diff --git a/core/Makefile b/core/Makefile
index 7fd2dc8400..bd493a62e1 100644
--- a/core/Makefile
+++ b/core/Makefile
@@ -3447,35 +3447,35 @@ ifeq ($(BUILD_QEMU_IMAGES),true)
 INSTALLED_QEMU_SYSTEMIMAGE := $(PRODUCT_OUT)/system-qemu.img
 MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH := device/generic/goldfish/tools/mk_qemu_image.sh
 SGDISK_HOST := $(HOST_OUT_EXECUTABLES)/sgdisk
-$(INSTALLED_QEMU_SYSTEMIMAGE): $(INSTALLED_SYSTEMIMAGE) $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) $(SGDISK_HOST)
+$(INSTALLED_QEMU_SYSTEMIMAGE): $(INSTALLED_SYSTEMIMAGE) $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) $(SGDISK_HOST) $(SIMG2IMG)
 	@echo Create system-qemu.img
-	(export SGDISK=$(SGDISK_HOST); $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) ${PRODUCT_OUT}/system.img)
+	(export SGDISK=$(SGDISK_HOST) SIMG2IMG=$(SIMG2IMG); $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) ${PRODUCT_OUT}/system.img)
 
 systemimage: $(INSTALLED_QEMU_SYSTEMIMAGE)
 droidcore: $(INSTALLED_QEMU_SYSTEMIMAGE)
 ifeq ($(BOARD_USES_VENDORIMAGE),true)
 INSTALLED_QEMU_VENDORIMAGE := $(PRODUCT_OUT)/vendor-qemu.img
-$(INSTALLED_QEMU_VENDORIMAGE): $(INSTALLED_VENDORIMAGE_TARGET) $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) $(SGDISK_HOST)
+$(INSTALLED_QEMU_VENDORIMAGE): $(INSTALLED_VENDORIMAGE_TARGET) $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) $(SGDISK_HOST) $(SIMG2IMG)
 	@echo Create vendor-qemu.img
-	(export SGDISK=$(SGDISK_HOST); $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) ${PRODUCT_OUT}/vendor.img)
+	(export SGDISK=$(SGDISK_HOST) SIMG2IMG=$(SIMG2IMG); $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) ${PRODUCT_OUT}/vendor.img)
 
 vendorimage: $(INSTALLED_QEMU_VENDORIMAGE)
 droidcore: $(INSTALLED_QEMU_VENDORIMAGE)
 endif
 ifeq ($(BOARD_USES_PRODUCTIMAGE),true)
 INSTALLED_QEMU_PRODUCTIMAGE := $(PRODUCT_OUT)/product-qemu.img
-$(INSTALLED_QEMU_PRODUCTIMAGE): $(INSTALLED_PRODUCTIMAGE_TARGET) $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) $(SGDISK_HOST)
+$(INSTALLED_QEMU_PRODUCTIMAGE): $(INSTALLED_PRODUCTIMAGE_TARGET) $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) $(SGDISK_HOST) $(SIMG2IMG)
 	@echo Create product-qemu.img
-	(export SGDISK=$(SGDISK_HOST); $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) ${PRODUCT_OUT}/product.img)
+	(export SGDISK=$(SGDISK_HOST) SIMG2IMG=$(SIMG2IMG); $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) ${PRODUCT_OUT}/product.img)
 
 productimage: $(INSTALLED_QEMU_PRODUCTIMAGE)
 droidcore: $(INSTALLED_QEMU_PRODUCTIMAGE)
 endif
 ifeq ($(BOARD_USES_PRODUCT_SERVICESIMAGE),true)
 INSTALLED_QEMU_PRODUCT_SERVICESIMAGE := $(PRODUCT_OUT)/product-services-qemu.img
-$(INSTALLED_QEMU_PRODUCT_SERVICESIMAGE): $(INSTALLED_PRODUCT_SERVICESIMAGE_TARGET) $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) $(SGDISK_HOST)
+$(INSTALLED_QEMU_PRODUCT_SERVICESIMAGE): $(INSTALLED_PRODUCT_SERVICESIMAGE_TARGET) $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) $(SGDISK_HOST) $(SIMG2IMG)
 	@echo Create product-services-qemu.img
-	(export SGDISK=$(SGDISK_HOST); $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) ${PRODUCT_OUT}/product-services.img)
+	(export SGDISK=$(SGDISK_HOST) SIMG2IMG=$(SIMG2IMG); $(MK_QEMU_IMAGE_SH) ${PRODUCT_OUT}/product-services.img)
 
 productservicesimage: $(INSTALLED_QEMU_PRODUCT_SERVICESIMAGE)
 droidcore: $(INSTALLED_QEMU_PRODUCT_SERVICESIMAGE)
diff --git a/target/board/BoardConfigGsiCommon.mk b/target/board/BoardConfigGsiCommon.mk
index 24614dedc0..4a60d47f9b 100644
--- a/target/board/BoardConfigGsiCommon.mk
+++ b/target/board/BoardConfigGsiCommon.mk
@@ -3,11 +3,12 @@
 # Common compile-time definitions for GSI
 #
 
-# system.img is always ext4 with sparse option
+# GSIs always use ext4.
 TARGET_USERIMAGES_USE_EXT4 := true
-# TODO(b/63790380): emulator doesn't support sparse yet
-#TARGET_USERIMAGES_SPARSE_EXT_DISABLED := false
-TARGET_USERIMAGES_SPARSE_EXT_DISABLED := true
+# GSIs are historically released in sparse format.
+# Some vendors' bootloaders don't work properly with raw format images. So
+# we explicit specify this need below (even though it's the current default).
+TARGET_USERIMAGES_SPARSE_EXT_DISABLED := false
 TARGET_USES_MKE2FS := true
 
 # Android Verified Boot (AVB):