diff --git a/elements/realtime-kernel/install.d/99-remove-default-kernel b/elements/realtime-kernel/install.d/99-remove-default-kernel
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..eb73577d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/realtime-kernel/install.d/99-remove-default-kernel
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -eux
+
+# Uninstalling the default kernel in chroot might fail, if it is the same
+# kernel that runs in the host. Therefore we are forcing it here by
+# disabling the protected_packages config.
+# The machine suffix is required to not accidentally remove the
+# kernel-rt again in case the default kernel is not installed.
+yum -v -y --setopt=protected_packages= erase kernel.$(uname -m)
diff --git a/elements/realtime-kernel/package-installs.yaml b/elements/realtime-kernel/package-installs.yaml
index b86887731..8fedc0cc7 100644
--- a/elements/realtime-kernel/package-installs.yaml
+++ b/elements/realtime-kernel/package-installs.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
 kernel-rt:
 kernel-rt-kvm:
 tuned-profiles-nfv-host:
-kernel:
-  uninstall: True