diff --git a/xbps-src/shutils/chroot.sh.in b/xbps-src/shutils/chroot.sh.in
index c5f620d847..6f209f9bcd 100644
--- a/xbps-src/shutils/chroot.sh.in
+++ b/xbps-src/shutils/chroot.sh.in
@@ -185,16 +185,26 @@ prepare_binpkg_repos()
 {
 	local repo xver
 
-	# Check for xbps utils >= 0.9.0.
+	# Copy xbps-conf.plist for XBPS utils >= 0.9.0.
 	xver=$($XBPS_PKGDB_CMD -V|awk '{print $2}')
-	for repo in ${XBPS_REPO_LIST}; do
-		if [ -z "$xver" -o "$xver" = "" ]; then
+	if [ -n "$xver" ]; then
+		for f in /etc /usr/local/etc; do
+			if [ -f $f/xbps-conf.plist ]; then
+				cp -f $f/xbps-conf.plist \
+					${XBPS_MASTERDIR}/usr/local/etc
+			fi
+		done
+		# XBPS utils >= 0.9.0.
+		msg_normal "Synchronizing index for remote repositories...\n"
+		${chroot_cmd} ${XBPS_MASTERDIR} ${XBPS_REPO_CMD} sync
+	else
+		for repo in ${XBPS_REPO_LIST}; do
 			${chroot_cmd} ${XBPS_MASTERDIR} ${XBPS_REPO_CMD} \
 				add ${repo} 2>/dev/null
 			[ $? -ne 0 ] && \
 				msg_warn "Failed to sync pkg-index from ${repo}\n"
-		fi
-	done
+		done
+	fi
 }
 
 create_busybox_links()
diff --git a/xbps-src/shutils/init_funcs.sh.in b/xbps-src/shutils/init_funcs.sh.in
index 9391529eb3..bab29c5eaa 100644
--- a/xbps-src/shutils/init_funcs.sh.in
+++ b/xbps-src/shutils/init_funcs.sh.in
@@ -61,10 +61,15 @@ set_defvars()
 		[ ! -d "$val" ] && mkdir -p $val
 	done
 
+	xver=$(xbps-bin.static -V|awk '{print $2}')
+	if [ -n "$xver" ]; then
+		# XBPS utils >= 0.9.0.
+		xbps_conf="-C $XBPS_MASTERDIR/usr/local/etc/xbps-conf.plist"
+	fi
 	export XBPS_PKGDB_CMD="xbps-uhelper.static -r $XBPS_MASTERDIR"
-	export XBPS_BIN_CMD="xbps-bin.static -r $XBPS_MASTERDIR"
+	export XBPS_BIN_CMD="xbps-bin.static $xbps_conf -r $XBPS_MASTERDIR"
+	export XBPS_REPO_CMD="xbps-repo.static $xbps_conf -r $XBPS_MASTERDIR"
 	export XBPS_DIGEST_CMD="xbps-uhelper.static digest"
 	export XBPS_CMPVER_CMD="xbps-uhelper.static cmpver"
 	export XBPS_FETCH_CMD="xbps-uhelper.static fetch"
-	export XBPS_REPO_CMD="xbps-repo.static"
 }