diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index a0a75e4c..cc642f3d 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ rm -rf /var/log
 rm -rf /var/lib
 rm -rf /var/cache
 rm -rf /run/rhsm
+rm -rf /tmp/*
 EORUN
 # Remove /var/roothome as workaround
 RUN <<EORUN
diff --git a/tests/e2e-update/e2e-update.sh b/tests/e2e-update/e2e-update.sh
index 9635108e..07c6da00 100755
--- a/tests/e2e-update/e2e-update.sh
+++ b/tests/e2e-update/e2e-update.sh
@@ -22,9 +22,10 @@ bootupd_git=$(cd ${dn} && git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
 testtmp=$(mktemp -d -p /var/tmp bootupd-e2e.XXXXXXX)
 export test_tmpdir=${testtmp}
 
-# This is new content for our update
-test_bootupd_payload_file=/boot/efi/EFI/fedora/test-bootupd.efi
-test_bootupd_payload_file1=/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/test-bootupd1.efi
+# This is new content for our update; the path must match the
+# usr/lib/efi/<name>/<version>/EFI layout used by F44+ images.
+test_bootupd_payload_file=/usr/lib/efi/test_bootupd_payload/1.0/EFI/fedora/test-bootupd.efi
+test_bootupd_payload_file1=/usr/lib/efi/test_bootupd_payload/1.0/EFI/BOOT/test-bootupd1.efi
 build_rpm test_bootupd_payload \
   files "${test_bootupd_payload_file}
          ${test_bootupd_payload_file1}" \
@@ -51,8 +52,8 @@ add_override() {
 if test -z "${e2e_skip_build:-}"; then
     echo "Building starting image"
     rm -f ${overrides}/rpm/*.rpm
-    # Version from F43 prior to GA
-    add_override grub2-2.12-38.fc43
+    # Version from F44 prior to GA
+    add_override grub2-2.12-56.fc44
     runv cosa build
     runv cosa osbuild qemu
     prev_image=$(runv cosa meta --image-path qemu)
@@ -61,8 +62,8 @@ if test -z "${e2e_skip_build:-}"; then
     echo "packages: [test_bootupd_payload]" >> src/config/manifest.yaml
     rm -f ${overrides}/rpm/*.rpm
     echo "Building update ostree"
-    # Latest (current) version in F43
-    add_override grub2-2.12-40.fc43
+    # Latest (current) version in F44
+    add_override grub2-2.12-58.fc44
     mv ${test_tmpdir}/yumrepo/packages/$(arch)/*.rpm ${overrides}/rpm/
     # Only build ostree update
     runv cosa build ostree
diff --git a/tests/kola/test-bootupd b/tests/kola/test-bootupd
index 4bf99406..86a4d702 100755
--- a/tests/kola/test-bootupd
+++ b/tests/kola/test-bootupd
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ usrlibefi=/usr/lib/efi
 # Path to <tmp_efi_mount>/EFI/fedora
 tmpefisubdir=${tmpefidir}/${efisubdir}
 
-if [ -d efilib ]; then efilib_exists=true; else efilib_exists=false; fi
+if [ -d ${usrlibefi} ]; then efilib_exists=true; else efilib_exists=false; fi
 
 prepare_efi_update() {
   test -w /usr
@@ -179,13 +179,17 @@ mount -o remount,rw /boot
 rm -f /boot/bootupd-state.json
 
 if [ -d /sys/firmware/efi ]; then
-  # EFI boot: verify update failed if metadata is missing EFI.json
-  # Backup EFI.json and restore it later, or validate will fail
-  update_metadata_move EFI EFI-bak
-  if bootupctl update 2>err.txt; then
-    fatal "Should fail as missing EFI update metadata (booted with EFI)"
+  # EFI boot: verify update failed if metadata is missing EFI.json.
+  # Skip this check when using /usr/lib/efi, as metadata is derived from
+  # the directory structure so removing EFI.json does not cause a failure.
+  if ! $efilib_exists; then
+    # Backup EFI.json and restore it later, or validate will fail
+    update_metadata_move EFI EFI-bak
+    if bootupctl update 2>err.txt; then
+      fatal "Should fail as missing EFI update metadata (booted with EFI)"
+    fi
+    update_metadata_move EFI-bak EFI
   fi
-  update_metadata_move EFI-bak EFI
 
   # Should succeed if BIOS metadata is missing
   rm -f ${bootupdir}/BIOS.json