diff --git a/playwright/helpers/helpers.ts b/playwright/helpers/helpers.ts
index 33291ac0..d7acf64b 100644
--- a/playwright/helpers/helpers.ts
+++ b/playwright/helpers/helpers.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+import { execSync } from 'child_process';
+import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+
 import { expect, type Page } from '@playwright/test';
 
 export const togglePreview = async (page: Page) => {
@@ -42,3 +45,41 @@ export const closePopupsIfExist = async (page: Page) => {
     });
   }
 };
+
+// copied over from constants
+const ON_PREM_RELEASES = new Map([
+  ['centos-10', 'CentOS Stream 10'],
+  ['fedora-41', 'Fedora Linux 41'],
+  ['fedora-42', 'Fedora Linux 42'],
+  ['rhel-10', 'Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10'],
+]);
+
+/* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any */
+export const getHostDistroName = (): string => {
+  const osRelData = readFileSync('/etc/os-release');
+  const lines = osRelData
+    .toString('utf-8')
+    .split('\n')
+    .filter((l) => l !== '');
+  const osRel = {};
+
+  for (const l of lines) {
+    const lineData = l.split('=');
+    (osRel as any)[lineData[0]] = lineData[1].replace(/"/g, '');
+  }
+  const distro = ON_PREM_RELEASES.get(
+    `${(osRel as any)['ID']}-${(osRel as any)['VERSION_ID']}`,
+  );
+
+  if (distro === undefined) {
+    /* eslint-disable no-console */
+    console.error('getHostDistroName failed, os-release config:', osRel);
+    throw new Error('getHostDistroName failed, distro undefined');
+  }
+
+  return distro;
+};
+
+export const getHostArch = (): string => {
+  return execSync('uname -m').toString('utf-8').replace(/\s/g, '');
+};
diff --git a/playwright/helpers/navHelpers.ts b/playwright/helpers/navHelpers.ts
index 40c1007c..0fa6fe1d 100644
--- a/playwright/helpers/navHelpers.ts
+++ b/playwright/helpers/navHelpers.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-import type { FrameLocator, Page } from '@playwright/test';
+import { expect, FrameLocator, Page } from '@playwright/test';
 
-import { isHosted } from './helpers';
+import { getHostArch, getHostDistroName, isHosted } from './helpers';
 
 /**
  * Opens the wizard, fills out the "Image Output" step, and navigates to the optional steps
@@ -8,6 +8,13 @@ import { isHosted } from './helpers';
  */
 export const navigateToOptionalSteps = async (page: Page | FrameLocator) => {
   await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Create image blueprint' }).click();
+  if (!isHosted()) {
+    // wait until the distro and architecture aligns with the host
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('release_select')).toHaveText(
+      getHostDistroName(),
+    );
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('arch_select')).toHaveText(getHostArch());
+  }
   await page.getByRole('checkbox', { name: 'Virtualization' }).click();
   await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Next' }).click();
 };
diff --git a/schutzbot/playwright_tests.sh b/schutzbot/playwright_tests.sh
index 2ad039e4..052faed2 100755
--- a/schutzbot/playwright_tests.sh
+++ b/schutzbot/playwright_tests.sh
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ sudo podman run \
      --net=host \
      -v "$PWD:/tests" \
      -v '/etc:/etc' \
+     -v '/etc/os-release:/etc/os-release' \
      --privileged  \
      --rm \
      --init \