diff --git a/tools/appsre-build-fedora-worker-packer.sh b/tools/appsre-build-fedora-worker-packer.sh
index 2104940cb..dc54d810e 100755
--- a/tools/appsre-build-fedora-worker-packer.sh
+++ b/tools/appsre-build-fedora-worker-packer.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,23 @@ export SKIP_CREATE_AMI=false
 # Use prebuilt rpms for the fedora images
 export BUILD_RPMS=false
 export SKIP_TAGS="rpmcopy,subscribe"
-export PACKER_ONLY_EXCEPT=--only=amazon-ebs.fedora-38-x86_64,amazon-ebs.fedora-38-aarch64
+FEDORA=fedora-38
+export PACKER_ONLY_EXCEPT=--only=amazon-ebs."$FEDORA"-x86_64,amazon-ebs."$FEDORA"-aarch64
+
+# wait until the rpms are built upstream
+COMMIT_SHA="${COMMIT_SHA:-$(git rev-parse HEAD)}"
+while true; do
+    RET=$(curl -w "%{http_code}" -s -o /dev/null http://osbuild-composer-repos.s3.amazonaws.com/osbuild-composer/"$FEDORA"/x86_64/"$COMMIT_SHA"/state.log)
+    if [ "$RET" != 200 ]; then
+        sleep 30
+        continue
+    fi
+    RET=$(curl -w "%{http_code}" -s -o /dev/null http://osbuild-composer-repos.s3.amazonaws.com/osbuild-composer/"$FEDORA"/aarch64/"$COMMIT_SHA"/state.log)
+    if [ "$RET" != 200 ]; then
+        sleep 30
+        continue
+    fi
+    break
+done
 
 tools/appsre-build-worker-packer.sh