diff --git a/usr.sbin/makefs/tests/makefs_cd9660_tests.sh b/usr.sbin/makefs/tests/makefs_cd9660_tests.sh
index 214ae2b4d133..161b56b12e7a 100755
--- a/usr.sbin/makefs/tests/makefs_cd9660_tests.sh
+++ b/usr.sbin/makefs/tests/makefs_cd9660_tests.sh
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ from_mtree_spec_file_body()
 	create_test_inputs
 
 	atf_check -e empty -o save:$TEST_SPEC_FILE -s exit:0 \
-	    mtree -c -k type,link,size -p $TEST_INPUTS_DIR
+	    mtree -c -k "$DEFAULT_MTREE_KEYWORDS" -p $TEST_INPUTS_DIR
 	cd $TEST_INPUTS_DIR
 	atf_check -e empty -o empty -s exit:0 \
 	    $MAKEFS $TEST_IMAGE $TEST_SPEC_FILE
diff --git a/usr.sbin/makefs/tests/makefs_ffs_tests.sh b/usr.sbin/makefs/tests/makefs_ffs_tests.sh
index 4bc3f5c25892..4dc2fd907baa 100755
--- a/usr.sbin/makefs/tests/makefs_ffs_tests.sh
+++ b/usr.sbin/makefs/tests/makefs_ffs_tests.sh
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ from_mtree_spec_file_body()
 	create_test_inputs
 
 	atf_check -e empty -o save:$TEST_SPEC_FILE -s exit:0 \
-	    mtree -c -k type,link,size -p $TEST_INPUTS_DIR
+	    mtree -c -k "$DEFAULT_MTREE_KEYWORDS" -p $TEST_INPUTS_DIR
 
 	cd $TEST_INPUTS_DIR
 	atf_check -e empty -o not-empty -s exit:0 \
diff --git a/usr.sbin/makefs/tests/makefs_tests_common.sh b/usr.sbin/makefs/tests/makefs_tests_common.sh
index d0099fd9c183..add0b88728e2 100755
--- a/usr.sbin/makefs/tests/makefs_tests_common.sh
+++ b/usr.sbin/makefs/tests/makefs_tests_common.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,13 @@
 
 KB=1024
 : ${TMPDIR=/tmp}
+# TODO: add mtree `time` support; get a lot of errors like this right now when
+# passing generating disk images with keyword mtree support, like:
+#
+# `[...]/mtree.spec:8: error: time: invalid value '1446458503'`
+#
+#DEFAULT_MTREE_KEYWORDS="type,mode,gid,uid,size,link,time"
+DEFAULT_MTREE_KEYWORDS="type,mode,gid,uid,size,link"
 TEST_IMAGE="$TMPDIR/test.img"
 TEST_INPUTS_DIR="$TMPDIR/inputs"
 TEST_MD_DEVICE_FILE="$TMPDIR/md.output"
@@ -39,7 +46,7 @@ check_image_contents()
 {
 	local directories=$TEST_INPUTS_DIR
 	local excludes mtree_excludes_arg mtree_file
-	local mtree_keywords="type,link,size"
+	local mtree_keywords="$DEFAULT_MTREE_KEYWORDS"
 
 	while getopts "d:f:m:X:" flag; do
 		case "$flag" in