diff --git a/update_chroot b/update_chroot
index 2b57b36a4c..add4b3dbd8 100755
--- a/update_chroot
+++ b/update_chroot
@@ -54,10 +54,10 @@ COREOS_CONFIG="${COREOS_OVERLAY}/coreos/config"
 
 info "Setting up portage..."
 sudo mkdir -p "/etc/portage/repos.conf/"
-sudo ln -sf "${COREOS_CONFIG}/make.conf.amd64-host" "/etc/portage/make.conf"
+sudo rm -f "/etc/portage/make.conf"
 sudo touch "/etc/portage/make.conf.user"
 
-sudo_clobber "/etc/portage/make.conf.host_setup" <<EOF
+sudo_clobber "/etc/portage/make.conf" <<EOF
 # Created by update_chroot
 PORTDIR="${PORTAGE_STABLE_OVERLAY}"
 PORTDIR_OVERLAY="${CROSSDEV_OVERLAY} ${COREOS_OVERLAY}"
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@ MAKEOPTS="--jobs=${NUM_JOBS} --load-average=$((NUM_JOBS * 2))"
 # Generally there isn't any need to add packages to @world by default.
 # You can use --select to override this.
 EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS="--oneshot"
+
+# Allow the user to override or define additional settings.
+source "/etc/portage/make.conf.user"
 EOF
 
 sudo_clobber "/etc/portage/repos.conf/coreos.conf" <<EOF