diff --git a/actions/debootstrap_action.go b/actions/debootstrap_action.go
index bd3eea5a..4a9d629c 100644
--- a/actions/debootstrap_action.go
+++ b/actions/debootstrap_action.go
@@ -157,6 +157,26 @@ func (d *DebootstrapAction) RunSecondStage(context debos.DebosContext) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+func (d *DebootstrapAction) isLikelyOldSuite() bool {
+	// Guess if suite is something before usr-is-merged was introduced
+	switch strings.ToLower(d.Suite) {
+	// these are known to have usr-is-merged.
+	case "sid", "unstable":
+		return false;
+	case "testing":
+		return false;
+	case "bookworm":
+		return false;
+	case "trixie":
+		return false;
+	case "forky":
+		return false;
+	// we can't list all derivate distributions suites, so use default.
+	default:
+		return true;
+	}
+}
+
 func (d *DebootstrapAction) Run(context *debos.DebosContext) error {
 	d.LogStart()
 	cmdline := []string{"debootstrap"}
@@ -203,7 +223,11 @@ func (d *DebootstrapAction) Run(context *debos.DebosContext) error {
 		cmdline = append(cmdline, fmt.Sprintf("--variant=%s", d.Variant))
 	}
 
-	cmdline = append(cmdline, "--exclude=usr-is-merged")
+	// workaround for https://github.com/go-debos/debos/issues/361
+	if d.isLikelyOldSuite() {
+		cmdline = append(cmdline, "--exclude=usr-is-merged")
+	}
+
 	cmdline = append(cmdline, d.Suite)
 	cmdline = append(cmdline, context.Rootdir)
 	cmdline = append(cmdline, d.Mirror)