diff --git a/services/baremetal-builder/default.nix b/services/baremetal-builder/default.nix
index fd9075a..418fa9f 100644
--- a/services/baremetal-builder/default.nix
+++ b/services/baremetal-builder/default.nix
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ in
       { address = "2a01:584:11::1:${toString cfg.num}"; prefixLength = 64; }
     ];
     networking.defaultGateway6 = { interface = "uplink"; address = "2a01:584:11::1"; };
-    deployment.targetHost = "2a01:584:11::1:${toString cfg.num}";
+    deployment.targetHost = lib.mkIf (!cfg.netboot) "2a01:584:11::1:${toString cfg.num}";
     deployment.tags = [ "builders" ];
 
     # Why can't we have nice things? https://bugs.openjdk.org/browse/JDK-8170568
diff --git a/services/baremetal-builder/netboot.nix b/services/baremetal-builder/netboot.nix
index 4f6782d..a1067eb 100644
--- a/services/baremetal-builder/netboot.nix
+++ b/services/baremetal-builder/netboot.nix
@@ -21,13 +21,22 @@ in
       '';
     };
 
+    # machines with the netboot module enabled should only be updated by appliying wob-vpn-gw and rebooting
+    deployment.targetHost = "invalid.example.com";
+    # fixes initrd eval assertion error, and allows `colmena build` to succeed
+    fileSystems."/" = {
+      device = "none";
+      fsType = "tmpfs";
+      options = [ "defaults" "size=64G" "mode=755" ];
+    };
+
     system.build = {
 
       # Build a kernel and initramfs which will download the IPXE script from hydra using
       # u-root pxeboot tool and kexec into the final netbooted system.
       notipxe = import (modulesPath + "/..") {
         system = "x86_64-linux";
-        configuration = 
+        configuration =
           { pkgs, config, ... }:
 
           {
@@ -57,7 +66,7 @@ in
               script = ''
                 ln -sf /dev/console /dev/tty
                 until ${pkgs.iputils}/bin/ping -c 1 hydra.forkos.org; do sleep 1; done
-                ${pkgs.u-root}/bin/pxeboot -v -ipv4=false -file https://hydra.forkos.org/job/infra/main/${node.config.networking.hostName}/latest/download-by-type/file/ipxe 
+                ${pkgs.u-root}/bin/pxeboot -v -ipv4=false -file https://hydra.forkos.org/job/infra/main/${node.config.networking.hostName}/latest/download-by-type/file/ipxe
               '';
             };
             boot.initrd.systemd.contents."/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt".source = "${pkgs.cacert}/etc/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt";