diff --git a/build_debian.sh b/build_debian.sh
index c824faa439..af5f4ca94f 100755
--- a/build_debian.sh
+++ b/build_debian.sh
@@ -581,18 +581,21 @@ sudo mksquashfs $FILESYSTEM_ROOT $FILESYSTEM_SQUASHFS -e boot -e var/lib/docker
 
 scripts/collect_host_image_version_files.sh $TARGET_PATH $FILESYSTEM_ROOT
 
-if [[ $CONFIGURED_ARCH == armhf || $CONFIGURED_ARCH == arm64 ]]; then
-    # Remove qemu arm bin executable used for cross-building
-    sudo rm -f $FILESYSTEM_ROOT/usr/bin/qemu*static || true
-    DOCKERFS_PATH=../dockerfs/
-fi
-
 # Ensure admin gid is 1000
 gid_user=$(sudo LANG=C chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT id -g $USERNAME) || gid_user="none"
 if [ "${gid_user}" != "1000" ]; then
     die "expect gid 1000. current:${gid_user}"
 fi
 
+# ALERT: This bit of logic tears down the qemu based build environment used to
+# perform builds for the ARM architecture. This must be the last step in this
+# script before creating the Sonic installer payload zip file.
+if [[ $CONFIGURED_ARCH == armhf || $CONFIGURED_ARCH == arm64 ]]; then
+    # Remove qemu arm bin executable used for cross-building
+    sudo rm -f $FILESYSTEM_ROOT/usr/bin/qemu*static || true
+    DOCKERFS_PATH=../dockerfs/
+fi
+
 ## Compress docker files
 pushd $FILESYSTEM_ROOT && sudo tar czf $OLDPWD/$FILESYSTEM_DOCKERFS -C ${DOCKERFS_PATH}var/lib/docker .; popd