diff --git a/meta-poky/conf/distro/poky-tiny.conf b/meta-poky/conf/distro/poky-tiny.conf
index 54b2af5697..499af906a8 100644
--- a/meta-poky/conf/distro/poky-tiny.conf
+++ b/meta-poky/conf/distro/poky-tiny.conf
@@ -97,8 +97,7 @@ INIT_MANAGER ?= "mdev-busybox"
 # udev, grub, etc.  These pull in gettext, which fails to build with wide
 # character support.
 IMAGE_FSTYPES = "cpio.gz"
-
-QB_DEFAULT_FSTYPE = "${IMAGE_FSTYPES}"
+QB_DEFAULT_FSTYPE = "cpio.gz"
 
 # Drop v86d from qemu dependency list (we support serial)
 # Drop grub from meta-intel BSPs