diff --git a/release/tools/ec2.conf b/release/tools/ec2.conf
index 2cca5fa713af..34434f86a0b1 100644
--- a/release/tools/ec2.conf
+++ b/release/tools/ec2.conf
@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@ ec2_common() {
 		's/^#KbdInteractiveAuthentication yes/KbdInteractiveAuthentication no/' \
 		${DESTDIR}/etc/ssh/sshd_config
 
+	# RSA host keys are obsolete and also very slow to generate
+	echo 'sshd_rsa_enable="NO"' >> ${DESTDIR}/etc/rc.conf
+
 	# Use FreeBSD Update mirrors hosted in AWS
 	sed -i '' -e 's/update.FreeBSD.org/aws.update.FreeBSD.org/' \
 		${DESTDIR}/etc/freebsd-update.conf