/etc/init.d/keytable should be run in _any_ runlevel including runlevel 1. That fact that I boot single user does not mean that my keyboard has changed...
Keytables are in /usr/..., and single user mode must not depend on any files in /usr (/usr can be nfs-mounted or broken).
The keytable that is needed could be copied to /etc/somewhere...
Fixed