diff --git a/release/Makefile.vm b/release/Makefile.vm
index 9de384650cbf..1c6a1936058b 100644
--- a/release/Makefile.vm
+++ b/release/Makefile.vm
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 VMTARGETS=	vm-image
 VMFORMATS?=	vhd vmdk qcow2 raw
 VMSIZE?=	20G
+SWAPSIZE?=	1G
 VMBASE?=	vm
 
 VHD_DESC=	Azure, VirtualPC, Hyper-V, Xen disk image
diff --git a/release/tools/vmimage.subr b/release/tools/vmimage.subr
index b5a8bf7c6a53..14ef7f106e30 100644
--- a/release/tools/vmimage.subr
+++ b/release/tools/vmimage.subr
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ trap "cleanup" INT QUIT TRAP ABRT TERM
 
 write_partition_layout() {
 	if [ -z "${NOSWAP}" ]; then
-		SWAPOPT="-p freebsd-swap/swapfs::1G"
+		SWAPOPT="-p freebsd-swap/swapfs::${SWAPSIZE}"
 	fi
 
 	_OBJDIR="$(make -C ${WORLDDIR} -V .OBJDIR)"