diff --git a/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/profiles/coreos/base/package.use b/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/profiles/coreos/base/package.use
index 1e4bf6def4..785127fe0b 100644
--- a/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/profiles/coreos/base/package.use
+++ b/sdk_container/src/third_party/coreos-overlay/profiles/coreos/base/package.use
@@ -196,3 +196,7 @@ sys-libs/libcap static-libs
 
 # do not force a dependency on llvm-core/llvm yet
 dev-lang/rust -system-llvm
+
+# disable mpfr in gawk, this ends up being pulled into initrd, making
+# it grow by another 2mb
+sys-apps/gawk -mpfr