diff --git a/oem/ami/build_ebs_on_ec2.sh b/oem/ami/build_ebs_on_ec2.sh
index 71bccd8be7..d92e7dbaf0 100755
--- a/oem/ami/build_ebs_on_ec2.sh
+++ b/oem/ami/build_ebs_on_ec2.sh
@@ -170,6 +170,22 @@ amiid=$(ec2-register                                  \
 
 ec2-delete-volume "$volumeid"
 
+# hack job to copy AMIs
+export EC2_HOME=/home/ubuntu/ec2/ec2-api-tools-1.6.10.0
+export JAVA_HOME=/usr
+for r in "${!AKI[@]}"
+do
+    [ "${r}" == "${region}" ] && continue
+    r_amiid=$($EC2_HOME/bin/ec2-copy-image \
+        --source-region "$region"            \
+        --source-ami-id "$amiid"             \
+        --name "$description"                \
+        --region "$r"                        |
+        cut -f2)
+    echo "$r $r_amiid"
+done
+
+
 cat <<EOF
 AMI: $amiid $region $arch2