diff --git a/build_library/test_image_content.sh b/build_library/test_image_content.sh
index 269d940553..ae3ef0a7d9 100644
--- a/build_library/test_image_content.sh
+++ b/build_library/test_image_content.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 GLSA_WHITELIST=(
 	201412-09 # incompatible CA certificate version numbers
-	201709-02 # updating binutils breaks amd64 Linux uncompression
 	201710-23 # we handle Go differently; drop when 1.9 builds everything
 )
 
diff --git a/build_library/toolchain_util.sh b/build_library/toolchain_util.sh
index aa44447171..d926251fda 100644
--- a/build_library/toolchain_util.sh
+++ b/build_library/toolchain_util.sh
@@ -194,7 +194,9 @@ get_cross_pkgs() {
 # Get portage arguments restricting toolchains to binary packages only.
 get_binonly_args() {
     local pkgs=( "${TOOLCHAIN_PKGS[@]}" $(get_cross_pkgs "$@") )
-    echo "${pkgs[@]/#/--useoldpkg-atoms=}" "${pkgs[@]/#/--rebuild-exclude=}"
+    # XXX: Revert this after stable > 1632.
+    local tmppkgs=( ${pkgs[*]##*/binutils} ) ; tmppkgs=( ${tmppkgs[*]##*/gcc} )
+    echo "${tmppkgs[@]/#/--useoldpkg-atoms=}" "${pkgs[@]/#/--rebuild-exclude=}"
 }
 
 ### Toolchain building utilities ###
diff --git a/update_chroot b/update_chroot
index 85b703d3bd..bd1d429017 100755
--- a/update_chroot
+++ b/update_chroot
@@ -241,6 +241,9 @@ sudo -E ${EMERGE_CMD} "${EMERGE_FLAGS[@]}" \
     coreos-devel/sdk-depends world
 
 info "Removing obsolete packages"
+# XXX: Remove these next two lines after stable > 1632.
+cats=( '<=sys-devel' "${BOARD_CHOSTS[@]/#/<=cross-}" )
+sudo -E emerge --quiet --unmerge "${cats[@]/%//binutils-2.29.0}" "${cats[@]/%//gcc-6.3.0}" 2>/dev/null || :
 sudo -E ${EMERGE_CMD} --quiet --depclean @unavailable
 
 if portageq list_preserved_libs / >/dev/null; then