diff --git a/bin/disk-image-create b/bin/disk-image-create
index 3eb406b26..4cffd924c 100755
--- a/bin/disk-image-create
+++ b/bin/disk-image-create
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ mv $TMP_BUILD_DIR/mnt $TMP_BUILD_DIR/built
 _NEEDED_SIZE=$(sudo du --block-size=800 -x -s ${TMP_BUILD_DIR}/built | awk ' { print $1 } ')
 truncate -s${_NEEDED_SIZE}K $TMP_IMAGE_PATH
 LOOPDEV=$(sudo losetup --show -f $TMP_IMAGE_PATH)
-export EXTRA_UNMOUNT="sudo losetup -d $LOOPDEV"
+export EXTRA_UNMOUNT="detach_loopback $LOOPDEV"
 export IMAGE_BLOCK_DEVICE=$LOOPDEV
 eval_run_d block-device "IMAGE_BLOCK_DEVICE="
 OPTS=""
diff --git a/lib/common-functions b/lib/common-functions
index ead477a34..7cf6df028 100644
--- a/lib/common-functions
+++ b/lib/common-functions
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# vim: syntax=sh ts=4 sts=4 sw=2:et
 # Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
 # All Rights Reserved.
 #
@@ -159,3 +160,16 @@ function run_d() {
     check_break after-$1 bash
 }
 
+function detach_loopback() {
+    local loopdev=$1
+    # loopback dev may be tied up a bit by udev events triggered by partition events
+    for try in $(seq 10 -1 1) ; do
+        if sudo losetup -d $loopdev ; then
+            return 0
+        fi
+        echo $loopdev may be busy, sleeping up to $try more seconds...
+        sleep 1
+    done
+    echo Gave up trying to detach $loopdev
+    return 1
+}