diff --git a/release/Makefile.vm b/release/Makefile.vm
index 7821109cf9c..ff8adcb8bd9 100644
--- a/release/Makefile.vm
+++ b/release/Makefile.vm
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ cw-${_CW:tl}-${_FS}-${_FMT}: ${QEMUTGT}
 		EC2BASEIMG=${.OBJDIR}/${EC2-BASE${_FS:tu}${_FMT:tu}IMAGE} \
 		${WITHOUT_QEMU:DWITHOUT_QEMU=true} \
 		${NO_ROOT:DNO_ROOT=true} \
+		PKG_INSTALL_EPOCH=${PKG_INSTALL_EPOCH:U${GITEPOCH}} \
 		${.CURDIR}/scripts/mk-vmimage.sh \
 		-C ${.CURDIR}/tools/vmimage.subr -d ${.OBJDIR}/${.TARGET} \
 		-F ${"${_CW:MEC2-BUILDER}" != "":?ufs:${_FS}} \