diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3d7b0d79c..2f567a9aa 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ export PACKAGE := sysbox-ce
 export HOST_UID ?= $(shell id -u)
 export HOST_GID ?= $(shell id -g)
 
+# Set default distro-release for scenarios in which this can't be easily determined (e.g., 'lsb_release'
+# isn't available -- OSX).
+DEFAULT_DISTRO := ubuntu
+DEFAULT_DISTRO_RELEASE := jammy
+
 # Obtain the current system architecture.
 UNAME_M := $(shell uname -m)
 ifeq ($(UNAME_M),x86_64)
@@ -42,6 +47,8 @@ else ifeq ($(UNAME_M),arm)
 	SYS_ARCH := armhf
 else ifeq ($(UNAME_M),armel)
 	SYS_ARCH := armel
+else
+	SYS_ARCH := $(UNAME_M)
 endif
 
 # Set target architecture if not explicitly defined by user.
@@ -80,7 +87,12 @@ else
 INSTALL_DIR := ${DESTDIR}
 endif
 
-IMAGE_BASE_DISTRO := $(shell cat /etc/os-release | grep "^ID=" | cut -d "=" -f2 | tr -d '"')
+# Assume the default distro if /etc/os-release is not present.
+ifeq ($(wildcard /etc/os-release),)
+	IMAGE_BASE_DISTRO := $(DEFAULT_DISTRO)
+else
+	IMAGE_BASE_DISTRO := $(shell cat /etc/os-release | grep "^ID=" | cut -d "=" -f2 | tr -d '"')
+endif
 
 # Host kernel info
 KERNEL_REL := $(shell uname -r)
@@ -92,7 +104,7 @@ export KERNEL_REL
 ifeq ($(IMAGE_BASE_DISTRO),$(filter $(IMAGE_BASE_DISTRO),centos fedora redhat almalinux rocky amzn))
 	IMAGE_BASE_RELEASE := $(shell cat /etc/os-release | grep "^VERSION_ID" | cut -d "=" -f2 | tr -d '"' | cut -d "." -f1)
 	KERNEL_HEADERS := kernels/$(KERNEL_REL)
-else
+else ifdef $(shell command -v lsb_release 2>/dev/null)
 	IMAGE_BASE_RELEASE := $(shell cat /etc/os-release | grep "^VERSION_CODENAME" | cut -d "=" -f2)
 	ifeq ($(IMAGE_BASE_DISTRO),linuxmint)
 		IMAGE_BASE_DISTRO := ubuntu
@@ -105,8 +117,12 @@ else
 	endif
 	KERNEL_HEADERS := linux-headers-$(KERNEL_REL)
 	KERNEL_HEADERS_BASE := $(shell find /usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS) -maxdepth 1 -type l -exec readlink {} \; | cut -d"/" -f2 | egrep -v "^\.\." | head -1)
+else
+	# If lsb-release isn't available, then assume the default-distro-release.
+	IMAGE_BASE_RELEASE := $(DEFAULT_DISTRO_RELEASE)
 endif
 
+
 TEST_DIR := $(CURDIR)/tests
 TEST_IMAGE := sysbox-test-$(TARGET_ARCH)
 TEST_IMAGE_FLATCAR := sysbox-test-flatcar-$(TARGET_ARCH):$(FLATCAR_VERSION)
@@ -117,16 +133,26 @@ TEST_SYSTEMD_DOCKERFILE := Dockerfile.systemd.$(IMAGE_BASE_DISTRO)
 TEST_FILES := $(shell find tests -type f | egrep "\.bats")
 TEST_SCR := $(shell grep -rwl -e '\#!/bin/bash' -e '\#!/bin/sh' tests/*)
 
-ifeq ($(KERNEL_HEADERS_BASE), )
-	KERNEL_HEADERS_MOUNTS := -v /usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS):/usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS):ro
-else
-	KERNEL_HEADERS_MOUNTS := -v /usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS):/usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS):ro \
-				 -v /usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS_BASE):/usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS_BASE):ro
+# Set the kernel-header mounts for the test container.
+KERNEL_HEADERS_PRESENT := $(shell stat /usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS) >/dev/null 2>&1; echo $$?)
+ifeq ($(KERNEL_HEADERS_PRESENT),0)
+	ifeq ($(KERNEL_HEADERS_BASE), )
+		KERNEL_HEADERS_MOUNTS := -v /usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS):/usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS):ro
+	else
+		KERNEL_HEADERS_MOUNTS := -v /usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS):/usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS):ro \
+					 -v /usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS_BASE):/usr/src/$(KERNEL_HEADERS_BASE):ro
+	endif
 endif
-
 export KERNEL_HEADERS
 export KERNEL_HEADERS_MOUNTS
 
+# Set the lib-modules mounts for the test container.
+LIBMODULES_PRESENT := $(shell stat /lib/modules/$(KERNEL_REL)/kernel >/dev/null 2>&1; echo $$?)
+ifeq ($(LIBMODULES_PRESENT),0)
+	LIBMODULES_MOUNTS := -v /lib/modules/$(KERNEL_REL):/lib/modules/$(KERNEL_REL):ro
+endif
+
+# Set the sysbox package file path and name.
 PACKAGE_FILE_PATH ?= sysbox-pkgr/deb/build/$(TARGET_ARCH)/$(IMAGE_BASE_DISTRO)-$(IMAGE_BASE_RELEASE)
 PACKAGE_FILE_NAME := $(PACKAGE)_$(VERSION).linux_$(TARGET_ARCH).deb
 
@@ -146,8 +172,26 @@ export TEST_VOL3
 
 # In scenarios where the egress-interface's mtu is lower than expected (1500 bytes),
 # we must explicitly configure dockerd with such a value.
-EGRESS_IFACE := $(shell ip route show | awk '/default via/ {print $$5}')
-EGRESS_IFACE_MTU := $(shell ip link show dev $(EGRESS_IFACE) | awk '/mtu/ {print $$5}')
+IP_CMD_PRESENT := $(shell command -v ip >/dev/null 2>&1; echo $$?)
+ifeq ($(IP_CMD_PRESENT),0)
+	EGRESS_IFACE := $(shell ip route show | awk '/default via/ {print $$5}')
+	EGRESS_IFACE_MTU := $(shell ip link show dev $(EGRESS_IFACE) | awk '/mtu/ {print $$5}')
+endif
+
+# libseccomp (used by Sysbox components)
+LIBSECCOMP := sysbox-libs/libseccomp/src/.libs/libseccomp.a
+LIBSECCOMP_DIR := sysbox-libs/libseccomp
+FIND_CMD_PRESENT := $(shell command -v find >/dev/null 2>&1; echo $$?)
+ifeq ($(FIND_CMD_PRESENT),0)
+	LIBSECCOMP_SRC := $(shell find $(LIBSECCOMP_DIR)/src 2>&1 | grep -E '.*\.(c|h)')
+	LIBSECCOMP_SRC += $(shell find $(LIBSECCOMP_DIR)/include 2>&1 | grep -E '.*\.h')
+endif
+STAT_CMD_PRESENT := $(shell command -v stat 2> /dev/null; echo $$?)
+ifeq ($(STAT_CMD_PRESENT),0)
+	LIBSECCOMP_UID := $(shell stat -c %u ./sysbox-libs/libseccomp/README.md)
+	LIBSECCOMP_GID := $(shell stat -c %g ./sysbox-libs/libseccomp/README.md)
+endif
+
 
 # Ensure that a gitconfig file is always present.
 $(shell touch $(HOME)/.gitconfig)
@@ -174,7 +218,7 @@ DOCKER_SYSBOX_BLD := docker run --privileged --rm --runtime=runc      \
 			-v $(CURDIR):$(PROJECT)                       \
 			-v $(GOPATH)/pkg/mod:/go/pkg/mod              \
 			-v $(HOME)/.gitconfig:/root/.gitconfig        \
-			-v /lib/modules/$(KERNEL_REL):/lib/modules/$(KERNEL_REL):ro \
+			$(LIBMODULES_MOUNTS) \
 			$(KERNEL_HEADERS_MOUNTS) \
 			$(TEST_IMAGE)
 
@@ -293,13 +337,13 @@ DOCKER_RUN := docker run --privileged --rm --runtime=runc             \
 			-v $(TEST_VOL2):/mnt/scratch                  \
 			-v $(TEST_VOL3):/var/run                      \
 			-v $(GOPATH)/pkg/mod:/go/pkg/mod              \
-			-v /lib/modules/$(KERNEL_REL):/lib/modules/$(KERNEL_REL):ro \
 			-v $(HOME)/.gitconfig:/root/.gitconfig        \
-			$(KERNEL_HEADERS_MOUNTS) \
+			$(LIBMODULES_MOUNTS)                          \
+			$(KERNEL_HEADERS_MOUNTS)                      \
 			$(TEST_IMAGE)
 
 # For interactive targets
-DOCKER_RUN_TTY := docker run -it --privileged --rm --runtime=runc         \
+DOCKER_RUN_TTY := docker run -it --privileged --rm --runtime=runc \
 			--hostname sysbox-test                        \
 			--name sysbox-test                            \
 			-e HOST_UID=$(HOST_UID)                       \
@@ -309,9 +353,9 @@ DOCKER_RUN_TTY := docker run -it --privileged --rm --runtime=runc         \
 			-v $(TEST_VOL2):/mnt/scratch                  \
 			-v $(TEST_VOL3):/var/run                      \
 			-v $(GOPATH)/pkg/mod:/go/pkg/mod              \
-			-v /lib/modules/$(KERNEL_REL):/lib/modules/$(KERNEL_REL):ro \
 			-v $(HOME)/.gitconfig:/root/.gitconfig        \
-			$(KERNEL_HEADERS_MOUNTS) \
+			$(LIBMODULES_MOUNTS)                          \
+			$(KERNEL_HEADERS_MOUNTS)                      \
 			$(TEST_IMAGE)
 
 # Must use "--cgroups private" as otherwise the inner Docker may get confused
diff --git a/tests/Dockerfile.ubuntu-jammy b/tests/Dockerfile.ubuntu-jammy
index 495a307e2..832c49578 100644
--- a/tests/Dockerfile.ubuntu-jammy
+++ b/tests/Dockerfile.ubuntu-jammy
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ ARG sys_arch
 ENV SYS_ARCH=${sys_arch}
 ARG target_arch
 ENV TARGET_ARCH=${target_arch}
+ARG ENABLE_CRIO=0
+ARG ENABLE_PACK=0
 
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
 
@@ -99,6 +101,8 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
     attr \
     tree \
     strace \
+    gpg \
+    software-properties-common \
     --no-install-recommends \
     && apt-get clean \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* \
@@ -107,8 +111,8 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
     && echo "    StrictHostKeyChecking accept-new" >> /etc/ssh/ssh_config
 
 # Install Golang
-RUN wget https://go.dev/dl/go1.22.6.linux-${sys_arch}.tar.gz && \
-    tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.22.6.linux-${sys_arch}.tar.gz && \
+RUN wget https://go.dev/dl/go1.23.0.linux-${sys_arch}.tar.gz && \
+    tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.23.0.linux-${sys_arch}.tar.gz && \
     /usr/local/go/bin/go env -w GONOSUMDB=/root/nestybox
 
 ENV GOPATH=/go
@@ -129,15 +133,9 @@ RUN cd /tmp \
     && ./install.sh /usr/local \
     && rm -rf /tmp/bats
 
-# install protoc compiler for gRPC
-RUN if [ "$sys_arch" = "amd64" ] ; then arch_str="x86_64"; \
-    elif [ "$sys_arch" = "arm64" ]; then arch_str="aarch_64"; \
-    else echo "Unsupported platform: ${sys_arch}"; exit; fi \
-    && curl -LO https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/download/v3.15.8/protoc-3.15.8-linux-${arch_str}.zip \
-    && unzip protoc-3.15.8-linux-${arch_str}.zip -d $HOME/.local \
-    && export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.local/bin" \
-    && go install github.com/golang/protobuf/protoc-gen-go@latest \
-    && export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin"
+# install Go protoc plugins for gRPC (use apt-installed protoc)
+RUN GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install google.golang.org/protobuf/cmd/protoc-gen-go@latest \
+    && GOBIN=/usr/local/bin go install google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc@latest
 
 # Install Docker
 RUN curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh \
@@ -159,25 +157,30 @@ RUN cd /tmp && curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/${k8s_version_full}/bin/linux
 # works with Sysbox.
 #
 # Instructions: https://cri-o.io/
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y gpg software-properties-common
-RUN curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/isv:/cri-o:/stable:/${crio_version}/deb/Release.key | gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/cri-o-apt-keyring.gpg \
-    && echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/cri-o-apt-keyring.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/isv:/cri-o:/stable:/${crio_version}/deb/ /" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/cri-o.list \
-    && apt-get update \
-    && apt-get install -y cri-o
+RUN if [ "$ENABLE_CRIO" = "1" ]; then \
+      apt-get update && apt-get install -y gpg software-properties-common && \
+      curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/isv:/cri-o:/stable:/${crio_version}/deb/Release.key | gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/cri-o-apt-keyring.gpg && \
+      echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/cri-o-apt-keyring.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/isv:/cri-o:/stable:/${crio_version}/deb/ /" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/cri-o.list && \
+      apt-get update && apt-get install -y cri-o; \
+    fi
 
 # Build and install the Nestybox CRI-O (for testing deployment of pods with sysbox (aka "sysbox pods"))
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends libgpgme-dev \
-    && mkdir -p /tmp/crio-build \
-    && git clone https://github.com/nestybox/cri-o.git /tmp/crio-build/cri-o \
-    && git -C /tmp/crio-build/cri-o checkout -b ${crio_version}-sysbox origin/${crio_version}-sysbox \
-    && cd /tmp/crio-build/cri-o && make binaries \
-    && mv /usr/bin/crio /usr/bin/crio.orig \
-    && cp /tmp/crio-build/cri-o/bin/crio-static /usr/bin/crio \
-    && rm -rf /tmp/crio-build
-
-RUN wget https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cri-tools/releases/download/${crictl_version}/crictl-${crictl_version}-linux-${sys_arch}.tar.gz \
-    && sudo tar zxvf crictl-${crictl_version}-linux-${sys_arch}.tar.gz -C /usr/local/bin \
-    && rm -f crictl-${crictl_version}-linux-${sys_arch}.tar.gz
+RUN if [ "$ENABLE_CRIO" = "1" ]; then \
+      apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends libgpgme-dev && \
+      mkdir -p /tmp/crio-build && \
+      git clone https://github.com/nestybox/cri-o.git /tmp/crio-build/cri-o && \
+      git -C /tmp/crio-build/cri-o checkout -b ${crio_version}-sysbox origin/${crio_version}-sysbox && \
+      cd /tmp/crio-build/cri-o && make binaries && \
+      mv /usr/bin/crio /usr/bin/crio.orig && \
+      cp /tmp/crio-build/cri-o/bin/crio-static /usr/bin/crio && \
+      rm -rf /tmp/crio-build; \
+    fi
+
+RUN if [ "$ENABLE_CRIO" = "1" ]; then \
+      wget https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cri-tools/releases/download/${crictl_version}/crictl-${crictl_version}-linux-${sys_arch}.tar.gz && \
+      sudo tar zxvf crictl-${crictl_version}-linux-${sys_arch}.tar.gz -C /usr/local/bin && \
+      rm -f crictl-${crictl_version}-linux-${sys_arch}.tar.gz; \
+    fi
 
 # Container CNIs (needed by CRI-O)
 RUN curl -fsSL https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/${k8s_version}/deb/Release.key | gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg \
@@ -213,10 +216,12 @@ RUN go install sigs.k8s.io/kind@v0.24.0
 # kernels.
 RUN sed -i 's/^#define SECCOMP_IOCTL_NOTIF_ID_VALID[ \t]*SECCOMP_IOW(2, __u64)/#define SECCOMP_IOCTL_NOTIF_ID_VALID   SECCOMP_IOR(2, __u64)/g' /usr/include/linux/seccomp.h
 
-# Paketo buildpacks
-RUN add-apt-repository ppa:cncf-buildpacks/pack-cli \
-    && apt-get update \
-    && apt-get install -y pack-cli
+# Paketo buildpacks (optional)
+RUN if [ "$ENABLE_PACK" = "1" ]; then \
+      add-apt-repository ppa:cncf-buildpacks/pack-cli && \
+      apt-get update && \
+      apt-get install -y pack-cli; \
+    fi
 
 # sysbox env
 RUN useradd sysbox \
@@ -230,4 +235,4 @@ COPY bin/userns_child_exec_${sys_arch} /usr/bin
 
 RUN mkdir -p /root/nestybox
 WORKDIR /root/nestybox/sysbox
-CMD /bin/bash
+CMD ["/bin/bash"]