diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/common/init-stage2.sh b/.gitlab-ci/common/init-stage2.sh
index 7043fa3166c..38f6e2f9596 100755
--- a/.gitlab-ci/common/init-stage2.sh
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/common/init-stage2.sh
@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ if [ "$HWCI_KVM" = "true" ]; then
     } || \
         modprobe ${KVM_KERNEL_MODULE}
 
-    mkdir -p /lava-files
+    mkdir -p /kernel
     curl -L --retry 4 -f --retry-all-errors --retry-delay 60 \
-	-o "/lava-files/${KERNEL_IMAGE_NAME}" \
+	-o "/kernel/${KERNEL_IMAGE_NAME}" \
         "${KERNEL_IMAGE_BASE}/amd64/${KERNEL_IMAGE_NAME}"
 fi
 
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/container/debian/test-base.sh b/.gitlab-ci/container/debian/test-base.sh
index 82fe6eed671..3d7eea46e77 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci/container/debian/test-base.sh
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/container/debian/test-base.sh
@@ -169,10 +169,12 @@ section_end debian_setup
 ############### Download prebuilt kernel
 
 if [ "$DEBIAN_ARCH" = amd64 ]; then
-  uncollapsed_section_start kernel "Downloading kernel"
+  uncollapsed_section_start kernel "Downloading kernel for crosvm"
   export KERNEL_IMAGE_NAME=bzImage
-  mkdir -p /lava-files/
-  . .gitlab-ci/container/download-prebuilt-kernel.sh
+  mkdir -p /kernel
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2153 # KERNEL_IMAGE_BASE is set in the root .gitlab-ci.yml file
+  curl -L --retry 4 -f --retry-all-errors --retry-delay 60 \
+      -o "/kernel/${KERNEL_IMAGE_NAME}" "${KERNEL_IMAGE_BASE}/${DEBIAN_ARCH}/${KERNEL_IMAGE_NAME}"
   section_end kernel
 fi
 
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/crosvm-runner.sh b/.gitlab-ci/crosvm-runner.sh
index f9bcf2dc1fb..b990032d5f5 100755
--- a/.gitlab-ci/crosvm-runner.sh
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/crosvm-runner.sh
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ crosvm --no-syslog run \
     --net "host-ip=192.168.30.1,netmask=255.255.255.0,mac=AA:BB:CC:00:00:12" \
     -s $VM_SOCKET \
     --cid ${VSOCK_CID} -p "${CROSVM_KERN_ARGS}" \
-    /lava-files/${KERNEL_IMAGE_NAME:-bzImage} > ${VM_TEMP_DIR}/crosvm 2>&1
+    /kernel/${KERNEL_IMAGE_NAME:-bzImage} > ${VM_TEMP_DIR}/crosvm 2>&1
 
 CROSVM_RET=$?
 
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/image-tags.yml b/.gitlab-ci/image-tags.yml
index bbed25c6edd..a4f3fe05f0a 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci/image-tags.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/image-tags.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 
 variables:
    DEBIAN_X86_64_BUILD_BASE_IMAGE: "debian/x86_64_build-base"
-   DEBIAN_BASE_TAG: "20250219-virglcrosvm"
+   DEBIAN_BASE_TAG: "20250220-kernel"
 
    DEBIAN_X86_64_BUILD_IMAGE_PATH: "debian/x86_64_build"
    DEBIAN_BUILD_TAG: "20250210-android-drm"