diff --git a/release/tools/vmimage.subr b/release/tools/vmimage.subr
index 97bf52205c9..56acbc35993 100644
--- a/release/tools/vmimage.subr
+++ b/release/tools/vmimage.subr
@@ -213,13 +213,6 @@ vm_extra_install_packages() {
 		    -r ${DESTDIR} \
 		    install -y -r ${PKG_REPO_NAME} $pkg
 	done
-	INSTALL_AS_USER=yes \
-	    ${PKG_CMD} \
-	    -o ABI=${PKG_ABI} \
-	    -o REPOS_DIR=${PKG_REPOS_DIR} \
-	    -o PKG_DBDIR=${DESTDIR}/var/db/pkg \
-	    -r ${DESTDIR} \
-	    autoremove -y
 	if [ -n "${NOPKGBASE}" ]; then
 		metalog_add_data ./var/db/pkg/local.sqlite
 	fi