diff --git a/release/Makefile.vm b/release/Makefile.vm
index eab4a1e956a9..caca7cfa657b 100644
--- a/release/Makefile.vm
+++ b/release/Makefile.vm
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ vm-image:
 .if defined(WITH_VMIMAGES) && !empty(WITH_VMIMAGES)
 . for FORMAT in ${VMFORMATS}
 	mkdir -p ${.OBJDIR}/${.TARGET}
-	env TARGET=${TARGET} TARGET_ARCH=${TARGET_ARCH} \
+	env TARGET=${TARGET} TARGET_ARCH=${TARGET_ARCH} SWAPSIZE=${SWAPSIZE} \
 		${.CURDIR}/scripts/mk-vmimage.sh \
 		-C ${.CURDIR}/tools/vmimage.subr -d ${.OBJDIR}/${.TARGET} \
 		-i ${.OBJDIR}/${FORMAT}.img -s ${VMSIZE} -f ${FORMAT} \