diff --git a/image-recipe/build-auto-installer-iso.sh b/image-recipe/build-auto-installer-iso.sh
index 42a5a376..d8f88989 100755
--- a/image-recipe/build-auto-installer-iso.sh
+++ b/image-recipe/build-auto-installer-iso.sh
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ echo "📦 Step 2: Creating installer environment..."
 
 # Download Debian Live as our installer base
 BASE_ISO="$WORK_DIR/debian-live-installer.iso"
-EXPECTED_SIZE=1500000000  # ~1.5GB min (Debian 13 Live standard ~1.9GB)
+EXPECTED_SIZE=350000000  # ~350MB min (Debian 12 Live standard ~600MB)
 
 # Check if file exists and is complete
 if [ -f "$BASE_ISO" ]; then
@@ -410,7 +410,8 @@ if [ ! -f "$BASE_ISO" ]; then
     
     # Use wget without -O so --continue actually works
     # Download with the ugly SourceForge filename, then rename
-    ISO_URL="https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current-live/${DEB_ARCH}/iso-hybrid/debian-live-13.3.0-${DEB_ARCH}-standard.iso"
+    # Use Debian 12 (Bookworm) to match the rootfs — NOT Debian 13 (Trixie)
+    ISO_URL="https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/archive/12.10.0-live/${DEB_ARCH}/iso-hybrid/debian-live-12.10.0-${DEB_ARCH}-standard.iso"
     
     if command -v wget >/dev/null 2>&1; then
         cd "$WORK_DIR"
@@ -425,8 +426,8 @@ if [ ! -f "$BASE_ISO" ]; then
         # Find the downloaded file (wget creates it with a name like "download" or the actual filename)
         if [ -f "download" ]; then
             mv "download" "$BASE_ISO"
-        elif [ -f "debian-live-13.3.0-${DEB_ARCH}-standard.iso" ]; then
-            mv "debian-live-13.3.0-${DEB_ARCH}-standard.iso" "$BASE_ISO"
+        elif [ -f "debian-live-12.10.0-${DEB_ARCH}-standard.iso" ]; then
+            mv "debian-live-12.10.0-${DEB_ARCH}-standard.iso" "$BASE_ISO"
         else
             echo "   ❌ Downloaded file not found"
             exit 1
@@ -1494,6 +1495,14 @@ elif [ -n "${GRUB_BIOS_TARGET}" ]; then
     echo "   Skipping Legacy BIOS bootloader (machine supports UEFI)"
 fi
 
+# Remove any live-boot artifacts that could cause squashfs errors on boot
+# These can sneak in from Docker base image or package dependencies
+echo "   Cleaning live-boot artifacts..."
+chroot /mnt/target apt-get remove -y --purge live-boot live-boot-initramfs-tools live-config 2>/dev/null || true
+rm -f /mnt/target/etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/live-boot* 2>/dev/null || true
+rm -f /mnt/target/usr/share/initramfs-tools/scripts/live* 2>/dev/null || true
+rm -f /mnt/target/usr/share/initramfs-tools/hooks/live* 2>/dev/null || true
+
 # Regenerate initramfs — the one from Docker export is corrupt/incomplete
 # (Docker builds have limited /proc, /sys, /dev so initramfs generation fails silently)
 echo "   Regenerating initramfs..."