diff --git a/release/Makefile.gce b/release/Makefile.gce
index 5bdfb5d2ce62..34c1e9192125 100644
--- a/release/Makefile.gce
+++ b/release/Makefile.gce
@@ -18,8 +18,13 @@ CLEANFILES+=		${GCE_UPLOAD_TGTS}
 
 GCE_BUCKET?=
 
+.if !defined(GCE_FAMILY) || empty(GCE_FAMILY)
+GCE_FAMILY=		${TYPE:tl}-${REVISION:S,.,-,}
+.endif
+
 .if ${BRANCH} == "STABLE" || ${BRANCH} == "CURRENT" || ${BRANCH} == "PRERELEASE"
 SNAPSHOT_DATE!=		date +-%Y-%m-%d
+GCE_FAMILY_SUFX=	-snap
 .endif
 
 # Really?  Uppercase characters are not allowed?  Sigh...
@@ -64,6 +69,7 @@ gce-do-upload:
 	/usr/local/bin/gsutil cp ${.OBJDIR}/${GCE_TARGET}.tar.gz \
 		gs://${GCE_BUCKET}/
 	/usr/local/bin/gcloud compute images create ${GCE_TARGET} \
+		--family=${GCE_FAMILY}${GCE_FAMILY_SUFX} \
 		--source-uri gs://${GCE_BUCKET}/${GCE_TARGET}.tar.gz
 	touch ${.OBJDIR}/${.TARGET}