diff --git a/internal/controllers/wekacontainer/funcs_pod_ensure.go b/internal/controllers/wekacontainer/funcs_pod_ensure.go
index 46171b58f..cbd053562 100644
--- a/internal/controllers/wekacontainer/funcs_pod_ensure.go
+++ b/internal/controllers/wekacontainer/funcs_pod_ensure.go
@@ -123,9 +123,14 @@ func (r *containerReconcilerLoop) ensurePod(ctx context.Context) error {
 			image = drivers.GetBuilderImageForNode(node)
 		}
 
+		builderFlags, ffErr := r.GetFeatureFlags(ctx)
+		if ffErr != nil {
+			return errors.Wrap(ffErr, "failed to get feature flags for drivers-builder")
+		}
+
 		payloadBytes, _ := json.Marshal(map[string]string{ //nolint:errcheck // error return value intentionally not checked
 			"targetImage": container.Spec.Image,
-			"cliImage":    image,
+			"cliImage":    drivers.GetBuilderCliImage(builderFlags, container.Spec.Image, image),
 		})
 		container.Spec.Instructions = &weka.Instructions{
 			Type:    weka.InstructionCopyWekaFilesToDriverLoader,
diff --git a/internal/drivers/drivers.go b/internal/drivers/drivers.go
index 2a014d8bd..5fec24090 100644
--- a/internal/drivers/drivers.go
+++ b/internal/drivers/drivers.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/weka/weka-operator/internal/config"
+	"github.com/weka/weka-operator/internal/pkg/domain"
 	"github.com/weka/weka-operator/internal/services"
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 )
@@ -66,13 +67,22 @@ func GetBuilderImageForNode(node *v1.Node) string {
 
 func GetLoaderImageForNode(ctx context.Context, node *v1.Node, image string) string {
 	flags, err := services.GetFeatureFlags(ctx, image)
-	if err == nil && flags != nil {
+	if err != nil {
+		flags = nil
+	}
+
+	return GetBuilderCliImage(flags, image, GetBuilderImageForNode(node))
+}
+
+// GetBuilderCliImage picks the image that supplies the weka CLI staged for the
+// drivers-builder init containers. The extraction step bind-mounts over /opt/weka,
+// where the cluster image keeps its CLI, so a CLI is always staged out of band;
+// prefer the cluster image's own CLI when it can copy driver files itself.
+func GetBuilderCliImage(flags *domain.FeatureFlags, clusterImage, builderImage string) string {
+	if flags != nil && flags.WekaGetCopyLocalDriverFiles {
 		// innovation cli --kernel-build-id etc.
-		if flags.WekaGetCopyLocalDriverFiles {
-			return image
-		}
+		return clusterImage
 	}
 
-	// else - can use the builder image that has "innovation" cli
-	return GetBuilderImageForNode(node)
+	return builderImage
 }