diff --git a/supplemental/scripts/install-agent.sh b/supplemental/scripts/install-agent.sh
index b7907b1c..e4e9dcea 100755
--- a/supplemental/scripts/install-agent.sh
+++ b/supplemental/scripts/install-agent.sh
@@ -796,9 +796,16 @@ set_selinux_context
 # Cleanup
 rm -rf "$TEMP_DIR"
 
-# Make sure /etc/machine-id exists for persistent fingerprint
-if [ ! -f /etc/machine-id ]; then
-  cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid | tr -d '-' > /etc/machine-id
+# Make sure /etc/machine-id exists and is non-empty for persistent fingerprint
+if [ ! -s /etc/machine-id ]; then
+  if [ -r /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid ]; then
+    tr -d '-' < /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid > /etc/machine-id
+  elif command -v uuidgen >/dev/null; then
+    # FreeBSD has no /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid
+    uuidgen | tr -d '-' > /etc/machine-id
+  else
+    echo "No UUID source found, skipping /etc/machine-id creation"
+  fi
 fi
 
 # Check for NVIDIA GPUs and grant device permissions for systemd service