diff --git a/target/linux/armvirt/Makefile b/target/linux/armvirt/Makefile
index 9a67ab66a4..44d4ece224 100644
--- a/target/linux/armvirt/Makefile
+++ b/target/linux/armvirt/Makefile
@@ -17,4 +17,6 @@ KERNEL_PATCHVER:=4.19
 
 include $(INCLUDE_DIR)/target.mk
 
+DEFAULT_PACKAGES += mkf2fs e2fsprogs
+
 $(eval $(call BuildTarget))
diff --git a/target/linux/armvirt/image/Makefile b/target/linux/armvirt/image/Makefile
index 73d9145e0e..0292dbab42 100644
--- a/target/linux/armvirt/image/Makefile
+++ b/target/linux/armvirt/image/Makefile
@@ -19,10 +19,16 @@ define Image/Build/Initramfs
 	)
 endef
 
+define Image/Build/gzip
+	gzip -f9n $(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_ROOTFS)-$(1).img
+endef
+
+$(eval $(call Image/gzip-ext4-padded-squashfs))
+
 define Image/Build
 	$(call Image/Build/$(1))
-	dd if=$(KDIR)/root.$(1) bs=128k conv=sync | \
-		gzip -9n >$(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_PREFIX)-root.$(1).gz
+	$(CP) $(KDIR)/root.$(1) $(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_ROOTFS)-$(1).img
+	$(call Image/Build/gzip/$(1))
 endef
 
 $(eval $(call BuildImage))