diff --git a/Containerfile b/Containerfile
index 013e4b5..b2273c0 100644
--- a/Containerfile
+++ b/Containerfile
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,dst=/var/cache/rpm-ostree \
     --mount=type=bind,from=akmods_nvidia,src=/rpms,dst=/tmp/akmods-rpms \
     mkdir -p /var/lib/alternatives && \
     IMAGE_FLAVOR=nvidia /ctx/image-info.sh && \
-    /ctx/nvidia-install.sh && \
+    NVIDIA_FLAVOR=nvidia /ctx/nvidia-install.sh && \
     /ctx/build-initramfs.sh && \
     mv /var/lib/alternatives /staged-alternatives && \
     /ctx/cleanup.sh && \
diff --git a/nvidia-install.sh b/nvidia-install.sh
index ca274b1..4e2a916 100755
--- a/nvidia-install.sh
+++ b/nvidia-install.sh
@@ -48,6 +48,14 @@ rpm-ostree install \
 # disables nvidia repos provided by ublue-os-nvidia-addons
 sed -i 's@enabled=1@enabled=0@g' /etc/yum.repos.d/{eyecantcu-supergfxctl,negativo17-fedora-nvidia,nvidia-container-toolkit}.repo
 
+# ensure kernel.conf matches NVIDIA_FLAVOR (which must be nvidia or nvidia-open)
+# kmod-nvidia-common defaults the value to 'nvidia-open' but this will match on $NVIDIA_FLAVOR
+KERNEL_MODULE_TYPE="kernel"
+if [[ "${NVIDIA_FLAVOR}" == "nvidia-open" ]]; then
+  KERNEL_MODULE_TYPE="kernel-open"
+fi
+sed -i "s/^MODULE_VARIANT=.*/MODULE_VARIANT=$KERNEL_MODULE_TYPE/" /etc/nvidia/kernel.conf
+
 systemctl enable nvidia-persistenced.service
 
 systemctl enable ublue-nvctk-cdi.service