diff --git a/live-build/auto/config b/live-build/auto/config
index 9935d24f..89e25277 100755
--- a/live-build/auto/config
+++ b/live-build/auto/config
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ mkdir -p config
 cp -af /usr/share/livecd-rootfs/live-build/functions config/functions
 cp -af /usr/share/livecd-rootfs/live-build/lb_*_layered config/
 cp -af /usr/share/livecd-rootfs/live-build/snap-seed-parse.py config/snap-seed-parse
+cp -af /usr/share/livecd-rootfs/live-build/squashfs-exclude-files config/
 
 mkdir -p config/package-lists
 
diff --git a/live-build/functions b/live-build/functions
index e9d06d22..e4b90425 100644
--- a/live-build/functions
+++ b/live-build/functions
@@ -289,6 +289,17 @@ create_vmdk() {
     rm -rf ${scratch_d}
 }
 
+create_squashfs() {
+    local config_dir rootfs_dir squashfs_file
+    rootfs_dir="$1"
+    squashfs_file="$2"
+    config_dir="$PWD/config"
+    (cd $rootfs_dir &&
+        mksquashfs . $squashfs_file -no-progress -xattrs -comp xz \
+            -ef "$config_dir/squashfs-exclude-files")
+
+}
+
 create_derivative() {
     # arg1 is the disk type
     # arg2 is the new name
diff --git a/live-build/squashfs-exclude-files b/live-build/squashfs-exclude-files
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bcdcb274
--- /dev/null
+++ b/live-build/squashfs-exclude-files
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+etc/fstab
diff --git a/live-build/ubuntu-cpc/hooks.d/base/root-squashfs.binary b/live-build/ubuntu-cpc/hooks.d/base/root-squashfs.binary
index 873cee59..bc56bc42 100755
--- a/live-build/ubuntu-cpc/hooks.d/base/root-squashfs.binary
+++ b/live-build/ubuntu-cpc/hooks.d/base/root-squashfs.binary
@@ -8,14 +8,15 @@ if [ -n "$SUBARCH" ]; then
 	exit 0
 fi
 
+. config/functions
+
 # This is the directory created by create-root-dir.binary
 rootfs_dir=rootfs.dir
 
 squashfs_f="$PWD/livecd.ubuntu-cpc.squashfs"
 
 cp $rootfs_dir.manifest $squashfs_f.manifest
-cp $rootfs_dir.filelist $squashfs_f.filelist
+# fstab is omitted from the squashfs
+grep -v '^/etc/fstab$' $rootfs_dir.filelist >$squashfs_f.filelist
 
-(cd $rootfs_dir &&
-      mksquashfs . $squashfs_f \
-        -no-progress -xattrs -comp xz )
+create_squashfs $rootfs_dir $squashfs_f
diff --git a/live-build/ubuntu-server/hooks/030-root-squashfs.binary b/live-build/ubuntu-server/hooks/030-root-squashfs.binary
index 41c15001..148490e9 100755
--- a/live-build/ubuntu-server/hooks/030-root-squashfs.binary
+++ b/live-build/ubuntu-server/hooks/030-root-squashfs.binary
@@ -30,6 +30,4 @@ squashfs_f_manifest="${squashfs_f}.manifest"
 
 create_manifest "binary/boot/squashfs.dir" "${squashfs_f_manifest}"
 
-(cd "binary/boot/squashfs.dir/" &&
-      mksquashfs . ${squashfs_f} \
-        -no-progress -xattrs -comp xz )
+create_squashfs "binary/boot/squashfs.dir/" ${squashfs_f}
diff --git a/live-build/ubuntu-server/hooks/032-installer-squashfs.binary b/live-build/ubuntu-server/hooks/032-installer-squashfs.binary
index c12c8bf1..a86deb35 100755
--- a/live-build/ubuntu-server/hooks/032-installer-squashfs.binary
+++ b/live-build/ubuntu-server/hooks/032-installer-squashfs.binary
@@ -91,6 +91,4 @@ find $OVERLAY_ROOT/var/lib/snapd/ -name 'lxd_*.snap' -delete
 
 squashfs_f="${PWD}/livecd.${PROJECT}.installer.squashfs"
 
-(cd "$OVERLAY_ROOT/" &&
-      mksquashfs . ${squashfs_f} \
-        -no-progress -xattrs -comp xz )
+create_squashfs "$OVERLAY_ROOT/" ${squashfs_f}