diff --git a/release/tools/vmimage.subr b/release/tools/vmimage.subr
index 0ca9ba267ce..f7fc9906c04 100644
--- a/release/tools/vmimage.subr
+++ b/release/tools/vmimage.subr
@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ vm_base_packages_list() {
 		echo FreeBSD-set-lib32-dbg
 	esac
 	echo FreeBSD-set-tests
+	# Also install pkg, since systems with a packaged base system should
+	# have the tools to upgrade themselves.
+	echo pkg
 }
 
 vm_extra_filter_base_packages() {