diff --git a/dev-tools/mage/pkgdeps.go b/dev-tools/mage/pkgdeps.go
index 626cd833c92..1e07ec36efc 100644
--- a/dev-tools/mage/pkgdeps.go
+++ b/dev-tools/mage/pkgdeps.go
@@ -117,19 +117,23 @@ func installDependencies(arch string, pkgs ...string) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if err := sh.Run("apt-get", "update"); err != nil {
+	// TODO: This is only for debian 7 and should be removed when move to a newer OS. This flag is
+	// going to be used unnecessary when building using non-debian7 images
+	// (like when making the linux/arm binaries) and we should remove it soonish.
+	// See https://github.com/elastic/beats/v7/issues/11750 for more details.
+	if err := sh.Run("apt-get", "update", "-o", "Acquire::Check-Valid-Until=false"); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	params := append([]string{"install", "-y", "--force-yes",
-		"--no-install-recommends",
-
-		// Journalbeat is built with old versions of Debian that don't update
-		// their repositories, so they have expired keys.
+	params := append([]string{
+		// Due to the expired GPG keys in the old Debian version we must use `--force-yes` additionally to `-y`.
+		"install", "-y", "--force-yes",
 		// Allow unauthenticated packages.
 		// This was not enough: "-o", "Acquire::Check-Valid-Until=false",
 		"--allow-unauthenticated",
+		"--no-install-recommends",
 	}, pkgs...)
+
 	return sh.Run("apt-get", params...)
 }