diff --git a/package/base-files/files/lib/upgrade/keep.d/base-files-essential b/package/base-files/files/lib/upgrade/keep.d/base-files-essential
index 2c611d29b4c467b24440cbe610e27e52bf581cd7..978d4b58bc3aec945964e2abdedb39079d38d1ac 100644
--- a/package/base-files/files/lib/upgrade/keep.d/base-files-essential
+++ b/package/base-files/files/lib/upgrade/keep.d/base-files-essential
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 /etc/group
 /etc/passwd
 /etc/profile
+/etc/shadow
 /etc/shells
 /etc/sysctl.conf
 /etc/rc.local