diff --git a/appliances/default/default/01firstboot.start b/appliances/default/default/01firstboot.start
index 8c66413..fee7e49 100755
--- a/appliances/default/default/01firstboot.start
+++ b/appliances/default/default/01firstboot.start
@@ -170,6 +170,8 @@ populate_data
 
 if [ ! -d "/$LABEL/etc/ssh" ]; then
     cp -af /etc/ssh /etc/ssh.orig
+    # replace relative by absulute symlinks
+    find /etc/ssh -type l -exec /bin/bash -c 'abs=$(readlink -f "$0") && rm "$0" && ln -s "$abs" "$0"' {} \;
     mkdir -p "/$LABEL/etc"
     mv /etc/ssh "/$LABEL/etc/"
     ln -nsf "/$LABEL/etc/ssh" /etc/ssh