diff --git a/elements/debian/root.d/08-debootstrap b/elements/debian/root.d/08-debootstrap
index 2f9a1f0c..d33b3a4f 100755
--- a/elements/debian/root.d/08-debootstrap
+++ b/elements/debian/root.d/08-debootstrap
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ LABEL=cloudimg-rootfs / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
     sudo sh -c "echo 'debian' > ${TARGET_ROOT}/etc/hostname"
 
     # specify a hostname so that cloud-init does not default to (None)
-    echo "hostname: debian" > ${TARGET_ROOT}/etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/01_hostname.cfg
+    sudo sh -c "echo 'hostname: debian' > ${TARGET_ROOT}/etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/01_hostname.cfg"
 
     echo Caching debootstrap result in $DEBOOTSTRAP_TARBALL
     sudo tar -C $TARGET_ROOT -zcf $DEBOOTSTRAP_TARBALL .