sh
@@ -160,27 +160,35 @@ case $bin in
         ;;
 esac
 
-if [[ $SKIP ]]; then
-    read -N 6 bin < <($SKIP "$image")
-fi
-
-case $bin in
-    $'\x1f\x8b'*)
-        CAT="zcat --";;
-    BZh*)
-        CAT="bzcat --";;
-    $'\x71\xc7'*|070701)
-        CAT="cat --"
-        ;;
-    $'\x02\x21'*)
-        CAT="lz4 -d -c";;
-    *)
-        CAT="xzcat --";
-        if echo "test"|xz|xzcat --single-stream >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-            CAT="xzcat --single-stream --"
-        fi
-        ;;
-esac
+CAT=$({
+        if [[ $SKIP ]]; then
+            $SKIP "$image"
+        else
+            cat "$image"
+        fi } | {
+        read -N 6 bin
+        case $bin in
+            $'\x1f\x8b'*)
+                echo "zcat --"
+                ;;
+            BZh*)
+                echo "bzcat --"
+                ;;
+            $'\x71\xc7'*|070701)
+                echo "cat --"
+                ;;
+            $'\x02\x21'*)
+                echo "lz4 -d -c"
+                ;;
+            *)
+                if echo "test"|xz|xzcat --single-stream >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+                    echo "xzcat --single-stream --"
+                else
+                    echo "xzcat --"
+                fi
+                ;;
+        esac
+    })
 
 skipcpio()
 {