diff --git a/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/profiles/coreos/targets/generic/package.use.mask b/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/profiles/coreos/targets/generic/package.use.mask
index 138ee5a399..4482d1b610 100644
--- a/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/profiles/coreos/targets/generic/package.use.mask
+++ b/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/profiles/coreos/targets/generic/package.use.mask
@@ -7,3 +7,8 @@ sys-apps/smartmontools caps
 # with USE=selinux. For production images, we will filter python files
 # out with an install mask.
 sys-libs/libselinux -python
+
+# Allow USE=python for sys-process/audit - it is needed by
+# policycoreutils. For production images, we will filter python files
+# out with an install mask.
+sys-process/audit -python