diff --git a/patches/systemvm/debian/config/etc/dnsmasq.conf b/patches/systemvm/debian/config/etc/dnsmasq.conf.tmpl
similarity index 100%
rename from patches/systemvm/debian/config/etc/dnsmasq.conf
rename to patches/systemvm/debian/config/etc/dnsmasq.conf.tmpl
diff --git a/patches/systemvm/debian/config/etc/init.d/cloud-early-config b/patches/systemvm/debian/config/etc/init.d/cloud-early-config
index 6ffd648faeb..ed3894f61cb 100755
--- a/patches/systemvm/debian/config/etc/init.d/cloud-early-config
+++ b/patches/systemvm/debian/config/etc/init.d/cloud-early-config
@@ -442,6 +442,9 @@ setup_dnsmasq() {
   [ -z $DHCP_RANGE ] && [ $ETH0_IP ] && DHCP_RANGE=$ETH0_IP
   [ $ETH0_IP6 ] && DHCP_RANGE_IP6=$ETH0_IP6
   [ -z $DOMAIN ] && DOMAIN="cloudnine.internal"
+
+  #get the template
+  cp /etc/dnsmasq.conf.tmpl /etc/dnsmasq.conf
   
   if [ -n "$DOMAIN" ]
   then