diff --git a/nixos/lib/make-disk-image.nix b/nixos/lib/make-disk-image.nix
index b12cf68fd36d..636d0223fb77 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/make-disk-image.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/make-disk-image.nix
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ let format' = format; in let
     fakeroot nixos-prepare-root $root ${channelSources} ${config.system.build.toplevel} closure
 
     # fakeroot seems to always give the owner write permissions, which we do not want
-    find $root/nix/store -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type f -o -type d -exec chmod -R a-w '{}' \;
+    find $root/nix/store -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type f -o -type d | xargs chmod -R a-w
 
     echo "copying staging root to image..."
     cptofs ${optionalString partitioned "-P 1"} -t ${fsType} -i $diskImage $root/* /