diff --git a/core/imageroot/usr/local/agent/bin/extract-image b/core/imageroot/usr/local/agent/bin/extract-image
index 0e4ea364d..b382669ef 100755
--- a/core/imageroot/usr/local/agent/bin/extract-image
+++ b/core/imageroot/usr/local/agent/bin/extract-image
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ image=${1:?missing image URL argument}
 set -e
 
 # Prevent concurrent execution of this script with a lock file opened with
-# an arbitrary high FD number, like 201. The lock is released when the
-# script completes:
-exec 201>"${AGENT_STATE_DIR:?}"/.extract-image.lock
+# an arbitrary high FD number, like 201. The lock is created in the
+# working directory, and is released when the script completes:
+exec 201>.extract-image.lock
 flock --verbose -n 201
 
 lst_file=".imageroot.lst"