diff --git a/diskimage_builder/lib/disk-image-create b/diskimage_builder/lib/disk-image-create
index 4fb810b4..d5a0396e 100644
--- a/diskimage_builder/lib/disk-image-create
+++ b/diskimage_builder/lib/disk-image-create
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ INSTALL_PACKAGES=""
 IMAGE_TYPES=("qcow2")
 COMPRESS_IMAGE="true"
 DIB_GZIP_BIN=${DIB_GZIP_BIN:-"gzip"}
-ROOT_LABEL=""
+ROOT_LABEL="${ROOT_LABEL:-}"
 DIB_DEFAULT_INSTALLTYPE=${DIB_DEFAULT_INSTALLTYPE:-"source"}
 MKFS_OPTS=""
 ACI_MANIFEST=${ACI_MANIFEST:-}