diff --git a/build_debian.sh b/build_debian.sh
index d69a19a0a7..d1fb84243d 100755
--- a/build_debian.sh
+++ b/build_debian.sh
@@ -256,24 +256,19 @@ sudo LANG=C chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT apt-get -y install apparmor
 sudo cp files/image_config/ntp/ntp-apparmor $FILESYSTEM_ROOT/etc/apparmor.d/local/usr.sbin.ntpd
 sudo LANG=C chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT apt-get -y install apt-transport-https \
                                                        ca-certificates \
-                                                       curl \
-                                                       gnupg2 \
-                                                       software-properties-common
+                                                       curl
 if [[ $CONFIGURED_ARCH == armhf ]]; then
     # update ssl ca certificates for secure pem
     sudo https_proxy=$https_proxy LANG=C chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT c_rehash
 fi
 sudo https_proxy=$https_proxy LANG=C chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT curl -o /tmp/docker.asc -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg
 sudo LANG=C chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT mv /tmp/docker.asc /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/
-sudo LANG=C chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT add-apt-repository \
-                                    "deb [arch=$CONFIGURED_ARCH] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $IMAGE_DISTRO stable"
+sudo tee $FILESYSTEM_ROOT/etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list >/dev/null <<EOF
+deb [arch=$CONFIGURED_ARCH] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $IMAGE_DISTRO stable
+EOF
 sudo LANG=C chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT apt-get update
 sudo LANG=C chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT apt-get -y install docker-ce=${DOCKER_VERSION} docker-ce-cli=${DOCKER_VERSION} containerd.io=${CONTAINERD_IO_VERSION}
 
-# Uninstall 'python3-gi' installed as part of 'software-properties-common' to remove debian version of 'PyGObject'
-# pip version of 'PyGObject' will be installed during installation of 'sonic-host-services'
-sudo LANG=C chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT apt-get -y remove software-properties-common gnupg2 python3-gi
-
 install_kubernetes () {
     local ver="$1"
     sudo https_proxy=$https_proxy LANG=C chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT curl -fsSL \
diff --git a/files/build_templates/sonic_debian_extension.j2 b/files/build_templates/sonic_debian_extension.j2
index c535488998..168df5af2b 100644
--- a/files/build_templates/sonic_debian_extension.j2
+++ b/files/build_templates/sonic_debian_extension.j2
@@ -281,6 +281,12 @@ sudo dpkg --root=$FILESYSTEM_ROOT -i $debs_path/bash-tacplus_*.deb || \
 sudo dpkg --root=$FILESYSTEM_ROOT -i $debs_path/audisp-tacplus_*.deb || \
     sudo LANG=C DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT apt-get -y install -f
 # Disable tacplus by default
+## NOTE: this syntax of pam-auth-update is meant to be used when the package gets removed, not for specifying
+## some local configuration of a PAM module. Currently, there's no clean way of noninteractively specifying
+## whether some PAM module needs to be enabled or disabled on a system (there are hacky ways, though).
+##
+## If there is some PAM module that's installed/removed after this point, then this setting will end up having
+## no impact, and there may be errors/test failures related to authentication.
 sudo LANG=C chroot $FILESYSTEM_ROOT pam-auth-update --remove tacplus
 sudo sed -i -e '/^passwd/s/ tacplus//' $FILESYSTEM_ROOT/etc/nsswitch.conf
 
diff --git a/files/image_config/platform/rc.local b/files/image_config/platform/rc.local
index 1848c56f30..5cdefa8877 100755
--- a/files/image_config/platform/rc.local
+++ b/files/image_config/platform/rc.local
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ if [ -f $FIRST_BOOT_FILE ]; then
             # Use only the trivial repo and apt to support lazy package dependencies
             mv /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.rc-local
             echo "deb [trusted=yes] file:///host/image-$SONIC_VERSION/platform/common /" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sonic_debian_extension.list
-            LANG=C DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get update
+            LANG=C DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -o Acquire::Retries=1 update
             LANG=C DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -o DPkg::Path=$PATH:/usr/local/bin -y install /host/image-$SONIC_VERSION/platform/$platform/*.deb
             # Cleanup
             rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sonic_debian_extension.list