diff --git a/iso/builder/Dockerfile b/iso/builder/Dockerfile
index 48a16ae..13c6f8a 100644
--- a/iso/builder/Dockerfile
+++ b/iso/builder/Dockerfile
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 FROM debian:12
 
 ARG GO_VERSION=1.24.0
-ARG DEBIAN_KERNEL_ABI=6.1.0-43
 
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
 
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@ RUN apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y \
     gcc \
     make \
     perl \
-    "linux-headers-${DEBIAN_KERNEL_ABI}-amd64" \
+    linux-headers-amd64 \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 RUN arch="$(dpkg --print-architecture)" \
diff --git a/iso/builder/build-in-container.sh b/iso/builder/build-in-container.sh
index 4e0769d..26940bc 100755
--- a/iso/builder/build-in-container.sh
+++ b/iso/builder/build-in-container.sh
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@ IMAGE_REF="${IMAGE_TAG}:debian${DEBIAN_VERSION}"
 if [ "$REBUILD_IMAGE" = "1" ] || ! "$CONTAINER_TOOL" image inspect "${IMAGE_REF}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     "$CONTAINER_TOOL" build \
         --build-arg GO_VERSION="${GO_VERSION}" \
-        --build-arg DEBIAN_KERNEL_ABI="${DEBIAN_KERNEL_ABI}" \
         -t "${IMAGE_REF}" \
         "${BUILDER_DIR}"
 else
diff --git a/iso/builder/build.sh b/iso/builder/build.sh
index e8e5a0d..e79fbe1 100755
--- a/iso/builder/build.sh
+++ b/iso/builder/build.sh
@@ -34,18 +34,27 @@ mkdir -p "${CACHE_ROOT}"
 : "${GOMODCACHE:=${CACHE_ROOT}/go-mod}"
 export GOCACHE GOMODCACHE
 
-# Auto-detect kernel ABI from apt when not pinned explicitly.
+# Auto-detect kernel ABI: refresh apt index, then query current linux-image-amd64 dependency.
+# If headers for the detected ABI are not yet installed (kernel updated since image build),
+# install them on the fly so NVIDIA modules and ISO kernel always match.
 if [ -z "${DEBIAN_KERNEL_ABI}" ] || [ "${DEBIAN_KERNEL_ABI}" = "auto" ]; then
+    echo "=== refreshing apt index to detect current kernel ABI ==="
+    apt-get update -qq
     DEBIAN_KERNEL_ABI=$(apt-cache depends linux-image-amd64 2>/dev/null \
         | awk '/Depends:.*linux-image-[0-9]/{print $2}' \
         | grep -oE '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+-[0-9]+' \
         | head -1)
     if [ -z "${DEBIAN_KERNEL_ABI}" ]; then
         echo "ERROR: could not auto-detect kernel ABI from apt-cache" >&2
-        echo "  Run: apt-cache depends linux-image-amd64" >&2
         exit 1
     fi
-    echo "=== kernel ABI auto-detected: ${DEBIAN_KERNEL_ABI} ==="
+    echo "=== kernel ABI: ${DEBIAN_KERNEL_ABI} ==="
+fi
+
+KVER="${DEBIAN_KERNEL_ABI}-amd64"
+if [ ! -d "/usr/src/linux-headers-${KVER}" ]; then
+    echo "=== installing linux-headers-${KVER} (kernel updated since image build) ==="
+    apt-get install -y "linux-headers-${KVER}"
 fi
 
 echo "=== bee ISO build ==="