diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/common/generate-env.sh b/.gitlab-ci/common/generate-env.sh
index 92d0a89a861..bb843341557 100755
--- a/.gitlab-ci/common/generate-env.sh
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/common/generate-env.sh
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ for var in \
     JOB_ARTIFACTS_BASE \
     JOB_RESULTS_PATH \
     JOB_ROOTFS_OVERLAY_PATH \
+    KERNEL_IMAGE_BASE_URL \
+    KERNEL_IMAGE_NAME \
     LD_LIBRARY_PATH \
     LP_NUM_THREADS \
     MESA_BASE_TAG \
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/common/init-stage2.sh b/.gitlab-ci/common/init-stage2.sh
index c85e52cc78a..b9eb8b57e80 100755
--- a/.gitlab-ci/common/init-stage2.sh
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/common/init-stage2.sh
@@ -12,9 +12,13 @@ set -ex
     echo -n $HWCI_KERNEL_MODULES | xargs -d, -n1 /usr/sbin/modprobe
 }
 
+#
 # Load the KVM module specific to the detected CPU virtualization extensions:
 # - vmx for Intel VT
 # - svm for AMD-V
+#
+# Additionally, download the kernel image to boot the VM via HWCI_TEST_SCRIPT.
+#
 if [ "$HWCI_KVM" = "true" ]; then
     unset KVM_KERNEL_MODULE
     grep -qs '\bvmx\b' /proc/cpuinfo && KVM_KERNEL_MODULE=kvm_intel || {
@@ -24,6 +28,10 @@ if [ "$HWCI_KVM" = "true" ]; then
     [ -z "${KVM_KERNEL_MODULE}" ] && \
         echo "WARNING: Failed to detect CPU virtualization extensions" || \
         modprobe ${KVM_KERNEL_MODULE}
+
+    mkdir -p /lava-files
+    wget -S --progress=dot:giga -O /lava-files/${KERNEL_IMAGE_NAME} \
+        "${KERNEL_IMAGE_BASE_URL}/${KERNEL_IMAGE_NAME}"
 fi
 
 # Fix prefix confusion: the build installs to $CI_PROJECT_DIR, but we expect
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/crosvm-runner.sh b/.gitlab-ci/crosvm-runner.sh
index 743afc7716b..c7c2bf92dbc 100755
--- a/.gitlab-ci/crosvm-runner.sh
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/crosvm-runner.sh
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ crosvm run \
     --shared-dir /:my_root:type=fs:writeback=true:timeout=60:cache=always \
     --host_ip "192.168.30.1" --netmask "255.255.255.0" --mac "AA:BB:CC:00:00:12" \
     --cid ${VSOCK_CID} -p "${CROSVM_KERN_ARGS}" \
-    /lava-files/bzImage > ${VSOCK_TEMP_DIR}/crosvm 2>&1 &
+    /lava-files/${KERNEL_IMAGE_NAME:-bzImage} > ${VSOCK_TEMP_DIR}/crosvm 2>&1 &
 
 # Wait for crosvm process to terminate
 CROSVM_PID=$!
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/lava/lava-submit.sh b/.gitlab-ci/lava/lava-submit.sh
index 5b4e0d782b2..be33abb756c 100755
--- a/.gitlab-ci/lava/lava-submit.sh
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/lava/lava-submit.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@ mkdir -p results/job-rootfs-overlay/
 
 cp artifacts/ci-common/capture-devcoredump.sh results/job-rootfs-overlay/
 cp artifacts/ci-common/init-*.sh results/job-rootfs-overlay/
-artifacts/ci-common/generate-env.sh > results/job-rootfs-overlay/set-job-env-vars.sh
+
+# Prepare env vars for upload.
+KERNEL_IMAGE_BASE_URL="https://${BASE_SYSTEM_HOST_PATH}" \
+	artifacts/ci-common/generate-env.sh > results/job-rootfs-overlay/set-job-env-vars.sh
 
 tar zcf job-rootfs-overlay.tar.gz -C results/job-rootfs-overlay/ .
 ci-fairy minio login --token-file "${CI_JOB_JWT_FILE}"