diff --git a/elbepack/aptpkgutils.py b/elbepack/aptpkgutils.py
index 3bcfb795e..d25fb5d7b 100644
--- a/elbepack/aptpkgutils.py
+++ b/elbepack/aptpkgutils.py
@@ -67,17 +67,21 @@ def getdeps(pkg):
             yield d.name
 
 
-def getalldeps(c, pkgname):
-    retval = []
+def getalldeps(c, pkgname, blacklist=()):
+    retval = [pkgname]
     togo = [pkgname]
 
     while togo:
         pp = togo.pop()
+        if pp in blacklist:
+            continue
         pkg = c[pp]
 
         for p in getdeps(pkg.candidate):
             if p in retval:
                 continue
+            if p in blacklist:
+                continue
             if p not in c:
                 continue
             retval.append(p)
diff --git a/elbepack/efilesystem.py b/elbepack/efilesystem.py
index ec5eb6a9f..491f63be0 100644
--- a/elbepack/efilesystem.py
+++ b/elbepack/efilesystem.py
@@ -112,13 +112,20 @@ def extract_target(src, xml, dst, cache):
         arch = xml.text('project/buildimage/arch', key='arch')
 
         if xml.tgt.has('diet'):
+            if xml.has('target/pkg-blacklist/'):
+                blacklist = [p.et.text for p in xml.node('target/pkg-blacklist/target')]
             withdeps = []
             for p in pkglist:
-                deps = cache.get_dependencies(p)
+                if p in blacklist:
+                    continue
+                deps = cache.get_dependencies(p, blacklist)
                 withdeps += [d.name for d in deps]
                 withdeps += [p]
 
             pkglist = list(set(withdeps))
+        elif xml.has('target/pkg-blacklist/'):
+            logging.error(
+                'Impossible to blacklist packages outside of diet mode')
 
         file_list = []
         for line in pkglist:
@@ -133,6 +140,9 @@ def extract_target(src, xml, dst, cache):
         copy_filelist(src, file_list, dst)
     else:
         # first copy most diretories
+        if xml.has('target/pkg-blacklist/'):
+            logging.error(
+                'Impossible to blacklist packages outside of diet mode')
         for f in src.listdir():
             subprocess.call(['cp', '-a', '--reflink=auto', f, dst.fname('')])
 
diff --git a/elbepack/rpcaptcache.py b/elbepack/rpcaptcache.py
index bc6623636..ad376a75c 100644
--- a/elbepack/rpcaptcache.py
+++ b/elbepack/rpcaptcache.py
@@ -224,8 +224,8 @@ def commit(self):
                           ElbeInstallProgress(fileno=sys.stdout.fileno()))
         self.cache.open(progress=ElbeOpProgress())
 
-    def get_dependencies(self, pkgname):
-        deps = getalldeps(self.cache, pkgname)
+    def get_dependencies(self, pkgname, blacklist):
+        deps = getalldeps(self.cache, pkgname, blacklist)
         return [APTPackage(self.cache[p]) for p in deps]
 
     def get_installed_pkgs(self, section='all'):
diff --git a/elbepack/schema/dbsfed.xsd b/elbepack/schema/dbsfed.xsd
index 7809eb5c2..04b81999f 100644
--- a/elbepack/schema/dbsfed.xsd
+++ b/elbepack/schema/dbsfed.xsd
@@ -1133,7 +1133,7 @@ SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Linutronix GmbH
       <element name="pkg-blacklist" type="rfs:blacklist" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1">
         <annotation>
           <documentation>
-            avoid installation of packages into sysroot
+            avoid installation of packages into sysroot or target
           </documentation>
         </annotation>
       </element>
@@ -3094,6 +3094,13 @@ SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Linutronix GmbH
       </documentation>
     </annotation>
     <sequence>
+        <element name="target" type="rfs:pkg-list" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
+          <annotation>
+            <documentation>
+              avoid installing the specified packages into the target (only works in diet mode)
+            </documentation>
+          </annotation>
+        </element>
         <element name="sysroot" type="rfs:pkg-list" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
           <annotation>
             <documentation>