diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
index a0dca0d59fc..fc41e8ec52e 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@ rec {
         set +o pipefail
         for i in $rpms; do
             echo "$i..."
-            ${rpm}/bin/rpm2cpio "$i" | chroot /mnt ${cpio}/bin/cpio -i --make-directories --unconditional
+            ${rpm}/bin/rpm2cpio "$i" | chroot /mnt ${cpio}/bin/cpio -i --make-directories --unconditional --extract-over-symlinks
         done
 
         eval "$preInstall"