diff --git a/hack/build.sh b/hack/build.sh
index 587932971e2..7cfa7b46806 100755
--- a/hack/build.sh
+++ b/hack/build.sh
@@ -39,6 +39,14 @@ export CGO_ENABLED=0
 case "${MODE}" in
 release)
 	TAGS="${TAGS} release"
+	if test -n "${RELEASE_IMAGE}"
+	then
+		LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS} -X github.com/openshift/installer/pkg/asset/ignition/bootstrap.defaultReleaseImage=${RELEASE_IMAGE}"
+	fi
+	if test -n "${RHCOS_BUILD_NAME}"
+	then
+		LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS} -X github.com/openshift/installer/pkg/rhcos.buildName=${RHCOS_BUILD_NAME}"
+	fi
 	if test "${SKIP_GENERATION}" != y
 	then
 		go generate ./data
diff --git a/pkg/asset/ignition/bootstrap/bootstrap.go b/pkg/asset/ignition/bootstrap/bootstrap.go
index 977eff061af..36312862ac1 100644
--- a/pkg/asset/ignition/bootstrap/bootstrap.go
+++ b/pkg/asset/ignition/bootstrap/bootstrap.go
@@ -29,13 +29,16 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	rootDir              = "/opt/openshift"
-	defaultReleaseImage  = "registry.svc.ci.openshift.org/openshift/origin-release:v4.0"
 	bootstrapIgnFilename = "bootstrap.ign"
 	etcdCertSignerImage  = "quay.io/coreos/kube-etcd-signer-server:678cc8e6841e2121ebfdb6e2db568fce290b67d6"
 	etcdctlImage         = "quay.io/coreos/etcd:v3.2.14"
 	ignitionUser         = "core"
 )
 
+var (
+	defaultReleaseImage = "registry.svc.ci.openshift.org/openshift/origin-release:v4.0"
+)
+
 // bootstrapTemplateData is the data to use to replace values in bootstrap
 // template files.
 type bootstrapTemplateData struct {
diff --git a/pkg/rhcos/builds.go b/pkg/rhcos/builds.go
index a1a76158d9c..015b50ef615 100644
--- a/pkg/rhcos/builds.go
+++ b/pkg/rhcos/builds.go
@@ -11,10 +11,14 @@ import (
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
-const (
+var (
 	// DefaultChannel is the default RHCOS channel for the cluster.
 	DefaultChannel = "maipo"
 
+	// buildName is the name of the build in the channel that will be picked up
+	// empty string means the first one in the build list (latest) will be used
+	buildName = ""
+
 	baseURL = "https://releases-rhcos.svc.ci.openshift.org/storage/releases"
 )
 
@@ -33,9 +37,13 @@ type metadata struct {
 }
 
 func fetchLatestMetadata(ctx context.Context, channel string) (metadata, error) {
-	build, err := fetchLatestBuild(ctx, channel)
-	if err != nil {
-		return metadata{}, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to fetch latest build")
+	build := buildName
+	var err error
+	if build == "" {
+		build, err = fetchLatestBuild(ctx, channel)
+		if err != nil {
+			return metadata{}, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to fetch latest build")
+		}
 	}
 
 	url := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s/%s/meta.json", baseURL, channel, build)
@@ -48,7 +56,7 @@ func fetchLatestMetadata(ctx context.Context, channel string) (metadata, error)
 	client := &http.Client{}
 	resp, err := client.Do(req.WithContext(ctx))
 	if err != nil {
-		return metadata{}, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to fetch metadata")
+		return metadata{}, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to fetch metadata for build %s", build)
 	}
 	defer resp.Body.Close()