A capsule-based firmware update process is provided. After an operating system has provided a firmware update in the form of a capsule and the computing system is rebooted, a module can be loaded to locate a memory subsystem separate from the system memory. The module can initialize the separate memory subsystem and then identify a contiguous block of memory within the separate memory subsystem. The module can then cause the capsule to be coalesced from the system memory into the separate memory subsystem. Once the capsule is coalesced into the separate memory subsystem and the system memory is registered, the module can cause the coalesced capsule to be copied back into system memory where it can be accessed by other components that are subsequently loaded during the boot process.