diff --git a/tools/appliance/definitions/systemvmtemplate/base.sh b/tools/appliance/definitions/systemvmtemplate/base.sh
index d8f6901a07a..4d6092a5995 100644
--- a/tools/appliance/definitions/systemvmtemplate/base.sh
+++ b/tools/appliance/definitions/systemvmtemplate/base.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ echo 'cloud ALL=NOPASSWD:ALL' > /etc/sudoers.d/cloud
 echo 'UseDNS no' >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config
 
 # Remove 5s grub timeout to speed up booting
-echo <<EOF > /etc/default/grub
+cat <<EOF > /etc/default/grub
 # If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
 # /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
 
diff --git a/tools/appliance/definitions/systemvmtemplate/postinstall.sh b/tools/appliance/definitions/systemvmtemplate/postinstall.sh
index dd07e6ebc97..8e745eb1ba9 100644
--- a/tools/appliance/definitions/systemvmtemplate/postinstall.sh
+++ b/tools/appliance/definitions/systemvmtemplate/postinstall.sh
@@ -136,6 +136,8 @@ EOF
   cat >> /etc/locale.gen  << EOF
 en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
 EOF
+
+  locale-gen en_US.UTF-8
 }
 
 do_fixes() {