diff --git a/overlays/mkfs/internal/mkfs_test.go b/overlays/mkfs/internal/mkfs_test.go
index aae31bc6..b7415936 100644
--- a/overlays/mkfs/internal/mkfs_test.go
+++ b/overlays/mkfs/internal/mkfs_test.go
@@ -39,26 +39,17 @@ if ! command -v die >/dev/null; then
 fi
 
 already_formatted() {
-    dev="$1"
-
-    # Step 1: check if blkid recognizes a filesystem
-    fs_type=$(blkid -o value -s TYPE "$dev" 2>/dev/null)
-
-    if [ -z "$fs_type" ]; then
-        # No recognized filesystem
-        return 1
+    if ! command -v wipefs >/dev/null ; then
+        info "warewulf: wipefs not found, cannot check if device is already formatted"
+        return 0
     fi
 
-    # Step 2: try mounting read-only to a temp dir
-    tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
-    if mount -o ro,norecovery -t "$fs_type" "$dev" "$tmpdir" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        umount "$tmpdir"
-        rmdir "$tmpdir"
-        return 0  # usable filesystem
-    else
-        rmdir "$tmpdir"
-        return 1  # filesystem exists but not mountable → treat as unformatted
+    if wipefs -n "${1}" &>/dev/null; then
+        info "warewulf: ${1} already formatted"
+        return 0
     fi
+
+    return 1
 }
 
 if command -v mkfs >/dev/null ; then :
@@ -98,26 +89,17 @@ if ! command -v die >/dev/null; then
 fi
 
 already_formatted() {
-    dev="$1"
-
-    # Step 1: check if blkid recognizes a filesystem
-    fs_type=$(blkid -o value -s TYPE "$dev" 2>/dev/null)
-
-    if [ -z "$fs_type" ]; then
-        # No recognized filesystem
-        return 1
+    if ! command -v wipefs >/dev/null ; then
+        info "warewulf: wipefs not found, cannot check if device is already formatted"
+        return 0
     fi
 
-    # Step 2: try mounting read-only to a temp dir
-    tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
-    if mount -o ro,norecovery -t "$fs_type" "$dev" "$tmpdir" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        umount "$tmpdir"
-        rmdir "$tmpdir"
-        return 0  # usable filesystem
-    else
-        rmdir "$tmpdir"
-        return 1  # filesystem exists but not mountable → treat as unformatted
+    if wipefs -n "${1}" &>/dev/null; then
+        info "warewulf: ${1} already formatted"
+        return 0
     fi
+
+    return 1
 }
 
 if command -v mkfs >/dev/null ; then :
@@ -129,7 +111,7 @@ if command -v mkfs >/dev/null ; then :
     fi
     if true || ! already_formatted /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch; then
         info "warewulf: mkfs: formatting /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch"
-        mkfs --type=ext4   -f /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch  || die "warewulf: mkfs: failed to format /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch"
+        mkfs --type=ext4   -F /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch  || die "warewulf: mkfs: failed to format /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch"
     else
         info "warewulf: mkfs: skipping /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch"
     fi
@@ -173,26 +155,17 @@ if ! command -v die >/dev/null; then
 fi
 
 already_formatted() {
-    dev="$1"
-
-    # Step 1: check if blkid recognizes a filesystem
-    fs_type=$(blkid -o value -s TYPE "$dev" 2>/dev/null)
-
-    if [ -z "$fs_type" ]; then
-        # No recognized filesystem
-        return 1
+    if ! command -v wipefs >/dev/null ; then
+        info "warewulf: wipefs not found, cannot check if device is already formatted"
+        return 0
     fi
 
-    # Step 2: try mounting read-only to a temp dir
-    tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
-    if mount -o ro,norecovery -t "$fs_type" "$dev" "$tmpdir" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        umount "$tmpdir"
-        rmdir "$tmpdir"
-        return 0  # usable filesystem
-    else
-        rmdir "$tmpdir"
-        return 1  # filesystem exists but not mountable → treat as unformatted
+    if wipefs -n "${1}" &>/dev/null; then
+        info "warewulf: ${1} already formatted"
+        return 0
     fi
+
+    return 1
 }
 
 if command -v mkfs >/dev/null ; then :
@@ -204,7 +177,7 @@ if command -v mkfs >/dev/null ; then :
     fi
     if true || ! already_formatted /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch; then
         info "warewulf: mkfs: formatting /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch"
-        mkfs --type=ext4    -f /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch  || die "warewulf: mkfs: failed to format /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch"
+        mkfs --type=ext4    -F /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch  || die "warewulf: mkfs: failed to format /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch"
     else
         info "warewulf: mkfs: skipping /dev/disk/by-partlabel/scratch"
     fi
diff --git a/overlays/mkfs/rootfs/warewulf/wwinit.d/20-mkfs.sh.ww b/overlays/mkfs/rootfs/warewulf/wwinit.d/20-mkfs.sh.ww
index a633b4ae..1e1aea89 100644
--- a/overlays/mkfs/rootfs/warewulf/wwinit.d/20-mkfs.sh.ww
+++ b/overlays/mkfs/rootfs/warewulf/wwinit.d/20-mkfs.sh.ww
@@ -16,26 +16,17 @@ if ! command -v die >/dev/null; then
 fi
 
 already_formatted() {
-    dev="$1"
-
-    # Step 1: check if blkid recognizes a filesystem
-    fs_type=$(blkid -o value -s TYPE "$dev" 2>/dev/null)
-
-    if [ -z "$fs_type" ]; then
-        # No recognized filesystem
-        return 1
+    if ! command -v wipefs >/dev/null ; then
+        info "warewulf: wipefs not found, cannot check if device is already formatted"
+        return 0
     fi
 
-    # Step 2: try mounting read-only to a temp dir
-    tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
-    if mount -o ro,norecovery -t "$fs_type" "$dev" "$tmpdir" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        umount "$tmpdir"
-        rmdir "$tmpdir"
-        return 0  # usable filesystem
-    else
-        rmdir "$tmpdir"
-        return 1  # filesystem exists but not mountable → treat as unformatted
+    if wipefs -n "${1}" &>/dev/null; then
+        info "warewulf: ${1} already formatted"
+        return 0
     fi
+
+    return 1
 }
 
 if command -v mkfs >/dev/null ; then :
@@ -66,7 +57,15 @@ if command -v mkfs >/dev/null ; then :
 {{- 	if and $fs.type $fs.device }}
     if {{if $fs.overwrite}}true{{else}}false{{end}} || ! already_formatted {{ $fs.device }}; then
         info "warewulf: mkfs: formatting {{ $fs.device }}"
-        mkfs {{ not (empty $fs.type) | ternary (print "--type=" $fs.type) "" }} {{ not (empty $fs.label) | ternary (print "-L " $fs.label) "" }} {{ not (empty $fs.uuid) | ternary (print "-U " $fs.uuid) "" }} {{ default "" $fs.options }} -f {{ $fs.device }} {{ default "" $fs.size }} || die "warewulf: mkfs: failed to format {{ $fs.device }}"
+        {{- $forceFlag := "" }}
+        {{- if $fs.overwrite }}
+            {{- if eq $fs.type "ext4" }}
+                {{- $forceFlag = "-F" }}
+            {{- else }}
+                {{- $forceFlag = "-f" }}
+            {{- end }}
+        {{- end }}
+        mkfs {{ not (empty $fs.type) | ternary (print "--type=" $fs.type) "" }} {{ not (empty $fs.label) | ternary (print "-L " $fs.label) "" }} {{ not (empty $fs.uuid) | ternary (print "-U " $fs.uuid) "" }} {{ default "" $fs.options }} {{ $forceFlag }} {{ $fs.device }} {{ default "" $fs.size }} || die "warewulf: mkfs: failed to format {{ $fs.device }}"
     else
         info "warewulf: mkfs: skipping {{ $fs.device }}"
     fi