diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f6a90c2ef..818f38c07 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -68,6 +68,10 @@ KUBEVIRTCI_REGISTRY_PREFIX=registry:5000/kubevirt
 PORT=$(shell ./cluster-up/cli.sh ports registry)
 
 BUILD_IMAGE ?= quay.io/konveyor/builder
+OCI_BIN ?= $(shell if podman ps >/dev/null 2>&1; then echo podman; elif docker ps >/dev/null 2>&1; then echo docker; fi)
+TLS_SETTING := $(if $(filter $(OCI_BIN),podman),--tls-verify=false,)
+export OCI_BIN
+export TLS_SETTING
 
 all: build-image
 
@@ -104,20 +108,22 @@ _output/bin/$(GOOS)/$(GOARCH)/$(BIN): build-dirs ${SRC_FILES}
 		./hack/build/build.sh'"
 
 TTY := $(shell tty -s && echo "-t")
+PODMAN_SPECIFIC_FLAG := $(if $(filter $(OCI_BIN),podman),--userns=keep-id,)
 
 shell: build-dirs
 	@echo "running docker: $@"
-	@docker run \
+	@${OCI_BIN} run \
 		-e GOFLAGS \
 		-i $(TTY) \
 		--rm \
 		-u $$(id -u):$$(id -g) \
+		$(PODMAN_SPECIFIC_FLAG) \
 		-v "$$(pwd)/_output/bin:/output:delegated" \
 		-v $$(pwd)/.go/pkg:/go/pkg \
 		-v $$(pwd)/.go/src:/go/src \
 		-v $$(pwd)/.go/std:/go/std \
 		-v $$(pwd)/.go/bin:/go/bin \
-		-v $$(pwd):/go/src/kubevirt-velero-plugin:z \
+		-v $$(pwd):/go/src/kubevirt-velero-plugin \
 		-v $$(pwd)/.go/std/$(GOOS)_$(GOARCH):/usr/local/go/pkg/$(GOOS)_$(GOARCH)_static \
 		-v "$$(pwd)/.go/go-build:/.cache/go-build:delegated" \
 		-e CGO_ENABLED=0 \
@@ -135,11 +141,11 @@ container-name:
 build-image: build-all
 	@echo -e "${GREEN}Building plugin image${WHITE}"
 	cp Dockerfile _output/bin/$(GOOS)/$(GOARCH)/Dockerfile
-	docker build -t ${DOCKER_PREFIX}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG} -f _output/bin/$(GOOS)/$(GOARCH)/Dockerfile _output/bin/$(GOOS)/$(GOARCH)
+	${OCI_BIN} build -t ${DOCKER_PREFIX}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG} -f _output/bin/$(GOOS)/$(GOARCH)/Dockerfile _output/bin/$(GOOS)/$(GOARCH)
 
 push: build-image
 	@echo -e "${GREEN}Pushing plugin image to local registry${WHITE}"
-	@docker push ${DOCKER_PREFIX}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG}
+	@${OCI_BIN} push ${DOCKER_PREFIX}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG}
 
 gomod-update: modules vendor
 
@@ -150,7 +156,7 @@ clean-dirs:
 
 clean: clean-dirs
 	@echo "cleaning"
-	docker rmi $(BUILD_IMAGE)
+	${OCI_BIN} rmi $(BUILD_IMAGE)
 
 test: build-dirs
 	@echo -e "${GREEN}Testing${WHITE}"
diff --git a/hack/README.md b/hack/README.md
index c7cde1531..d002fbd5a 100644
--- a/hack/README.md
+++ b/hack/README.md
@@ -14,10 +14,7 @@ GnuMake is used to drive a set of scripts that handle linting, testing, compilin
 
     NOTE: Standard builds require a running Docker daemon!
 
-The standard workflow is performed inside a helper container to normalize the build and test environment for all devs.  Building in the host environment is supported by the Makefile, but is not recommended.
-
-    Docker builds may be disabled by setting DOCKER=0; e.g.
-    $ make all DOCKER=0
+The standard workflow is performed inside a helper container to normalize the build and test environment for all devs.
 
 `$ make all` executes the full workflow.  For granular control of the workflow, several Make targets are defined:
 
diff --git a/hack/build/build-functest.sh b/hack/build/build-functest.sh
index ad662e113..10be63582 100755
--- a/hack/build/build-functest.sh
+++ b/hack/build/build-functest.sh
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ else
 fi
 (cd $test_path; go install github.com/onsi/ginkgo/ginkgo@latest)
 (cd $test_path; GOFLAGS= go get github.com/onsi/gomega)
-(cd $test_path; go mod tidy; go mod vendor)
 test_out_path=${test_path}/_out
 mkdir -p ${test_out_path}
 (cd $test_path; $ginkgo_path build .)
diff --git a/hack/build/cluster-push-image.sh b/hack/build/cluster-push-image.sh
index fef7ca57d..97bfd4bb4 100755
--- a/hack/build/cluster-push-image.sh
+++ b/hack/build/cluster-push-image.sh
@@ -24,10 +24,8 @@ source ${KUBEVIRTCI_PATH}cluster/$KUBEVIRT_PROVIDER/provider.sh
 
 LOCAL_CLUSTER_REGISTRY_PREFIX=localhost:${PORT}/kubevirt
 
-docker tag ${DOCKER_PREFIX}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG}  ${LOCAL_CLUSTER_REGISTRY_PREFIX}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG}
-docker push ${LOCAL_CLUSTER_REGISTRY_PREFIX}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG}
+${OCI_BIN} tag ${DOCKER_PREFIX}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG}  ${LOCAL_CLUSTER_REGISTRY_PREFIX}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG}
+${OCI_BIN} push ${TLS_SETTING} ${LOCAL_CLUSTER_REGISTRY_PREFIX}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG}
 
 # fetch latest version so it is available when container starts
-${_ssh} node01 "sudo docker pull ${KUBEVIRTCI_REGISTRY_PREFIX}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG}"
-
-
+${_ssh} node01 "sudo podman pull ${KUBEVIRTCI_REGISTRY_PREFIX}/${IMAGE_NAME}:${DOCKER_TAG}"
diff --git a/hack/cluster-deploy-prerequisites.sh b/hack/cluster-deploy-prerequisites.sh
index aa16298d0..48523f27a 100755
--- a/hack/cluster-deploy-prerequisites.sh
+++ b/hack/cluster-deploy-prerequisites.sh
@@ -30,11 +30,6 @@ _kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/releases/download/${KUBEV
 _kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubevirt/containerized-data-importer/releases/download/${CDI_VERSION}/cdi-operator.yaml
 _kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubevirt/containerized-data-importer/releases/download/${CDI_VERSION}/cdi-cr.yaml
 
-
-# pre fetch fedora test image
-${_ssh} node01 "sudo docker pull quay.io/kubevirt/fedora-with-test-tooling-container-disk"
-
-
 _kubectl wait -n kubevirt deployment/virt-operator   --for=condition=Available --timeout=${KUBEVIRT_DEPLOYMENT_TIMEOUT}s
 
 # Ensure the KubeVirt CR is created
diff --git a/hack/config.sh b/hack/config.sh
index fa0777fc2..aae044f24 100755
--- a/hack/config.sh
+++ b/hack/config.sh
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 #See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 #limitations under the License.
 
+KUBEVIRT_MEMORY_SIZE=${KUBEVIRT_MEMORY_SIZE:-9216M}
+
 if [ -f cluster-up/hack/common.sh ]; then
     source cluster-up/hack/common.sh
 fi
@@ -27,10 +29,6 @@ TESTS_OUT_DIR=${OUT_DIR}/tests
 BUILD_DIR=${PLUGIN_DIR}/hack/build
 CACHE_DIR=${OUT_DIR}/gocache
 
-DOCKER_HOST_SOCK=${DOCKER_HOST_SOCK:-/run/docker.sock}
-DOCKER_GUEST_SOCK=${DOCKER_GUEST_SOCK:-/run/docker.sock}
-DOCKER_CMD=${DOCKER_CMD:-docker -H unix://${DOCKER_HOST_SOCK}}
-
 if [[ $(which go 2>/dev/null) ]]; then
   GOOS=$(go env GOOS)
   GOARCH=$(go env GOARCH)
@@ -54,6 +52,4 @@ CDI_VERSION=${CDI_VERSION:-v1.48.0}
 KUBEVIRT_PROVIDER=${KUBEVIRT_PROVIDER:-k8s-1.23}
 KUBEVIRT_DEPLOYMENT_TIMEOUT=${KUBEVIRT_DEPLOYMENT_TIMEOUT:-480}
 
-KUBEVIRT_MEMORY_SIZE=${KUBEVIRT_MEMORY_SIZE:-9216M}
-
-source cluster-up/hack/config.sh
\ No newline at end of file
+source cluster-up/hack/config.sh
diff --git a/hack/run-ci.sh b/hack/run-ci.sh
index d4ad0cdcb..05a166b6d 100755
--- a/hack/run-ci.sh
+++ b/hack/run-ci.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ set -e
 readonly ARTIFACTS_PATH="${ARTIFACTS}"
 
 # Setup a cluster
-make cluster-up cluster-push-image cluster-sync CLUSTER_PREFIX='-p pull-kvp-functional-test'
+make cluster-up cluster-push-image cluster-sync
 
 # Run the tests
-make test-functional CLUSTER_PREFIX='-p pull-kvp-functional-test' TEST_ARGS="--test-args=--junit-output=${ARTIFACTS_PATH}/junit.functest.xml"
+make test-functional TEST_ARGS="--test-args=--junit-output=${ARTIFACTS_PATH}/junit.functest.xml"
diff --git a/hack/velero/deploy-velero.sh b/hack/velero/deploy-velero.sh
index ac7a4cbbb..7b73e4a86 100755
--- a/hack/velero/deploy-velero.sh
+++ b/hack/velero/deploy-velero.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ if [ -z "$KUBEVIRTCI_PATH" ]; then
 fi
 
 script_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd -P)"
-DOCKER_GUEST_SOCK=/var/run/docker.sock
 velero_dir=${script_dir}/../velero
 source "${script_dir}"/../config.sh
 
diff --git a/hack/velero/undeploy-velero.sh b/hack/velero/undeploy-velero.sh
index eff5b84af..f6876b765 100755
--- a/hack/velero/undeploy-velero.sh
+++ b/hack/velero/undeploy-velero.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ if [ -z "$KUBEVIRTCI_PATH" ]; then
 fi
 
 
-DOCKER_GUEST_SOCK=/var/run/docker.sock
 velero_dir=./hack/velero
 source ./hack/config.sh