Generalizing azure-vm with sysprep.exe fails [0x0f0085 -Could not load DLL]

We have a couple of CI/CD pipelines in which we create images from Windows VMS (Server 2016 DC). These images are then used to deploy new vms in azure. Before creating the image, we run sysprep.exe in /quiet mode to generalize the machine. This has worked for a very long time now, but since last week we are noticing problems with this step. The error message being logged in C:\Windows\system32\Sysprep\Panther\setuperr is:

2020-11-03 13:14:01, Error [0x0f0085] SYSPRP LaunchDll:Could not load DLL C:\windows\system32\VMAgentDisabler.dll[gle=0x0000007e] 
2020-11-03 13:14:01, Error [0x0f0070] SYSPRP RunExternalDlls:An error occurred while running registry sysprep DLLs, halting sysprep execution. dwRet = 0x7e[gle=0x0000007e]
2020-11-03 13:14:01, Error [0x0f00ae] SYSPRP WinMain:Hit failure while processing sysprep generalize external providers; hr = 0x8007007e[gle=0x0000007e]

The VMAgentDisabler.dll can be located under the logged path. I wanted to ask, if someone maybe encountered this problem as well. Also, any kind of suggestions on how to proceed with this error or possible infos on what might cause it are highly appreciated.

It seems the issue is known at Microsoft, but the fixes suggested in their docs do not help in my case. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/deployment/error-occurs-when-running-sysprep-generalize