diff --git a/iso/builder/VERSIONS b/iso/builder/VERSIONS
index 3f744b6..2ec020e 100644
--- a/iso/builder/VERSIONS
+++ b/iso/builder/VERSIONS
@@ -1,9 +1,4 @@
 ALPINE_VERSION=3.21
-KERNEL_VERSION=6.12
-# Exact Alpine package version for linux-lts. Pin this to match builder headers with ISO kernel.
-# To update: check `apk info linux-lts` on the target Alpine 3.21 system, update both here and in
-# build-nvidia-module.sh + mkimg.bee.sh. Do NOT change without rebuilding NVIDIA modules cache.
-KERNEL_PKG_VERSION=6.12.76-r0
 NVIDIA_DRIVER_VERSION=590.48.01
 GO_VERSION=1.23.6
 AUDIT_VERSION=0.1.0
diff --git a/iso/builder/build-nvidia-module.sh b/iso/builder/build-nvidia-module.sh
index cee0efc..521edb9 100644
--- a/iso/builder/build-nvidia-module.sh
+++ b/iso/builder/build-nvidia-module.sh
@@ -16,20 +16,19 @@ set -e
 
 NVIDIA_VERSION="$1"
 DIST_DIR="$2"
-KERNEL_PKG_VERSION="$3"
-ALPINE_VERSION="$4"
+ALPINE_VERSION="$3"
 
-[ -n "$NVIDIA_VERSION" ]    || { echo "usage: $0 <nvidia-version> <dist-dir> <kernel-pkg-version> <alpine-version>"; exit 1; }
-[ -n "$DIST_DIR" ]          || { echo "usage: $0 <nvidia-version> <dist-dir> <kernel-pkg-version> <alpine-version>"; exit 1; }
-[ -n "$KERNEL_PKG_VERSION" ] || { echo "usage: $0 <nvidia-version> <dist-dir> <kernel-pkg-version> <alpine-version>"; exit 1; }
-[ -n "$ALPINE_VERSION" ]    || { echo "usage: $0 <nvidia-version> <dist-dir> <kernel-pkg-version> <alpine-version>"; exit 1; }
+[ -n "$NVIDIA_VERSION" ]  || { echo "usage: $0 <nvidia-version> <dist-dir> <alpine-version>"; exit 1; }
+[ -n "$DIST_DIR" ]        || { echo "usage: $0 <nvidia-version> <dist-dir> <alpine-version>"; exit 1; }
+[ -n "$ALPINE_VERSION" ]  || { echo "usage: $0 <nvidia-version> <dist-dir> <alpine-version>"; exit 1; }
 
-# Install the EXACT pinned linux-lts-dev version so builder headers always match ISO kernel.
-# Use dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org — same source as mkimage. If unavailable, apk fails loudly.
-echo "=== installing linux-lts-dev=${KERNEL_PKG_VERSION} ==="
-apk add --quiet \
+# Install linux-lts-dev (no version pin — always use whatever is current in Alpine 3.21 main).
+# This ensures modules are compiled for the same kernel that mkimage will install in the ISO.
+# Both use dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org, so they see the same package state at build time.
+echo "=== installing linux-lts-dev (latest from dl-cdn) ==="
+apk add --quiet --update \
     --repository "https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v${ALPINE_VERSION}/main" \
-    "linux-lts-dev=${KERNEL_PKG_VERSION}"
+    linux-lts-dev
 
 # Detect kernel version from installed headers (pick highest version if multiple).
 detect_kver() {
@@ -52,10 +51,10 @@ if [ -d "$CACHE_DIR/modules" ] && [ -f "$CACHE_DIR/bin/nvidia-smi" ]; then
     exit 0
 fi
 
-# Install build dependencies (linux-lts-dev pinned, same dl-cdn source)
+# Install build dependencies (linux-lts-dev already at correct version from above)
 apk add --quiet \
     --repository "https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v${ALPINE_VERSION}/main" \
-    gcc make perl "linux-lts-dev=${KERNEL_PKG_VERSION}" wget
+    gcc make perl linux-lts-dev wget
 
 # Download official NVIDIA .run installer (proprietary) with sha256 verification
 BASE_URL="https://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/${NVIDIA_VERSION}"
diff --git a/iso/builder/build.sh b/iso/builder/build.sh
index 7c572a8..187573f 100755
--- a/iso/builder/build.sh
+++ b/iso/builder/build.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
 done
 
 . "${BUILDER_DIR}/VERSIONS"
-export KERNEL_PKG_VERSION
 export PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin"
 
 # NOTE: lz4 compression for modloop is disabled — Alpine initramfs may not support lz4 squashfs.
@@ -117,22 +116,12 @@ done
 # --- build NVIDIA kernel modules and inject into overlay ---
 echo ""
 echo "=== building NVIDIA ${NVIDIA_DRIVER_VERSION} modules ==="
-sh "${BUILDER_DIR}/build-nvidia-module.sh" "${NVIDIA_DRIVER_VERSION}" "${DIST_DIR}" "${KERNEL_PKG_VERSION}" "${ALPINE_VERSION}"
+sh "${BUILDER_DIR}/build-nvidia-module.sh" "${NVIDIA_DRIVER_VERSION}" "${DIST_DIR}" "${ALPINE_VERSION}"
 
-# Determine kernel version from installed headers
+# Detect kernel version from installed headers (set by build-nvidia-module.sh above)
 KVER=$(ls /usr/src/ 2>/dev/null | grep '^linux-headers-' | sed 's/linux-headers-//' | sort -V | tail -1)
-
-# Build-time verification: headers must match the repo version we detected.
-PINNED_KVER="$(echo "${KERNEL_PKG_VERSION}" | sed 's/-r[0-9]*//')"
-RUNNING_KVER="$(echo "${KVER}" | sed 's/-[0-9]*-lts//')"
-if [ "${PINNED_KVER}" != "${RUNNING_KVER}" ]; then
-    echo "ERROR: kernel version mismatch!"
-    echo "  Repo version:      ${KERNEL_PKG_VERSION} (numeric: ${PINNED_KVER})"
-    echo "  Installed headers: ${KVER} (numeric: ${RUNNING_KVER})"
-    echo "  This should not happen — apk should have installed the repo version."
-    exit 1
-fi
-echo "=== kernel version OK: ${KVER} ==="
+[ -n "$KVER" ] || { echo "ERROR: linux-lts-dev not installed — no headers in /usr/src/"; exit 1; }
+echo "=== kernel version: ${KVER} ==="
 
 NVIDIA_CACHE="${DIST_DIR}/nvidia-${NVIDIA_DRIVER_VERSION}-${KVER}"