diff --git a/packages/api/internal/cfg/model.go b/packages/api/internal/cfg/model.go
index d6659f4ca4..6e7da8aa06 100644
--- a/packages/api/internal/cfg/model.go
+++ b/packages/api/internal/cfg/model.go
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/caarlos0/env/v11"
 	"github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5"
-
-	"github.com/e2b-dev/infra/packages/shared/pkg/featureflags"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -67,9 +65,6 @@ type Config struct {
 	// tokens signed with the old secret for some time.
 	SupabaseJWTSecrets []string `env:"SUPABASE_JWT_SECRETS"`
 
-	// Deprecated: Template manager should use its own
-	DefaultKernelVersion string `env:"DEFAULT_KERNEL_VERSION"`
-
 	DefaultPersistentVolumeType string `env:"DEFAULT_PERSISTENT_VOLUME_TYPE"`
 
 	// SandboxStorageBackend selects the sandbox storage implementation.
@@ -138,10 +133,6 @@ func Parse() (Config, error) {
 		return Config{}, err
 	}
 
-	if config.DefaultKernelVersion == "" {
-		config.DefaultKernelVersion = featureflags.DefaultKernelVersion
-	}
-
 	if config.AuthDBConnectionString == "" {
 		config.AuthDBConnectionString = config.PostgresConnectionString
 	}
diff --git a/packages/api/internal/handlers/deprecated_template_request_build.go b/packages/api/internal/handlers/deprecated_template_request_build.go
index 6072dcc5b9..d732163bd1 100644
--- a/packages/api/internal/handlers/deprecated_template_request_build.go
+++ b/packages/api/internal/handlers/deprecated_template_request_build.go
@@ -160,10 +160,11 @@ func (a *APIStore) buildTemplate(
 	templateID api.TemplateID,
 	body api.TemplateBuildRequest,
 ) (*template.RegisterBuildResponse, *api.APIError) {
-	// TODO(ENG-3852): Stop sending the firecracker version from the API. The orchestrator
-	// now resolves its own FC version via the FirecrackerVersions feature flag
-	// (see packages/orchestrator/pkg/template/build/builder.go)
+	// TODO(ENG-3852): Stop sending the firecracker/kernel versions from the API.
+	// The orchestrator resolves them itself via the BuildFirecrackerVersion /
+	// BuildKernelVersion feature flags (see packages/orchestrator/pkg/template/server/create_template.go).
 	firecrackerVersion := a.featureFlags.StringFlag(ctx, featureflags.BuildFirecrackerVersion)
+	kernelVersion := a.featureFlags.StringFlag(ctx, featureflags.BuildKernelVersion)
 
 	var alias *string
 	var tags []string
@@ -206,7 +207,7 @@ func (a *APIStore) buildTemplate(
 		CpuCount:           body.CpuCount,
 		MemoryMB:           body.MemoryMB,
 		Version:            templates.TemplateV1Version,
-		KernelVersion:      a.config.DefaultKernelVersion,
+		KernelVersion:      kernelVersion,
 		FirecrackerVersion: firecrackerVersion,
 	}
 
diff --git a/packages/api/internal/handlers/template_request_build_v3.go b/packages/api/internal/handlers/template_request_build_v3.go
index 8cfd56c98b..8b35e91651 100644
--- a/packages/api/internal/handlers/template_request_build_v3.go
+++ b/packages/api/internal/handlers/template_request_build_v3.go
@@ -115,10 +115,11 @@ func requestTemplateBuild(ctx context.Context, c *gin.Context, a *APIStore, body
 	}
 	span.End()
 
-	// TODO(ENG-3852): Stop sending the firecracker version from the API. The orchestrator
-	// now resolves its own FC version via the FirecrackerVersions feature flag
-	// (see packages/orchestrator/pkg/template/build/builder.go)
+	// TODO(ENG-3852): Stop sending the firecracker/kernel versions from the API.
+	// The orchestrator resolves them itself via the BuildFirecrackerVersion /
+	// BuildKernelVersion feature flags (see packages/orchestrator/pkg/template/server/create_template.go).
 	firecrackerVersion := a.featureFlags.StringFlag(ctx, featureflags.BuildFirecrackerVersion)
+	kernelVersion := a.featureFlags.StringFlag(ctx, featureflags.BuildKernelVersion)
 	buildReq := template.RegisterBuildData{
 		ClusterID:          clusters.WithClusterFallback(team.ClusterID),
 		TemplateID:         templateID,
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ func requestTemplateBuild(ctx context.Context, c *gin.Context, a *APIStore, body
 		CpuCount:           body.CpuCount,
 		MemoryMB:           body.MemoryMB,
 		Version:            templates.TemplateV2LatestVersion,
-		KernelVersion:      a.config.DefaultKernelVersion,
+		KernelVersion:      kernelVersion,
 		FirecrackerVersion: firecrackerVersion,
 	}
 
diff --git a/packages/orchestrator/pkg/template/server/create_template.go b/packages/orchestrator/pkg/template/server/create_template.go
index 0e179709a0..ad5a00828b 100644
--- a/packages/orchestrator/pkg/template/server/create_template.go
+++ b/packages/orchestrator/pkg/template/server/create_template.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func (s *ServerStore) TemplateCreate(ctx context.Context, templateRequest *templ
 		featureflags.TeamContext(cfg.GetTeamID()),
 	)
 
-	kernelVersion := featureflags.DefaultKernelVersion
+	kernelVersion := s.featureFlags.StringFlag(ctx, featureflags.BuildKernelVersion)
 	firecrackerVersion := s.featureFlags.StringFlag(ctx, featureflags.BuildFirecrackerVersion)
 
 	fcInfo, err := fcversion.New(firecrackerVersion)
diff --git a/packages/shared/pkg/featureflags/flags.go b/packages/shared/pkg/featureflags/flags.go
index f390e4fe90..b5a71cad5e 100644
--- a/packages/shared/pkg/featureflags/flags.go
+++ b/packages/shared/pkg/featureflags/flags.go
@@ -238,7 +238,6 @@ func NewStringFlag(name string, fallback string) StringFlag {
 	return flag
 }
 
-// This is currently not configurable via feature flags.
 const (
 	DefaultKernelVersion = "vmlinux-6.1.158"
 )
@@ -261,6 +260,7 @@ var FirecrackerVersionMap = map[string]string{
 // BuildIoEngine Sync is used by default as there seems to be a bad interaction between Async and a lot of io operations.
 var (
 	BuildFirecrackerVersion     = NewStringFlag("build-firecracker-version", env.GetEnv("DEFAULT_FIRECRACKER_VERSION", DefaultFirecrackerVersion))
+	BuildKernelVersion          = NewStringFlag("build-kernel-version", env.GetEnv("DEFAULT_KERNEL_VERSION", DefaultKernelVersion))
 	BuildIoEngine               = NewStringFlag("build-io-engine", "Sync")
 	DefaultPersistentVolumeType = NewStringFlag("default-persistent-volume-type", "")
 	BuildNodeInfo               = NewJSONFlag("preferred-build-node", ldvalue.Null())