diff --git a/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/sys-apps/baselayout/baselayout-9999.ebuild b/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/sys-apps/baselayout/baselayout-9999.ebuild
index c91de3828b6..d42f0aa6761 100644
--- a/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/sys-apps/baselayout/baselayout-9999.ebuild
+++ b/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/sys-apps/baselayout/baselayout-9999.ebuild
@@ -150,14 +150,13 @@ pkg_preinst() {
 	for sym in "${!EXTRA_SYMS[@]}" ; do
 		ln -sfT "${EXTRA_SYMS[$sym]}" "${EROOT}/usr/lib/debug/${sym}"
 	done
+
+	# The default passwd/group files must exist for some ebuilds
+	touch "${ED}/etc/"{group,gshadow,passwd,shadow}
+	chmod 640 "${ED}/etc/"{gshadow,shadow}
 }
 
 pkg_postinst() {
-	# The default passwd/group files must exist in the SDK for some ebuilds
-	if use cros_host; then
-		touch "${ROOT}/etc/"{group,gshadow,passwd,shadow}
-		chmod 640 "${ROOT}/etc/"{gshadow,shadow}
-	fi
 	# compat symlink for packages that haven't migrated to gentoo-functions
 	local func=../../lib/gentoo/functions.sh
 	if [[ "$(readlink "${ROOT}/etc/init.d/functions.sh")" != "${func}" ]]; then