diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/gentoo/finalise.d/99-cleanup b/diskimage_builder/elements/gentoo/finalise.d/99-cleanup
index 4de25ec06..e6bd96d1e 100755
--- a/diskimage_builder/elements/gentoo/finalise.d/99-cleanup
+++ b/diskimage_builder/elements/gentoo/finalise.d/99-cleanup
@@ -9,7 +9,11 @@ set -o pipefail
 # make sure system is in a consistent state
 echo 'PYTHON_TARGETS="python3_4"' >> /etc/portage/make.conf
 eselect python set python3.4
-emerge -C -q dev-lang/python:2.7 dev-vcs/git
+# allow these uninstalls to fail as they may not be installed
+set +e
+emerge -C -q dev-lang/python:2.7
+emerge -C -q dev-vcs/git
+set -e
 USE="-build" emerge -q --backtrack=99 --jobs=2 --update --newuse --deep --with-bdeps=y @world
 # rebuild packages that might need it
 USE="-build" emerge -q --jobs=2 --usepkg=n @preserved-rebuild