diff --git a/coriolis/osmorphing/debian.py b/coriolis/osmorphing/debian.py
index 3b4d10a4..f135d2b1 100644
--- a/coriolis/osmorphing/debian.py
+++ b/coriolis/osmorphing/debian.py
@@ -147,6 +147,14 @@ def pre_packages_install(self, package_names):
 
     def install_packages(self, package_names):
         try:
+            # NOTE(aznashwan): in the rare event that a replica sync occurs
+            # while the source machine was midway through installing or
+            # configuring a package, forcing it to retain old conf files
+            # which were previously modified on the source machine.
+            deb_reconfigure_cmd = (
+                "dpkg --configure --force-confold -a")
+            self._exec_cmd_chroot(deb_reconfigure_cmd)
+
             apt_get_cmd = (
                 '/bin/bash -c "DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive '
                 'apt-get install %s -y '