diff --git a/conf/distro/include/qcom-base.inc b/conf/distro/include/qcom-base.inc
index 6e7ef28..a196001 100644
--- a/conf/distro/include/qcom-base.inc
+++ b/conf/distro/include/qcom-base.inc
@@ -27,8 +27,10 @@ IMAGE_FSTYPES += "qcomflash"
 # Set a default package class to avoid surprises
 PACKAGE_CLASSES = "package_ipk"
 
-# Avoid to duplicate the rootfs tarball by generating both tar.gz/tar.xz
-IMAGE_FSTYPES:remove = "tar.gz"
+# Force tarballs being generated, some BSP layers overwrite
+# IMAGE_FSTYPES, so this appends 'tar.gz' regardless of what the BSP
+# tried to remove
+IMAGE_FSTYPES:append = " tar.gz"
 
 # Pull in the initrd image by default
 INITRAMFS_IMAGE_BUNDLE ?= "1"