diff --git a/pkg/machine/fedora.go b/pkg/machine/fedora.go
index 46e4504184..2c6d3d810b 100644
--- a/pkg/machine/fedora.go
+++ b/pkg/machine/fedora.go
@@ -6,29 +6,23 @@ package machine
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"io"
-	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
-	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"regexp"
-
-	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
 const (
-	githubURL = "http://github.com/fedora-cloud/docker-brew-fedora/"
+	githubLatestReleaseURL = "https://github.com/containers/podman-wsl-fedora/releases/latest/download/rootfs.tar.xz"
 )
 
-var fedoraxzRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`fedora[^\"]+xz`)
-
 type FedoraDownload struct {
 	Download
 }
 
 func NewFedoraDownloader(vmType, vmName, releaseStream string) (DistributionDownload, error) {
-	imageName, downloadURL, size, err := getFedoraDownload(releaseStream)
+	downloadURL, size, err := getFedoraDownload(githubLatestReleaseURL)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -38,6 +32,8 @@ func NewFedoraDownloader(vmType, vmName, releaseStream string) (DistributionDown
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	imageName := "rootfs.tar.xz"
+
 	f := FedoraDownload{
 		Download: Download{
 			Arch:      getFcosArch(),
@@ -69,56 +65,21 @@ func (f FedoraDownload) HasUsableCache() (bool, error) {
 	return info.Size() == f.Size, nil
 }
 
-func truncRead(url string) ([]byte, error) {
-	resp, err := http.Get(url)
+func getFedoraDownload(releaseURL string) (*url.URL, int64, error) {
+	downloadURL, err := url.Parse(releaseURL)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, -1, fmt.Errorf("invalid URL generated from discovered Fedora file: %s: %w", releaseURL, err)
 	}
 
-	defer func() {
-		if err := resp.Body.Close(); err != nil {
-			logrus.Error(err)
-		}
-	}()
-
-	body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(resp.Body, 10*1024*1024))
+	resp, err := http.Head(releaseURL)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	_, _ = io.Copy(io.Discard, resp.Body)
-
-	return body, nil
-}
-
-func getFedoraDownload(releaseStream string) (string, *url.URL, int64, error) {
-	dirURL := githubURL + "tree/" + releaseStream + "/" + getFcosArch() + "/"
-	body, err := truncRead(dirURL)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", nil, -1, err
-	}
-
-	file := fedoraxzRegex.FindString(string(body))
-	if len(file) == 0 {
-		return "", nil, -1, fmt.Errorf("could not locate Fedora download at %s", dirURL)
-	}
-
-	rawURL := githubURL + "raw/" + releaseStream + "/" + getFcosArch() + "/"
-	newLocation := rawURL + file
-	downloadURL, err := url.Parse(newLocation)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", nil, -1, fmt.Errorf("invalid URL generated from discovered Fedora file: %s: %w", newLocation, err)
-	}
-
-	resp, err := http.Head(newLocation)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", nil, -1, fmt.Errorf("head request failed: %s: %w", newLocation, err)
+		return nil, -1, fmt.Errorf("head request failed: %s: %w", releaseURL, err)
 	}
 	_ = resp.Body.Close()
 
 	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
-		return "", nil, -1, fmt.Errorf("head request failed [%d] on download: %s", resp.StatusCode, newLocation)
+		return nil, -1, fmt.Errorf("head request failed: %s: %w", releaseURL, err)
 	}
 
-	return file, downloadURL, resp.ContentLength, nil
+	return downloadURL, resp.ContentLength, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/machine/wsl/machine.go b/pkg/machine/wsl/machine.go
index 450d8b877e..189723ac74 100644
--- a/pkg/machine/wsl/machine.go
+++ b/pkg/machine/wsl/machine.go
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ func downloadDistro(v *MachineVM, opts machine.InitOptions) error {
 
 	if _, e := strconv.Atoi(opts.ImagePath); e == nil {
 		v.ImageStream = opts.ImagePath
-		dd, err = machine.NewFedoraDownloader(vmtype, v.Name, v.ImageStream)
+		dd, err = machine.NewFedoraDownloader(vmtype, v.Name, opts.ImagePath)
 	} else {
 		v.ImageStream = "custom"
 		dd, err = machine.NewGenericDownloader(vmtype, v.Name, opts.ImagePath)
@@ -449,34 +449,14 @@ func provisionWSLDist(v *MachineVM) (string, error) {
 	}
 
 	dist := toDist(v.Name)
-	fmt.Println("Importing operating system into WSL (this may take 5+ minutes on a new WSL install)...")
+	fmt.Println("Importing operating system into WSL (this may take a few minutes on a new WSL install)...")
 	if err = runCmdPassThrough("wsl", "--import", dist, distTarget, v.ImagePath); err != nil {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("the WSL import of guest OS failed: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	fmt.Println("Installing packages (this will take awhile)...")
-	if err = runCmdPassThrough("wsl", "-d", dist, "dnf", "upgrade", "-y"); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("package upgrade on guest OS failed: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	fmt.Println("Enabling Copr")
-	if err = runCmdPassThrough("wsl", "-d", dist, "dnf", "install", "-y", "'dnf-command(copr)'"); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("enabling copr failed: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	fmt.Println("Enabling podman4 repo")
-	if err = runCmdPassThrough("wsl", "-d", dist, "dnf", "-y", "copr", "enable", "rhcontainerbot/podman4"); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("enabling copr failed: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	if err = runCmdPassThrough("wsl", "-d", dist, "dnf", "install",
-		"podman", "podman-docker", "openssh-server", "procps-ng", "-y"); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("package installation on guest OS failed: %w", err)
-	}
-
 	// Fixes newuidmap
-	if err = runCmdPassThrough("wsl", "-d", dist, "dnf", "reinstall", "shadow-utils", "-y"); err != nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("package reinstallation of shadow-utils on guest OS failed: %w", err)
+	if err = runCmdPassThrough("wsl", "-d", dist, "rpm", "-q", "--restore", "shadow-utils", "2>/dev/null"); err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("package permissions restore of shadow-utils on guest OS failed: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	// Windows 11 (NT Version = 10, Build 22000) generates harmless but scary messages on every