diff --git a/release/tools/vmimage.subr b/release/tools/vmimage.subr
--- a/release/tools/vmimage.subr
+++ b/release/tools/vmimage.subr
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@
 	chroot ${DESTDIR} ${EMULATOR} env ASSUME_ALWAYS_YES=yes \
 		/usr/sbin/pkg bootstrap -y
 	for p in ${VM_EXTRA_PACKAGES}; do
-		chroot ${DESTDIR} ${EMULATOR} env ASSUME_ALWAYS_YES=yes \
+		chroot ${DESTDIR} ${EMULATOR} env ASSUME_ALWAYS_YES=yes AUTOCLEAN=yes \
 			/usr/sbin/pkg install -y ${p}
 	done
 	umount_loop ${DESTDIR}/dev