diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index d21d65850..74f03157f 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -23,61 +23,25 @@ cargo-test:
   image: "rust:trixie"
   stage: lint
   script:
-    # TODO: we should omit fuse from cargo install chains
-    - apt update && apt install -y fuse3 libfuse3-dev
     - cargo test --locked
 
 img:
-  image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+  image: "redoxos/redox-base"
   stage: test
-  before_script:
-    # Disable the wget progress bar
-    - echo 'show-progress = off' >> ~/.wgetrc
-    - |
-      export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
-      apt-get update -qq &&
-      apt-get install -qq \
-          bison \
-          build-essential \
-          curl \
-          flex \
-          fuse3 \
-          git \
-          libfuse-dev \
-          nasm \
-          pkg-config \
-          texinfo \
-          wget \
-          help2man \
-          autoconf \
-          automake \
-          zstd
   script:
     - |
       export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH" &&
-      bash podman/rustinstall.sh &&
-      PODMAN_BUILD=0 REPO_BINARY=1 FSTOOLS_NO_MOUNT=1 COOKBOOK_VERBOSE=false make ci-img IMG_TAG=$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME
+      (curl "https://sh.rustup.rs" -sSf | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain stable --profile minimal ) &&
+      cargo install cbindgen &&
+      PODMAN_BUILD=0 SKIP_CHECK_TOOLS=1 REPO_BINARY=1 FSTOOLS_NO_MOUNT=1 COOKBOOK_VERBOSE=false make ci-img IMG_TAG=$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME
 
 pkg:
-  image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+  image: "rust:trixie"
   stage: test
-  before_script:
-    # Disable the wget progress bar
-    - echo 'show-progress = off' >> ~/.wgetrc
-    - |
-      export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
-      apt-get update -qq &&
-      apt-get install -qq \
-          build-essential \
-          curl \
-          git \
-          nasm \
-          wget
   script:
     - |
       export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH" PODMAN_BUILD=0 &&
-      bash podman/rustinstall.sh &&
-      make CONFIG_NAME=ci repo-tree ARCH=x86_64 &&
-      make CONFIG_NAME=ci repo-tree ARCH=i586 &&
-      make CONFIG_NAME=ci repo-tree ARCH=aarch64 &&
-      make CONFIG_NAME=ci repo-tree ARCH=riscv64gc
+      make CONFIG_NAME=ci SKIP_CHECK_TOOLS=1 repo-tree ARCH=x86_64 &&
+      make CONFIG_NAME=ci SKIP_CHECK_TOOLS=1 repo-tree ARCH=i586 &&
+      make CONFIG_NAME=ci SKIP_CHECK_TOOLS=1 repo-tree ARCH=aarch64 &&
+      make CONFIG_NAME=ci SKIP_CHECK_TOOLS=1 repo-tree ARCH=riscv64gc
diff --git a/mk/fstools.mk b/mk/fstools.mk
index 7ec951cb1..739d9e6e1 100644
--- a/mk/fstools.mk
+++ b/mk/fstools.mk
@@ -2,19 +2,21 @@
 
 fstools: $(FSTOOLS_TAG) $(FSTOOLS)
 
+GOING_TO_PODMAN_AGAIN?=0
+
 # These tools run inside Podman if it is used, or on the host if Podman is not used
 $(FSTOOLS): | prefix $(CONTAINER_TAG) $(FSTOOLS_TAG)
 ifeq ($(PODMAN_BUILD),1)
 ifeq ($(FSTOOLS_IN_PODMAN),1)
 	$(PODMAN_RUN) make $@
 else
-	$(MAKE) $@ PODMAN_BUILD=0 SKIP_CHECK_TOOLS=1
+	$(MAKE) $@ PODMAN_BUILD=0 SKIP_CHECK_TOOLS=1 GOING_TO_PODMAN_AGAIN=1
 endif
 else
 	rm -rf $@ $@.partial
 	mkdir -p $@.partial
 	ln -s ../../recipes $@.partial/recipes
-	$(MAKE) fstools_fetch PODMAN_BUILD=$(SKIP_CHECK_TOOLS)
+	$(MAKE) fstools_fetch PODMAN_BUILD=$(GOING_TO_PODMAN_AGAIN)
 
 	# Compile installer and redoxfs for host (may be outside of podman container)
 	cd $@.partial && \