Index: release/tools/gce.conf
===================================================================
--- release/tools/gce.conf
+++ release/tools/gce.conf
@@ -24,6 +24,16 @@
 }
 
 vm_extra_pre_umount() {
+	# The firstboot_pkgs rc.d script will download the repository
+	# catalogue and install or update pkg when the instance first
+	# launches, so these files would just be replaced anyway; removing
+	# them from the image allows it to boot faster.
+	mount -t devfs devfs ${DESTDIR}/dev
+	chroot ${DESTDIR} env ASSUME_ALWAYS_YES=yes \
+		/usr/sbin/pkg delete -f -y pkg
+	umount ${DESTDIR}/dev
+	rm ${DESTDIR}/var/db/pkg/repo-*.sqlite
+
 	# Enable growfs on every boot, not only the first, as as instance's disk can
 	# be enlarged post-creation
 	sed -i -e '/KEYWORD: firstboot/d' /etc/rc.d/growfs