diff --git a/release/tools/azure.conf b/release/tools/azure.conf
index 3e4a4864adfe..46b678cd5c25 100644
--- a/release/tools/azure.conf
+++ b/release/tools/azure.conf
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 # Set to a list of packages to install.
 # Example:
-#export VM_EXTRA_PACKAGES="www/apache24"
+#export VM_EXTRA_PACKAGES="www/apache24 ports-mgmt/pkg"
 export VM_EXTRA_PACKAGES=
 
 # Set to a list of third-party software to enable in rc.conf(5).
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ vm_extra_install_base() {
 	fetch -o ${DESTDIR}/usr/sbin/waagent \
 		http://people.freebsd.org/~gjb/waagent
 	chmod +x ${DESTDIR}/usr/sbin/waagent
-	rm -f ${DESTDIR}/etc/resolv.conf
 
 	return 0
 }
@@ -33,8 +32,6 @@ vm_extra_pre_umount() {
 	echo 'console="comconsole vidconsole"' >> ${DESTDIR}/boot/loader.conf
 	echo 'comconsole_speed="115200"' >> ${DESTDIR}/boot/loader.conf
 
-	rm -f ${DESTDIR}/etc/resolv.conf
-
 	return 0
 }
 
diff --git a/release/tools/openstack.conf b/release/tools/openstack.conf
index 3e0e857e9d89..ed88ae2972fb 100644
--- a/release/tools/openstack.conf
+++ b/release/tools/openstack.conf
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 #
 
 # Set to a list of packages to install.
-export VM_EXTRA_PACKAGES="net/cloud-init"
+export VM_EXTRA_PACKAGES="net/cloud-init ports-mgmt/pkg"
 
 # Set to a list of third-party software to enable in rc.conf(5).
 export VM_RC_LIST="cloudinit"
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ vm_extra_install_base() {
 	fetch -o ${DESTDIR}/usr/sbin/waagent \
 		http://people.freebsd.org/~gjb/waagent
 	chmod +x ${DESTDIR}/usr/sbin/waagent
-	rm -f ${DESTDIR}/etc/resolv.conf
 
 	return 0
 }
@@ -22,7 +21,5 @@ vm_extra_pre_umount() {
 	echo 'sshd_enable="YES"' >> ${DESTDIR}/etc/rc.conf
 	echo 'ifconfig_DEFAULT="SYNCDHCP"' >> ${DESTDIR}/etc/rc.conf
 
-	rm -f ${DESTDIR}/etc/resolv.conf
-
 	return 0
 }
diff --git a/release/tools/vmimage.subr b/release/tools/vmimage.subr
index c7805721d2a5..63e39066fea2 100644
--- a/release/tools/vmimage.subr
+++ b/release/tools/vmimage.subr
@@ -90,8 +90,6 @@ vm_install_base() {
 	chroot ${DESTDIR} /etc/rc.d/ldconfig forcestart
 	umount ${DESTDIR}/dev
 
-	cp /etc/resolv.conf ${DESTDIR}/etc/resolv.conf
-
 	return 0
 }
 
@@ -114,15 +112,18 @@ vm_extra_enable_services() {
 }
 
 vm_extra_install_packages() {
-	mkdir -p ${DESTDIR}/dev
-	mount -t devfs devfs ${DESTDIR}/dev
-	chroot ${DESTDIR} env ASSUME_ALWAYS_YES=yes \
-		/usr/sbin/pkg bootstrap -y
 	if [ ! -z "${VM_EXTRA_PACKAGES}" ]; then
-		chroot ${DESTDIR} env ASSUME_ALWAYS_YES=yes \
-			/usr/sbin/pkg install -y ${VM_EXTRA_PACKAGES}
+		PKGSDIR=`mktemp -d`
+		ABI=`/usr/sbin/pkg -c ${DESTDIR} config abi`
+		/usr/sbin/pkg -o ABI=${ABI} fetch -o ${PKGSDIR} -d -y ${VM_EXTRA_PACKAGES}
+		for PKG in ${PKGSDIR}/All/*; do
+			/usr/sbin/pkg -c ${DESTDIR} add -M - < ${PKG}
+		done
+		rm -r ${PKGSDIR}
+		if [ -z "${NOREPOSQLITE}" ]; then
+			cp /var/db/pkg/repo-FreeBSD.sqlite ${DESTDIR}/var/db/pkg
+		fi
 	fi
-	umount ${DESTDIR}/dev
 
 	return 0
 }
@@ -138,8 +139,6 @@ vm_extra_pre_umount() {
 	# Prototype.  When overridden, installs additional ports within the
 	# virtual machine environment.
 
-	rm -f ${DESTDIR}/etc/resolv.conf
-
 	return 0
 }