diff --git a/.github/workflows/debos.yml b/.github/workflows/debos.yml
index c34b0752..84bcb903 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/debos.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/debos.yml
@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ jobs:
           set -ux
           debos \
               -t overlays:'${{ inputs.overlays }}' \
-              -t experimentalkernel:true \
               -t xfcedesktop:true \
               -t aptlocalrepo:${PWD}/local-apt-repo \
               -t kernelpackage:'${{ inputs.kernelpackage }}' \
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 468521a9..1a6e2257 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -123,7 +123,6 @@ debos --fakemachine-backend qemu --memory 1GiB --scratchsize 4GiB debos-recipes/
 ### Options for debos recipes
 
 A few options are provided in the debos recipes; for the root filesystem recipe:
-- `experimentalkernel`: update the linux kernel to the version from experimental; default: don't update the kernel
 - `localdebs`: path to a directory with local deb packages to install (NB: debos expects relative pathnames)
 - `xfcedesktop`: install a Xfce desktop environment; default: console only environment
 
diff --git a/debos-recipes/qualcomm-linux-debian-rootfs.yaml b/debos-recipes/qualcomm-linux-debian-rootfs.yaml
index 8f1448af..db248f2f 100644
--- a/debos-recipes/qualcomm-linux-debian-rootfs.yaml
+++ b/debos-recipes/qualcomm-linux-debian-rootfs.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 {{- $xfcedesktop := or .xfcedesktop "false" }}
-{{- $experimentalkernel := or .experimentalkernel "false" }}
 {{- $localdebs := or .localdebs "none" }}
 {{- $aptlocalrepo := or .aptlocalrepo "none" }}
 {{- $kernelpackage := or .kernelpackage "linux-image-arm64" }}
@@ -244,53 +243,6 @@ actions:
       - firmware-qcom-soc
       - {{$kernelpackage}}
 
-  # XXX this is a workaround until firmware-non-free migrates to testing; it
-  # might make sense to have a generic mechanism to do this
-  - action: run
-    description: Install firmware packages from unstable
-    chroot: true
-    command: |
-      set -eux
-      # add sid APT sources
-      cat >/etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-sid.sources <<EOF
-      Types: deb
-      URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian/
-      Suites: sid
-      Components: main non-free-firmware
-      Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg
-      EOF
-      # update and install firmware from unstable
-      apt update
-      apt -y install -t unstable firmware-atheros firmware-qcom-soc
-      # remove sid APT sources and update again
-      rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-sid.sources
-      apt update
-
-{{- if eq $experimentalkernel "true" }}
-  # this is an optional temporary option to install the kernel from
-  # experimental until trixie/sid have a recent enough kernel, or some overlay
-  # archive is provided; note that the original linux-image-arm64 is kept
-  - action: run
-    description: Install Linux kernel from experimental
-    chroot: true
-    command: |
-      set -eux
-      # add experimental APT sources
-      cat >/etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-experimental.sources <<EOF
-      Types: deb
-      URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian/
-      Suites: experimental
-      Components: main non-free-firmware
-      Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg
-      EOF
-      # update and install kernel from experimental
-      apt update
-      apt -y install -t experimental {{$kernelpackage}}
-      # disable experimental from APT sources
-      sed -i "1s/^/Enabled: no\n/" \
-          /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-experimental.sources
-{{- end }}
-
   # this is currently needed on boards such as RB1 which are using Android
   # bootloader to check the boot count of the boot_a/boot_b partitions
   - action: apt
diff --git a/overlay-debs/linux-rb1/linux_6.15.3-1~qcom1.debdiff b/overlay-debs/linux-rb1/linux_6.15.3-1~qcom1.debdiff
deleted file mode 100644
index efaeb5f9..00000000
--- a/overlay-debs/linux-rb1/linux_6.15.3-1~qcom1.debdiff
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,106 +0,0 @@
-diff -Nru linux-6.15.3/debian/changelog linux-6.15.3/debian/changelog
---- linux-6.15.3/debian/changelog	2025-06-19 22:00:04.000000000 +0000
-+++ linux-6.15.3/debian/changelog	2025-06-25 18:08:37.000000000 +0000
-@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
-+linux (6.15.3-1~qcom1) trixie; urgency=medium
-+
-+  * [arm64] Enable Qualcomm RB1 boards (qrb2210-rb1) and other QCM2290 based
-+    platforms with CLK_QCM2290_GPUCC=m, QCOM_CLK_SMD_RPM=y,
-+    RPMSG_QCOM_GLINK_SMEM=y, QCOM_SMD_RPM=y, QCM_GCC_2290=y,
-+    QCM_GCC_2290=y, QCOM_APCS_IPC=y, PINCTRL_QCM2290=y, QCOM_SMEM=y; disable
-+    the now obsolete RPMSG_QCOM_SMD and drop qcom_smd from kernel-image udeb.
-+
-+ -- Loic Minier <loic.minier@oss.qualcomm.com>  Wed, 25 Jun 2025 18:08:37 +0000
-+
- linux (6.15.3-1~exp1) experimental; urgency=medium
- 
-   * New upstream stable update:
-diff -Nru linux-6.15.3/debian/config/arm64/config linux-6.15.3/debian/config/arm64/config
---- linux-6.15.3/debian/config/arm64/config	2025-06-19 16:10:05.000000000 +0000
-+++ linux-6.15.3/debian/config/arm64/config	2025-06-25 18:01:19.000000000 +0000
-@@ -187,6 +187,7 @@
- CONFIG_COMMON_CLK_SCPI=m
- CONFIG_COMMON_CLK_SI5341=y
- CONFIG_COMMON_CLK_FSL_SAI=y
-+CONFIG_CLK_QCM2290_GPUCC=m
- CONFIG_CLK_QORIQ=y
- CONFIG_CLK_LS1028A_PLLDIG=y
- CONFIG_COMMON_CLK_XGENE=y
-@@ -364,7 +365,7 @@
- CONFIG_QCOM_CLK_APCS_MSM8916=m
- CONFIG_QCOM_CLK_APCC_MSM8996=m
- CONFIG_QCOM_CLK_RPM=m
--CONFIG_QCOM_CLK_SMD_RPM=m
-+CONFIG_QCOM_CLK_SMD_RPM=y
- CONFIG_QCOM_CLK_RPMH=y
- CONFIG_MSM_GCC_8916=y
- CONFIG_MSM_GCC_8996=y
-@@ -372,7 +373,7 @@
- CONFIG_MSM_GCC_8998=y
- CONFIG_MSM_GPUCC_8998=m
- CONFIG_MSM_MMCC_8998=m
--CONFIG_QCM_GCC_2290=m
-+CONFIG_QCM_GCC_2290=y
- CONFIG_QCM_DISPCC_2290=m
- CONFIG_SC_CAMCC_7180=m
- CONFIG_SC_CAMCC_7280=m
-@@ -1088,7 +1089,7 @@
- CONFIG_ROCKCHIP_MBOX=y
- CONFIG_BCM2835_MBOX=y
- CONFIG_HI6220_MBOX=y
--CONFIG_QCOM_APCS_IPC=m
-+CONFIG_QCOM_APCS_IPC=y
- CONFIG_XGENE_SLIMPRO_MBOX=m
- CONFIG_MTK_ADSP_MBOX=m
- CONFIG_MTK_CMDQ_MBOX=m
-@@ -1914,7 +1915,7 @@
- CONFIG_PINCTRL_MSM8916=y
- CONFIG_PINCTRL_MSM8996=y
- CONFIG_PINCTRL_MSM8998=y
--CONFIG_PINCTRL_QCM2290=m
-+CONFIG_PINCTRL_QCM2290=y
- CONFIG_PINCTRL_SC7180=y
- CONFIG_PINCTRL_SC7280=y
- CONFIG_PINCTRL_SC8180X=y
-@@ -2084,8 +2085,7 @@
- ##
- CONFIG_RPMSG_MTK_SCP=m
- CONFIG_RPMSG_QCOM_GLINK_RPM=m
--CONFIG_RPMSG_QCOM_GLINK_SMEM=m
--CONFIG_RPMSG_QCOM_SMD=m
-+CONFIG_RPMSG_QCOM_GLINK_SMEM=y
- 
- ##
- ## file: drivers/rtc/Kconfig
-@@ -2165,8 +2165,8 @@
- CONFIG_QCOM_PMIC_GLINK=m
- CONFIG_QCOM_RMTFS_MEM=m
- CONFIG_QCOM_RPMH=y
--CONFIG_QCOM_SMEM=m
--CONFIG_QCOM_SMD_RPM=m
-+CONFIG_QCOM_SMEM=y
-+CONFIG_QCOM_SMD_RPM=y
- CONFIG_QCOM_SMP2P=m
- CONFIG_QCOM_SMSM=m
- CONFIG_QCOM_SOCINFO=m
-diff -Nru linux-6.15.3/debian/control.md5sum linux-6.15.3/debian/control.md5sum
---- linux-6.15.3/debian/control.md5sum	2025-06-19 22:00:04.000000000 +0000
-+++ linux-6.15.3/debian/control.md5sum	2025-06-24 16:33:49.000000000 +0000
-@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
- 9af914f76107cdcb388cd20d7ca1ae52  debian/bin/gencontrol.py
--81815638cfec6e9f5ef153e912738212  debian/build/version-info
-+4084bd6a210507143b0e9f0023e051a5  debian/build/version-info
- ba2c200f8c43f7ec8d8323561739379a  debian/config/alpha/defines.toml
- 300cccdfb319c58890356ea697f88771  debian/config/amd64/defines.toml
- 423b05cf9e26256ee4a5b30ba2045e7a  debian/config/arm64/defines.toml
-diff -Nru linux-6.15.3/debian/installer/modules/arm64/kernel-image linux-6.15.3/debian/installer/modules/arm64/kernel-image
---- linux-6.15.3/debian/installer/modules/arm64/kernel-image	2025-06-08 18:45:19.000000000 +0000
-+++ linux-6.15.3/debian/installer/modules/arm64/kernel-image	2025-06-25 18:08:37.000000000 +0000
-@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@
- qcom_glink
- qcom_glink_smem
- qcom_glink_rpm
--qcom_smd
- qcom_hwspinlock
- icc-osm-l3
- rpmpd
diff --git a/overlay-debs/linux-rb1/linux_6.15.3-1~qcom1.yaml b/overlay-debs/linux-rb1/linux_6.15.3-1~qcom1.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index bf0212a7..00000000
--- a/overlay-debs/linux-rb1/linux_6.15.3-1~qcom1.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-dsc_url: "https://deb.debian.org/debian/pool/main/l/linux/linux_6.15.3-1~exp1.dsc"
-dsc_sha256sum: "3ab8ec04ec2304df53d0a4133a228a52e9b54d5f0d85ac9ae929e51a4d078231"
-debdiff_file: "linux_6.15.3-1~qcom1.debdiff"
-suite: "experimental"