diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f9e95245d..3f4b3e77d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -331,13 +331,25 @@ fsstress-test: load-basic $(RUNTIME_BIN)
 	@$(call test_runtime,$(RUNTIME),//test/fsstress:fsstress_test)
 .PHONY: fsstress-test
 
+# Helper to install containerd.
+# $(1) is the containerd version.
+install_containerd = \
+	($(call header,INSTALL CONTAINERD); \
+	export T=$$(mktemp -d --tmpdir containerd.XXXXXX); \
+	cp tools/install_containerd.sh $$T && \
+	cd /tmp && \
+	sudo -H "PATH=$$PATH" $$T/install_containerd.sh $(1); \
+	rm -rf $$T)
 
 # Specific containerd version tests.
 containerd-test-%: load-basic_alpine load-basic_python load-basic_busybox load-basic_symlink-resolv load-basic_httpd load-basic_ubuntu $(RUNTIME_BIN)
 	@$(call install_runtime,$(RUNTIME),) # Clear flags.
-	@sudo -H tools/install_containerd.sh $*
+	@$(call install_containerd,$*)
 ifeq (,$(STAGED_BINARIES))
-	@$(call sudocopy,//shim:containerd-shim-runsc-v1,"$$(dirname $$(which containerd))")
+	@(export T=$$(mktemp -d --tmpdir containerd.XXXXXX); \
+	$(call copy,//shim:containerd-shim-runsc-v1,$$T) && \
+	sudo mv $$T/containerd-shim-runsc-v1 "$$(dirname $$(which containerd))"; \
+	rm -rf $$T)
 else
 	gsutil cat "$(STAGED_BINARIES)" | \
 		sudo tar -C "$$(dirname $$(which containerd))" -zxvf - containerd-shim-runsc-v1
diff --git a/tools/bazel.mk b/tools/bazel.mk
index 1909d6753..0a3552964 100644
--- a/tools/bazel.mk
+++ b/tools/bazel.mk
@@ -265,7 +265,6 @@ copy     = $(call header,COPY $(1) $(2)) && $(call build_paths,$(1),cp -fa {} $(
 run      = $(call header,RUN $(1) $(2)) && $(call build_paths,$(1),{} $(2))
 sudo     = $(call header,SUDO $(1) $(2)) && $(call build_paths,$(1),sudo -E {} $(2))
 test     = $(call header,TEST $(1)) && $(call wrapper,$(BAZEL) test --strip=never $(BAZEL_OPTIONS) $(TEST_OPTIONS) $(1))
-sudocopy = $(call header,COPY $(1) $(2)) && $(call build_paths,$(1),sudo cp -fa {} $(2))
 
 clean: ## Cleans the bazel cache.
 	@$(call clean)
diff --git a/tools/install_containerd.sh b/tools/install_containerd.sh
index 48bbe194c..9d76bf97a 100755
--- a/tools/install_containerd.sh
+++ b/tools/install_containerd.sh
@@ -65,9 +65,12 @@ install_helper() {
 #
 # Ubuntu 16.04 has only btrfs-tools, while 18.04 has a transitional package,
 # and later versions no longer have the transitional package.
+#
+# If we can't detect the VERSION_ID, we assume it's a newer version and use
+# libbtrfs-dev.
 source /etc/os-release
 declare BTRFS_DEV
-if [[ "${VERSION_ID%.*}" -le "18" ]]; then
+if [[ ! -z "${VERSION_ID}" && "${VERSION_ID%.*}" -le "18" ]]; then
   BTRFS_DEV="btrfs-tools"
 else
   BTRFS_DEV="libbtrfs-dev"