diff --git a/xCAT/postscripts/ospkgs b/xCAT/postscripts/ospkgs
index a9cc38bfa..e50b3c4da 100755
--- a/xCAT/postscripts/ospkgs
+++ b/xCAT/postscripts/ospkgs
@@ -25,6 +25,22 @@
 
 #set -x
 
+XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER="$(dirname "$0")/xcatpkgutils-loader.sh"
+if [ ! -r "$XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER" ]; then
+    printf 'Error: package utility loader is not readable: %s\n' "$XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER" >&2
+    unset XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER
+    exit 1
+fi
+# shellcheck source-path=SCRIPTDIR
+# shellcheck source=xcatpkgutils-loader.sh
+# shellcheck disable=SC1091
+if ! . "$XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER"; then
+    printf 'Error: package utilities could not be loaded through: %s\n' "$XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER" >&2
+    unset XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER
+    exit 1
+fi
+unset XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER
+
 if [ -n "$LOGLABEL" ]; then
     log_label=$LOGLABEL
 else
diff --git a/xCAT/postscripts/otherpkgs b/xCAT/postscripts/otherpkgs
index 515278b91..6dbc9707a 100755
--- a/xCAT/postscripts/otherpkgs
+++ b/xCAT/postscripts/otherpkgs
@@ -24,6 +24,23 @@
 
 #enable debug
 #set -x
+
+XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER="$(dirname "$0")/xcatpkgutils-loader.sh"
+if [ ! -r "$XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER" ]; then
+    printf 'Error: package utility loader is not readable: %s\n' "$XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER" >&2
+    unset XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER
+    exit 1
+fi
+# shellcheck source-path=SCRIPTDIR
+# shellcheck source=xcatpkgutils-loader.sh
+# shellcheck disable=SC1091
+if ! . "$XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER"; then
+    printf 'Error: package utilities could not be loaded through: %s\n' "$XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER" >&2
+    unset XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER
+    exit 1
+fi
+unset XCATPKGUTILS_LOADER
+
 if [ -n "$LOGLABEL" ]; then
     log_label=$LOGLABEL
 else
diff --git a/xCAT/postscripts/xcatpkgutils-loader.sh b/xCAT/postscripts/xcatpkgutils-loader.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..8e131885d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xCAT/postscripts/xcatpkgutils-loader.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# EPL license http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+
+xcatpkgutils="$(dirname "$0")/xcatpkgutils.sh"
+if [ ! -r "$xcatpkgutils" ]; then
+    printf 'Error: package utility library is not readable: %s\n' "$xcatpkgutils" >&2
+    unset xcatpkgutils
+    return 1
+fi
+
+unset XCATPKGUTILS_LOADED
+# shellcheck source-path=SCRIPTDIR
+# shellcheck source=xcatpkgutils.sh
+if ! . "$xcatpkgutils"; then
+    printf 'Error: package utility library could not be loaded: %s\n' "$xcatpkgutils" >&2
+    unset XCATPKGUTILS_LOADED xcatpkgutils
+    return 1
+fi
+if [ "${XCATPKGUTILS_LOADED:-}" != "1" ]; then
+    printf 'Error: package utility library did not finish loading: %s\n' "$xcatpkgutils" >&2
+    unset XCATPKGUTILS_LOADED xcatpkgutils
+    return 1
+fi
+unset XCATPKGUTILS_LOADED xcatpkgutils
diff --git a/xCAT/postscripts/xcatpkgutils.sh b/xCAT/postscripts/xcatpkgutils.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..8c91b5239
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xCAT/postscripts/xcatpkgutils.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# EPL license http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+
+# Shared POSIX shell helpers for the ospkgs and otherpkgs postscripts.
+# Keep the marker assignment last so callers know the whole library loaded.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034
+XCATPKGUTILS_LOADED=1