diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 11d2eba3..b0784795 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ livecd-rootfs (2.350) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
 
   * bump UID for tss user in snappy, else it matches dnsmasq and bad things
     happen
+  * fix handling of writable files in /etc/default for snappy 
 
  -- Oliver Grawert <ogra@ubuntu.com>  Thu, 22 Oct 2015 11:34:34 +0200
 
diff --git a/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/08-etc-writable.chroot b/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/08-etc-writable.chroot
index 0ca61c6c..2d0c53fd 100644
--- a/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/08-etc-writable.chroot
+++ b/live-build/ubuntu-core/hooks/08-etc-writable.chroot
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -e
 
-mkdir -p /etc/writable
+mkdir -p /etc/writable/default
 
 # cloud-init needs to be able to modify hostname and has the ability to
 # set the other two.
-for f in timezone localtime hostname; do
+for f in timezone localtime hostname watchdog.conf; do
     if [ -e /etc/$f ]; then
         echo "I: Moving /etc/$f to /etc/writable/"
         mv /etc/$f /etc/writable/$f
@@ -13,3 +13,14 @@ for f in timezone localtime hostname; do
     echo "I: Linking /etc/$f to /etc/writable/"
     ln -s writable/$f /etc/$f
 done
+
+# do the same for /etc/default files
+for f in watchdog; do
+    if [ -e /etc/default/$f ]; then
+        echo "I: Moving /etc/default/$f to /etc/writable/default"
+        mv /etc/default/$f /etc/writable/default/$f
+    fi
+    echo "I: Linking /etc/default/$f to /etc/writable/default"
+    ln -s /etc/writable/default/$f /etc/default/$f
+done
+