diff --git a/cmd/gen-manifests/main.go b/cmd/gen-manifests/main.go
index 1b48196097..c06f7fc44c 100644
--- a/cmd/gen-manifests/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gen-manifests/main.go
@@ -10,17 +10,19 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
-	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/gobwas/glob"
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 
 	"github.com/osbuild/blueprint/pkg/blueprint"
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/internal/buildconfig"
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/internal/cmdutil"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/arch"
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/bib/osinfo"
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/container"
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/depsolvednf"
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/distro"
@@ -141,12 +143,9 @@ func loadConfigMap(configPath string, opts *buildconfig.Options) *BuildConfigs {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("failed to open config map %q: %s", configPath, err.Error()))
 	}
 	defer fp.Close()
-	data, err := io.ReadAll(fp)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(fmt.Sprintf("failed to read config map %q: %s", configPath, err.Error()))
-	}
+
 	var cfgMap configMap
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &cfgMap); err != nil {
+	if err := json.NewDecoder(fp).Decode(&cfgMap); err != nil {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("failed to unmarshal config map %q: %s", configPath, err.Error()))
 	}
 
@@ -258,6 +257,11 @@ func makeManifestJob(
 			}
 			msgq <- msg
 		}()
+		defer func() {
+			if r := recover(); r != nil {
+				err = fmt.Errorf("[%s] failed with panic: %s", filename, r)
+			}
+		}()
 		msgq <- fmt.Sprintf("Starting job %s", filename)
 
 		manifest, _, err := imgType.Manifest(&bp, options, repos, &seedArg)
@@ -395,10 +399,11 @@ func main() {
 	flag.BoolVar(&buildconfigAllowUnknown, "buildconfig-allow-unknown", false, "allow unknown keys in buildconfig")
 
 	// content args
-	var packages, containers, commits bool
+	var packages, containers, commits, fakeBootc bool
 	flag.BoolVar(&packages, "packages", true, "depsolve package sets")
 	flag.BoolVar(&containers, "containers", true, "resolve container checksums")
 	flag.BoolVar(&commits, "commits", false, "resolve ostree commit IDs")
+	flag.BoolVar(&fakeBootc, "fake-bootc", false, "create fake bootc containers based on test/bootc-fake-containers.yaml")
 
 	// manifest selection args
 	var arches, distros, imgTypes, bootcRefs cmdutil.MultiValue
@@ -568,6 +573,77 @@ func main() {
 			}
 		}
 	}
+	if fakeBootc {
+		p := "test/bootc-fake-containers.yaml"
+		f, err := os.Open(p)
+		if err != nil {
+			panic(fmt.Errorf("cannot find %q", p))
+		}
+		defer f.Close()
+		type fakeBootcContainerYAML struct {
+			Arch          arch.Arch   `yaml:"arch"`
+			Info          osinfo.Info `yaml:"info"`
+			DefaultFs     string      `yaml:"default_fs"`
+			ContainerSize uint64      `yaml:"container_size"`
+			ImageRef      string      `yaml:"image_ref"`
+
+			BuildContainerRef  string      `yaml:"build_container_ref"`
+			BuildContainerInfo osinfo.Info `yaml:"build_container_info"`
+		}
+		type fakeContainersYAML struct {
+			Containers []fakeBootcContainerYAML
+		}
+		var fakeContainers fakeContainersYAML
+		dec := yaml.NewDecoder(f)
+		dec.KnownFields(true)
+		if err := dec.Decode(&fakeContainers); err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
+		for _, fakeBootcCnt := range fakeContainers.Containers {
+			distribution, err := bootc.NewBootcDistroForTesting(fakeBootcCnt.Arch.String(), &fakeBootcCnt.Info, fakeBootcCnt.ImageRef, fakeBootcCnt.DefaultFs, fakeBootcCnt.ContainerSize)
+			if err != nil {
+				panic(err)
+			}
+			if fakeBootcCnt.BuildContainerRef != "" {
+				if err := distribution.SetBuildContainerForTesting(fakeBootcCnt.BuildContainerRef, &fakeBootcCnt.BuildContainerInfo); err != nil {
+					panic(err)
+				}
+			}
+
+			arches, _ := arches.ResolveArgValues(distribution.ListArches())
+			for _, archName := range arches {
+				archi, err := distribution.GetArch(archName)
+				if err != nil {
+					panic(err)
+				}
+				imgTypes, _ := imgTypes.ResolveArgValues(archi.ListImageTypes())
+				for _, imgTypeName := range imgTypes {
+					imgType, err := archi.GetImageType(imgTypeName)
+					if err != nil {
+						panic(err)
+					}
+					// XXX: copied from loop above
+					imgTypeConfigs := configs.Get(distribution.Name(), archName, imgTypeName)
+					if len(imgTypeConfigs) == 0 {
+						if skipNoconfig {
+							continue
+						}
+						panic(fmt.Sprintf("no configs defined for image type %q for %s/%s", imgTypeName, distribution.Name(), archi.Name()))
+					}
+					for _, itConfig := range imgTypeConfigs {
+						if needsSkipping, reason := configs.needsSkipping(distribution.Name(), itConfig); needsSkipping {
+							fmt.Printf("Skipping %s for %s/%s (reason: %v)\n", itConfig.Name, imgTypeName, distribution.Name(), reason)
+							continue
+						}
+
+						var repos []rpmmd.RepoConfig
+						job := makeManifestJob(itConfig, imgType, distribution, repos, archName, cacheRoot, outputDir, contentResolve, metadata, tmpdirRoot)
+						jobs = append(jobs, job)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
 
 	nJobs := len(jobs)
 	fmt.Printf("Collected %d jobs\n", nJobs)
diff --git a/internal/cmdutil/rand.go b/internal/cmdutil/rand.go
index b4ea8c13bd..ee5a5e36b0 100644
--- a/internal/cmdutil/rand.go
+++ b/internal/cmdutil/rand.go
@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@ func SeedArgFor(bc *buildconfig.BuildConfig, imgTypeName, distributionName, arch
 	h.Write([]byte(distributionName))
 	h.Write([]byte(archName))
 	h.Write([]byte(imgTypeName))
-	h.Write([]byte(bc.Name))
+	if bc != nil {
+		h.Write([]byte(bc.Name))
+	}
 
 	// nolint:gosec
 	return rngSeed + int64(h.Sum64()), nil
diff --git a/pkg/bib/container/container.go b/pkg/bib/container/container.go
index 634738ee02..59a7aaae77 100644
--- a/pkg/bib/container/container.go
+++ b/pkg/bib/container/container.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package container
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 type Container struct {
 	id   string
 	root string
+	arch string
 }
 
 // New creates a new running container from the given image reference.
@@ -62,6 +64,15 @@ func New(ref string) (*Container, error) {
 			c = nil
 		}
 	}()
+	// not all containers set {{.Architecture}} so fallback
+	c.arch, err = findContainerArchInspect(c.id, ref)
+	if err != nil {
+		var err2 error
+		c.arch, err2 = findContainerArchUname(c.id, ref)
+		if err2 != nil {
+			return nil, errors.Join(err, err2)
+		}
+	}
 
 	/* #nosec G204 */
 	output, err = exec.Command("podman", "mount", c.id).Output()
@@ -98,6 +109,11 @@ func (c *Container) Root() string {
 	return c.root
 }
 
+// Arch returns the architecture of the container
+func (c *Container) Arch() string {
+	return c.arch
+}
+
 // Reads a file from the container
 func (c *Container) ReadFile(path string) ([]byte, error) {
 	/* #nosec G204 */
@@ -168,3 +184,27 @@ func (c *Container) DefaultRootfsType() (string, error) {
 
 	return fsType, nil
 }
+
+func findContainerArchInspect(cntId, ref string) (string, error) {
+	/* #nosec G204 */
+	output, err := exec.Command("podman", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Architecture}}", cntId).Output()
+	if err != nil {
+		if err, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("inspecting container %q failed: %w\nstderr:\n%s", ref, err, err.Stderr)
+		}
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("inspecting %s container failed with generic error: %w", ref, err)
+	}
+	return strings.TrimSpace(string(output)), nil
+}
+
+func findContainerArchUname(cntId, ref string) (string, error) {
+	/* #nosec G204 */
+	output, err := exec.Command("podman", "exec", cntId, "uname", "-m").Output()
+	if err != nil {
+		if err, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("running 'uname -m' from container %q failed: %w\nstderr:\n%s", cntId, err, err.Stderr)
+		}
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("running 'uname -m' from container %q failed with generic error: %w", cntId, err)
+	}
+	return strings.TrimSpace(string(output)), nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/bib/osinfo/osinfo.go b/pkg/bib/osinfo/osinfo.go
index 3fabf5bfff..046192be1b 100644
--- a/pkg/bib/osinfo/osinfo.go
+++ b/pkg/bib/osinfo/osinfo.go
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@ type KernelInfo struct {
 }
 
 type Info struct {
-	OSRelease          OSRelease
-	UEFIVendor         string
-	SELinuxPolicy      string
+	OSRelease          OSRelease `yaml:"os_release"`
+	UEFIVendor         string    `yaml:"uefi_vendor"`
+	SELinuxPolicy      string    `yaml:"selinux_policy"`
 	ImageCustomization *blueprint.Customizations
 	KernelInfo         *KernelInfo
 
diff --git a/pkg/distro/bootc/bootc.go b/pkg/distro/bootc/bootc.go
index 8888c10be2..eddc7e2316 100644
--- a/pkg/distro/bootc/bootc.go
+++ b/pkg/distro/bootc/bootc.go
@@ -3,11 +3,13 @@ package bootc
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"math/rand"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/osbuild/blueprint/pkg/blueprint"
 
+	"github.com/osbuild/images/internal/cmdutil"
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/internal/common"
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/arch"
 	bibcontainer "github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/bib/container"
@@ -77,11 +79,21 @@ func (d *BootcDistro) SetBuildContainer(imgref string) (err error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	return d.setBuildContainer(imgref, info)
+}
+
+func (d *BootcDistro) setBuildContainer(imgref string, info *osinfo.Info) error {
 	d.buildImgref = imgref
 	d.buildSourceInfo = info
 	return nil
 }
 
+// SetBuildContainerForTesting should only be used for in tests
+// please use "SetBuildContainer" instead
+func (d *BootcDistro) SetBuildContainerForTesting(imgref string, info *osinfo.Info) error {
+	return d.setBuildContainer(imgref, info)
+}
+
 func (d *BootcDistro) SetDefaultFs(defaultFs string) error {
 	if defaultFs == "" {
 		return nil
@@ -270,7 +282,6 @@ func (t *BootcImageType) Manifest(bp *blueprint.Blueprint, options distro.ImageO
 	if t.arch.distro.imgref == "" {
 		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("internal error: no base image defined")
 	}
-
 	containerSource := container.SourceSpec{
 		Source: t.arch.distro.imgref,
 		Name:   t.arch.distro.imgref,
@@ -286,6 +297,12 @@ func (t *BootcImageType) Manifest(bp *blueprint.Blueprint, options distro.ImageO
 	if bp != nil {
 		customizations = bp.Customizations
 	}
+	seed, err := cmdutil.SeedArgFor(nil, t.Name(), t.arch.Name(), t.arch.distro.Name())
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+	//nolint:gosec
+	rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(seed))
 
 	archi := common.Must(arch.FromString(t.arch.Name()))
 	platform := &platform.Data{
@@ -327,7 +344,7 @@ func (t *BootcImageType) Manifest(bp *blueprint.Blueprint, options distro.ImageO
 	}
 
 	rootfsMinSize := max(t.arch.distro.rootfsMinSize, options.Size)
-	rng := createRand()
+
 	pt, err := t.genPartitionTable(customizations, rootfsMinSize, rng)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, err
@@ -368,7 +385,7 @@ func (t *BootcImageType) Manifest(bp *blueprint.Blueprint, options distro.ImageO
 
 // newBootcDistro returns a new instance of BootcDistro
 // from the given url
-func NewBootcDistro(imgref string) (bd *BootcDistro, err error) {
+func NewBootcDistro(imgref string) (*BootcDistro, error) {
 	cnt, err := bibcontainer.New(imgref)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -381,7 +398,6 @@ func NewBootcDistro(imgref string) (bd *BootcDistro, err error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-
 	// XXX: provide a way to set defaultfs (needed for bib)
 	defaultFs, err := cnt.DefaultRootfsType()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -391,9 +407,12 @@ func NewBootcDistro(imgref string) (bd *BootcDistro, err error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot get container size: %w", err)
 	}
+	return newBootcDistroAfterIntrospect(cnt.Arch(), info, imgref, defaultFs, cntSize)
+}
 
+func newBootcDistroAfterIntrospect(archStr string, info *osinfo.Info, imgref, defaultFs string, cntSize uint64) (*BootcDistro, error) {
 	nameVer := fmt.Sprintf("bootc-%s-%s", info.OSRelease.ID, info.OSRelease.VersionID)
-	bd = &BootcDistro{
+	bd := &BootcDistro{
 		name:          nameVer,
 		releasever:    info.OSRelease.VersionID,
 		defaultFs:     defaultFs,
@@ -407,54 +426,61 @@ func NewBootcDistro(imgref string) (bd *BootcDistro, err error) {
 		buildSourceInfo: info,
 	}
 
-	for _, archStr := range []string{"x86_64", "aarch64", "ppc64le", "s390x", "riscv64"} {
-		ba := &BootcArch{
-			arch: common.Must(arch.FromString(archStr)),
-		}
-		// TODO: add iso image types, see bootc-image-builder
-		//
-		// Note that the file extension is hardcoded in
-		// pkg/image/bootc_disk.go, we have no way to access
-		// it here so we need to duplicate it
-		// XXX: find a way to avoid this duplication
-		ba.addImageTypes(
-			BootcImageType{
-				name:   "ami",
-				export: "image",
-				ext:    "raw",
-			},
-			BootcImageType{
-				name:   "qcow2",
-				export: "qcow2",
-				ext:    "qcow2",
-			},
-			BootcImageType{
-				name:   "raw",
-				export: "image",
-				ext:    "raw",
-			},
-			BootcImageType{
-				name:   "vmdk",
-				export: "vmdk",
-				ext:    "vmdk",
-			},
-			BootcImageType{
-				name:   "vhd",
-				export: "bpc",
-				ext:    "vhd",
-			},
-			BootcImageType{
-				name:   "gce",
-				export: "gce",
-				ext:    "tar.gz",
-			},
-		)
-		bd.addArches(ba)
+	archi, err := arch.FromString(archStr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
+	ba := &BootcArch{
+		arch: archi,
+	}
+	// TODO: add iso image types, see bootc-image-builder
+	//
+	// Note that the file extension is hardcoded in
+	// pkg/image/bootc_disk.go, we have no way to access
+	// it here so we need to duplicate it
+	// XXX: find a way to avoid this duplication
+	ba.addImageTypes(
+		BootcImageType{
+			name:   "ami",
+			export: "image",
+			ext:    "raw",
+		},
+		BootcImageType{
+			name:   "qcow2",
+			export: "qcow2",
+			ext:    "qcow2",
+		},
+		BootcImageType{
+			name:   "raw",
+			export: "image",
+			ext:    "raw",
+		},
+		BootcImageType{
+			name:   "vmdk",
+			export: "vmdk",
+			ext:    "vmdk",
+		},
+		BootcImageType{
+			name:   "vhd",
+			export: "bpc",
+			ext:    "vhd",
+		},
+		BootcImageType{
+			name:   "gce",
+			export: "gce",
+			ext:    "tar.gz",
+		},
+	)
+	bd.addArches(ba)
 
 	return bd, nil
 }
 
+// NewBootcDistroForTesting can be used to generate test manifests.
+// The container introspection is skipped. Do not use this for
+// anything but tests.
+var NewBootcDistroForTesting = newBootcDistroAfterIntrospect
+
 func DistroFactory(idStr string) distro.Distro {
 	l := strings.SplitN(idStr, ":", 2)
 	if l[0] != "bootc" {
diff --git a/pkg/distro/bootc/export_test.go b/pkg/distro/bootc/export_test.go
index 39d35e581a..0e88c52c97 100644
--- a/pkg/distro/bootc/export_test.go
+++ b/pkg/distro/bootc/export_test.go
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ var (
 	CheckFilesystemCustomizations = checkFilesystemCustomizations
 	PartitionTables               = partitionTables
 	UpdateFilesystemSizes         = updateFilesystemSizes
-	CreateRand                    = createRand
 	CalcRequiredDirectorySizes    = calcRequiredDirectorySizes
 
 	TestDiskContainers = diskContainers
diff --git a/pkg/distro/bootc/image_test.go b/pkg/distro/bootc/image_test.go
index 1cc6913c13..3d5b44493b 100644
--- a/pkg/distro/bootc/image_test.go
+++ b/pkg/distro/bootc/image_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package bootc_test
 
 import (
+	"math/rand"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -16,6 +17,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/osbuild/images/pkg/distro/bootc"
 )
 
+func createRand() *rand.Rand {
+	return rand.New(rand.NewSource(0))
+}
+
 func TestCheckFilesystemCustomizationsValidates(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, tc := range []struct {
 		fsCust      []blueprint.FilesystemCustomization
@@ -326,7 +331,7 @@ func findMountableSizeableFor(pt *disk.PartitionTable, needle string) (disk.Moun
 }
 
 func TestGenPartitionTableSetsRootfsForAllFilesystemsXFS(t *testing.T) {
-	rng := bootc.CreateRand()
+	rng := createRand()
 
 	imgType := bootc.NewTestBootcImageType()
 
@@ -356,7 +361,7 @@ func TestGenPartitionTableSetsRootfsForAllFilesystemsXFS(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestGenPartitionTableSetsRootfsForAllFilesystemsBtrfs(t *testing.T) {
-	rng := bootc.CreateRand()
+	rng := createRand()
 
 	imgType := bootc.NewTestBootcImageType()
 	err := imgType.Arch().Distro().(*bootc.BootcDistro).SetDefaultFs("btrfs")
@@ -378,7 +383,7 @@ func TestGenPartitionTableSetsRootfsForAllFilesystemsBtrfs(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "vfat", mnt.GetFSType())
 }
 func TestGenPartitionTableDiskCustomizationRunsValidateLayoutConstraints(t *testing.T) {
-	rng := bootc.CreateRand()
+	rng := createRand()
 
 	imgType := bootc.NewTestBootcImageType()
 
@@ -415,7 +420,7 @@ func TestGenPartitionTableDiskCustomizationUnknownTypesError(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestGenPartitionTableDiskCustomizationSizes(t *testing.T) {
-	rng := bootc.CreateRand()
+	rng := createRand()
 
 	for _, tc := range []struct {
 		name                string
diff --git a/pkg/distro/bootc/util.go b/pkg/distro/bootc/util.go
index 1049550dcb..097d44c3ed 100644
--- a/pkg/distro/bootc/util.go
+++ b/pkg/distro/bootc/util.go
@@ -1,27 +1,12 @@
 package bootc
 
 import (
-	cryptorand "crypto/rand"
 	"fmt"
-	"math"
-	"math/big"
-	"math/rand"
 	"os/exec"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 )
 
-func createRand() *rand.Rand {
-	seed, err := cryptorand.Int(cryptorand.Reader, big.NewInt(math.MaxInt64))
-	if err != nil {
-		panic("Cannot generate an RNG seed.")
-	}
-
-	// math/rand is good enough in this case
-	/* #nosec G404 */
-	return rand.New(rand.NewSource(seed.Int64()))
-}
-
 // getContainerSize returns the size of an already pulled container image in bytes
 func getContainerSize(imgref string) (uint64, error) {
 	output, err := exec.Command("podman", "image", "inspect", imgref, "--format", "{{.Size}}").Output()
diff --git a/test/bootc-fake-containers.yaml b/test/bootc-fake-containers.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bc211668dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/bootc-fake-containers.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+---
+containers:
+  - &default_fake_container
+    image_ref: "bootc-fake-imgref"
+    arch: riscv64
+    info: &default_info
+      os_release:
+        id: "test-os"
+        versionid: "1"
+    default_fs: "ext4"
+    container_size: 10_000_000_000
+  - <<: *default_fake_container
+    arch: s390x
+  - <<: *default_fake_container
+    arch: ppc64le
+  - <<: *default_fake_container
+    arch: x86_64
+    info:
+      <<: *default_info
+      uefi_vendor: "uefi-vendor-x86_64"
+  - <<: *default_fake_container
+    arch: aarch64
+    info:
+      <<: *default_info
+      uefi_vendor: "uefi-vendor-aarch64"
+
+  - <<: *default_fake_container
+    arch: x86_64
+    info:
+      os_release:
+        id: "test-os-with-build-container"
+        versionid: "1"
+    build_container_ref: "build-container-fake-ref"
+    build_container_info:
+      os_release:
+        id: "build-test-os"
diff --git a/test/config-map.json b/test/config-map.json
index 8be18b5880..db8fa47120 100644
--- a/test/config-map.json
+++ b/test/config-map.json
@@ -526,5 +526,10 @@
     "image-types": [
       "vhd"
     ]
+  },
+  "./configs/empty.json": {
+    "distros": [
+      "bootc-*"
+    ]
   }
 }
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-ami-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-ami-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1e7782a15e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-ami-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+b8a2e3722b12d0327672c2ff1765c0e6cbd355df
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-gce-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-gce-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..28f876cae2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-gce-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+3c444830b05ee7e9bbf7a44494701130087e0ed0
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-qcow2-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-qcow2-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ecd163f15e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-qcow2-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+22d208e39a11ba5feb8f586be9b3b9f8257f8263
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-raw-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-raw-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2b6dd7f2bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-raw-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+f4f2f3508999911db0befd41b6429ae0c0a525ab
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-vhd-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-vhd-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0cc8a80962
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-vhd-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+5b3da86b3a2abfafe5cb2d3de4acfa01ab4beebb
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-vmdk-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-vmdk-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..061110863a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-aarch64-vmdk-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+6a70959d7e673cde56b11b89785a2ac9dec7106c
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-ami-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-ami-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d41569ed12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-ami-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+b7ddbad816724cb66eec36cf7ca2b643d15f4c9d
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-gce-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-gce-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..97fe326f10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-gce-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ad12dee18e7f6e33b076b9377c1fd1879dcead7e
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-qcow2-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-qcow2-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..aa8944a57d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-qcow2-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+14d6cffd05250e0b6ac1113aa2a5cb1ccb3b33d2
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-raw-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-raw-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0d5facc72a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-raw-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+49ad8d143bbbf96bce01a029745e7bfba4d7b900
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-vhd-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-vhd-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ac5e7717e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-vhd-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+2d31fe3c4c747c4b5ae3094bf4182ecc8dc7caeb
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-vmdk-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-vmdk-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..24d09f7f74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-ppc64le-vmdk-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+498f8bde1ec3ce0f704fe98ec4f8050d850d73f4
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-ami-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-ami-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..53a7186598
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-ami-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+54bf9201635e54806ddea4cda2947fd99d7c276c
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-gce-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-gce-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f0ac6650cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-gce-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+c1ef1aac4823032a85371c75a111638c37e31ffe
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-qcow2-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-qcow2-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..39a1975b50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-qcow2-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+554badbf13db66e073446315b25c8dd8ac974a9e
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-raw-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-raw-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b7f3e6fb25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-raw-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+465de5127abee6828a1b60a280b8630f9ac5457a
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-vhd-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-vhd-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..25adf7524d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-vhd-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ff19bdec8c095f3d146e84498877932249aded4a
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-vmdk-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-vmdk-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e6f371a8a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-s390x-vmdk-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+d634826c27a2993ef59e6bfa5a764219b2a83325
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-ami-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-ami-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..26280c4641
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-ami-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+eece2136444b81ffec6edcfb4f14f69ab7218ed4
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-gce-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-gce-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6bd85a08cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-gce-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+a6df8aa5feae6b9f7c35dc805baadcf292258896
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-qcow2-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-qcow2-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..71790681ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-qcow2-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+6dc585a8846922b1d1486af70f124fb3026f20db
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-raw-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-raw-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3a808d6356
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-raw-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+6f73b578193e4b8f3fca9a7c9d408791237cadb9
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-vhd-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-vhd-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bbfe83c13c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-vhd-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+31b7b9f7874a1d94d656028ed06a7fbcf04b9a90
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-vmdk-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-vmdk-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..17e2ec0606
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_1-x86_64-vmdk-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+c2ffb4e140c7927fc51af604abd42e58e407e536
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-ami-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-ami-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4d003eff16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-ami-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+3acf7e43d917fba754c7dddc6ad793616ff54cce
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-gce-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-gce-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2e5f0e347b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-gce-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+46ec6c72dc9942552f2fdab02ae0a1b3950954a8
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-qcow2-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-qcow2-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..82bf2db417
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-qcow2-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+e2d3eca009d3276d5cc286df48f2c2d9b99aaecc
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-raw-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-raw-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..87e0a7b572
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-raw-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+7f6896bf5f7437f01a08b417077c7f647eea22a3
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-vhd-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-vhd-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1358259e01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-vhd-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ed2b094ebe4646ad8a305173251128c251de9bf9
diff --git a/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-vmdk-empty b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-vmdk-empty
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1c7bc879d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/manifest-checksums/bootc_test_os_with_build_container_1-x86_64-vmdk-empty
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+a8365d782f5261d21d8e17a947d20faca2422ffe
diff --git a/test/scripts/validate-config-map b/test/scripts/validate-config-map
index cd2c1aee6e..82035e16ed 100755
--- a/test/scripts/validate-config-map
+++ b/test/scripts/validate-config-map
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ image-types produces at least one valid build configuration for each config file
 The config map is read as test/config-map.json relative to the repository root.
 """
 import argparse
+import copy
 import json
 import pathlib
 import sys
@@ -59,6 +60,17 @@ def validate_build_config(config_map):
     return no_matches
 
 
+def filter_bootc(orig_config_map):
+    """ returns a copy of the config_map without booc distros """
+    config_map = copy.deepcopy(orig_config_map)
+    for build_config in config_map.values():
+        if distros := build_config.get("distros"):
+            build_config["distros"] = [
+                d for d in distros if not d.startswith("bootc-")]
+
+    return config_map
+
+
 def main():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
     parser.add_argument("path", default=".", nargs="?", help="path to repository root")
@@ -78,7 +90,9 @@ def main():
     print("OK: All config files found")
 
     print("Validating build configurations (distros, arches, image types)")
-    no_matches = validate_build_config(config_map)
+    # filter out all bootc-* distros, they are "virtual" and will not
+    # show up in "list-images" which is used to validate known distros
+    no_matches = validate_build_config(filter_bootc(config_map))
     if no_matches:
         print("failed: the following configs do not match any known build configurations", file=sys.stderr)
         for idx, (config, build_config) in enumerate(no_matches, start=1):
diff --git a/tools/gen-manifest-checksums.sh b/tools/gen-manifest-checksums.sh
index 6e6d325ed2..8bf9882678 100755
--- a/tools/gen-manifest-checksums.sh
+++ b/tools/gen-manifest-checksums.sh
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ echo "Generating mock manifests"
 if ! "${tmpdir}/bin/gen-manifests" \
     --packages=false --containers=false --commits=false \
     --metadata=false \
+    --fake-bootc=true \
     --arches "x86_64,aarch64,ppc64le,s390x" \
     --output "${tmpdir}/manifests" \
     > /dev/null 2> "${tmpdir}/stderr"; then
diff --git a/tools/gen-manifests-diff b/tools/gen-manifests-diff
index 4d9f86d7d0..7d5898f79c 100755
--- a/tools/gen-manifests-diff
+++ b/tools/gen-manifests-diff
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ def manifests_diff(tmp_path, rev):
     cmd_new = ["go", "run", f"github.com/osbuild/images/cmd/gen-manifests@{rev}"]
     run_gen_manifests(cmd_new, manifests_old)
 
-    cmd_new = ["go", "run", os.fspath(top_srcdir() / "cmd/gen-manifests")]
+    cmd_new = ["go", "run", os.fspath(top_srcdir() / "cmd/gen-manifests"), "-fake-bootc=true"]
     run_gen_manifests(cmd_new, manifests_new)
 
     ret = subprocess.run([