diff --git a/target/board/BoardConfigGsiCommon.mk b/target/board/BoardConfigGsiCommon.mk
index 9d55f42af..e34dc2333 100644
--- a/target/board/BoardConfigGsiCommon.mk
+++ b/target/board/BoardConfigGsiCommon.mk
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ TARGET_NO_KERNEL := true
 # This flag is set by mainline but isn't desired for GSI.
 BOARD_USES_SYSTEM_OTHER_ODEX :=
 
-# system.img is always ext4 with sparse option
+# system.img is always ext4 and non-sparsed.
+TARGET_USERIMAGES_SPARSE_EXT_DISABLED := true
+
 # GSI also includes make_f2fs to support userdata parition in f2fs
 # for some devices
 TARGET_USERIMAGES_USE_F2FS := true