diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-38.yml b/.github/workflows/build-38.yml
index 0496f426..3242085d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-38.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-38.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 name: ublue akmods 38
 on:
-  pull_request:
+  #pull_request:
   merge_group:
   schedule:
     - cron: '10 14 * * *'  # 2pm-ish UTC everyday (timed against official fedora container pushes, and after 'config')
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-39.yml b/.github/workflows/build-39.yml
index 11ad11f8..90596696 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-39.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-39.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 name: ublue akmods 39
 on:
-  pull_request:
+  #pull_request:
   merge_group:
   schedule:
     - cron: '0 14 * * *'  # 2pm-ish UTC everyday (timed against official fedora container pushes, and after 'config')
diff --git a/.github/workflows/reusable-build.yml b/.github/workflows/reusable-build.yml
index 57047d10..2bab2787 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/reusable-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/reusable-build.yml
@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@ jobs:
             kernel_flavor: fsync # kernel-fsync packages are not being built for F40 yet.
           - fedora_version: 40
             kernel_flavor: fsync-lts
-          
     steps:
       # Checkout push-to-registry action GitHub repository
       - name: Checkout Push to Registry action
@@ -67,12 +66,16 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           if [[ "${{ matrix.fedora_version }}" -ge "41" ]]; then
               # when we are confident of official fedora images we can switch to them
-              echo "SOURCE_IMAGE=fedora-silverblue" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-              echo "SOURCE_ORG=fedora" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+              export SOURCE_IMAGE=fedora-silverblue
+              export SOURCE_ORG=fedora
           else
-              echo "SOURCE_IMAGE=base" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-              echo "SOURCE_ORG=fedora-ostree-desktops" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+              export SOURCE_IMAGE=base
+              export SOURCE_ORG=fedora-ostree-desktops
           fi
+          echo "FQ_SOURCE_IMAGE=quay.io/${SOURCE_ORG}/${SOURCE_IMAGE}:${{ matrix.fedora_version }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "SOURCE_IMAGE=${SOURCE_IMAGE}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "SOURCE_ORG=${SOURCE_ORG}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
 
       - name: Generate tags
         id: generate-tags
@@ -125,27 +128,61 @@ jobs:
           # DEBUG: get character count of key
           wc -c certs/private_key.priv
 
-      - name: Get current version
-        id: labels
+      - name: Pull build image
         uses: Wandalen/wretry.action@v2.1.0
         with:
           attempt_limit: 3
           attempt_delay: 15000
           command: |
-            set -eo pipefail
-            skopeo inspect docker://quay.io/${{ env.SOURCE_ORG }}/${{ env.SOURCE_IMAGE }}:${{ matrix.fedora_version }} > inspect.json
-            ver=$(jq -r '.Labels["org.opencontainers.image.version"]' inspect.json)
-            linux=$(jq -r '.Labels["ostree.linux"]' inspect.json)
-            if [ -z "$ver" ] || [ "null" = "$ver" ]; then
-              echo "inspected image version must not be empty or null"
-              exit 1
-            fi
-            if [ -z "$linux" ] || [ "null" = "$linux" ]; then
-              echo "inspected image linux version must not be empty or null"
-              exit 1
-            fi
-            echo "SOURCE_IMAGE_VERSION=$ver" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-            echo "SOURCE_IMAGE_LINUX=$linux" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+            # pull the base image used for FROM in containerfile so
+            # we can retry on that unfortunately common failure case
+            podman pull ${{ env.FQ_SOURCE_IMAGE }}
+
+      - name: Get current version
+        run: |
+          set -eo pipefail
+
+          # Start container and install dnf
+          container_name="fq-$(uuidgen)"
+          podman run --entrypoint /bin/bash --name "$container_name" -dt "${{ env.FQ_SOURCE_IMAGE }}"
+          podman exec $container_name rpm-ostree install dnf dnf-plugins-core
+
+          # Fetch kernel version
+          dnf="podman exec $container_name dnf"
+          case "${{ matrix.kernel_flavor }}" in
+            "asus")
+              $dnf copr enable -y lukenukem/asus-kernel
+              linux=$($dnf repoquery --repoid copr:copr.fedorainfracloud.org:lukenukem:asus-kernel --whatprovides kernel | tail -n1 | sed 's/.*://')
+              ;;
+            "fsync")
+              $dnf copr enable -y sentry/kernel-fsync
+              linux=$($dnf repoquery --repoid copr:copr.fedorainfracloud.org:sentry:kernel-fsync --whatprovides kernel | tail -n1 | sed 's/.*://')
+              ;;
+            "fsync-lts")
+              $dnf copr enable -y sentry/kernel-fsync-lts
+              linux=$($dnf repoquery --repoid copr:copr.fedorainfracloud.org:sentry:kernel-fsync-lts --whatprovides kernel | tail -n1 | sed 's/.*://')
+              ;;
+            "surface")
+              $dnf config-manager --add-repo=https://pkg.surfacelinux.com/fedora/linux-surface.repo
+              linux=$($dnf repoquery --repoid linux-surface --whatprovides kernel-surface | tail -n1 | sed 's/.*://')
+              ;;
+            *)
+              linux=$($dnf repoquery --installed --whatprovides kernel | tail -n1 | sed 's/.*://')
+              ;;
+          esac
+
+          skopeo inspect docker://${{ env.FQ_SOURCE_IMAGE }} > inspect.json
+          ver=$(jq -r '.Labels["org.opencontainers.image.version"]' inspect.json)
+          if [ -z "$ver" ] || [ "null" = "$ver" ]; then
+            echo "inspected image version must not be empty or null"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          if [ -z "$linux" ] || [ "null" = "$linux" ]; then
+            echo "inspected image linux version must not be empty or null"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "SOURCE_IMAGE_VERSION=$ver" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "SOURCE_IMAGE_LINUX=$linux" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
       # Build metadata
       - name: Image Metadata
@@ -162,16 +199,6 @@ jobs:
             io.artifacthub.package.readme-url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/${{ github.repository }}/main/README.md
             io.artifacthub.package.logo-url=https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/1728152?s=200&v=4
 
-      - name: Pull build image
-        uses: Wandalen/wretry.action@v2.1.0
-        with:
-          attempt_limit: 3
-          attempt_delay: 15000
-          command: |
-            # pull the base image used for FROM in containerfile so
-            # we can retry on that unfortunately common failure case
-            podman pull quay.io/${{ env.SOURCE_ORG }}/${{ env.SOURCE_IMAGE }}:${{ matrix.fedora_version }}
-
       # Build image using Buildah action
       - name: Build Image
         id: build_image