diff --git a/ci/build-test-qemu.sh b/ci/build-test-qemu.sh
index 5c645cd18..f6cf25cf4 100755
--- a/ci/build-test-qemu.sh
+++ b/ci/build-test-qemu.sh
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ dn=$(dirname $0)
 # Prow jobs don't support adding emptydir today
 export COSA_SKIP_OVERLAY=1
 # Create a temporary cosa workdir if COSA_DIR is not set.
-cosa_dir="${COSA_DIR:-$(mktemp -d)}"
-echo "Using $cosa_dir for build"
-cd "$cosa_dir"
-cosa init --transient /src
-exec ${dn}/prow-build-test-qemu.sh
+export COSA_DIR="${COSA_DIR:-$(mktemp -d)}"
+cd "$COSA_DIR"
+exec "${dn}/prow-build-test-qemu.sh"
diff --git a/ci/cosa-build.sh b/ci/cosa-build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..ed5d4ee4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/cosa-build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -xeuo pipefail
+
+# This script assumes that `cosa init` has been run.
+cosa build
+cosa buildextend-extensions
diff --git a/ci/prow-build-test-qemu.sh b/ci/prow-build-test-qemu.sh
index 883dd2edd..98581feb8 100755
--- a/ci/prow-build-test-qemu.sh
+++ b/ci/prow-build-test-qemu.sh
@@ -1,49 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -xeuo pipefail
-# This script is called via build-test-qemu.sh which is the main Prow
-# entrypoint for PRs to this repo, as well as for PRs on other repos,
-# mainly coreos-assembler.  It assumes that `cosa init` has been run.
 
-REDIRECTOR_URL="https://rhcos-redirector.apps.art.xq1c.p1.openshiftapps.com/art/storage/releases/"
+dn="$(dirname "$0")"
 
-# record information about cosa + rpm-ostree
-if test -d /cosa; then
-    jq . < /cosa/coreos-assembler-git.json
-fi
-rpm-ostree --version
+# Create a temporary cosa workdir if COSA_DIR is not set.
+export COSA_DIR="${COSA_DIR:-$(mktemp -d)}"
 
-# We generate .repo files which write to the source, but
-# we captured the source as part of the Docker build.
-# In OpenShift default SCC we'll run as non-root, so we need
-# to make a new copy of the source.  TODO fix cosa to be happy
-# if src/config already exists instead of wanting to reference
-# it or clone it.  Or we could write our .repo files to a separate
-# place.
-if test '!' -w src/config; then
-    git clone --recurse src/config src/config.writable
-    rm src/config -rf
-    mv src/config.writable src/config
-fi
-
-#
-# NOTE: If you are adjusting how the repos are fetched in this script, you
-#        must also make the same change in the `prow-build.sh` script
-#
-# Grab the raw value of `mutate-os-release` and use sed to convert the value
-# to X-Y format
-ocpver=$(rpm-ostree compose tree --print-only src/config/manifest.yaml | jq -r '.["mutate-os-release"]')
-ocpver_mut=$(rpm-ostree compose tree --print-only src/config/manifest.yaml | jq -r '.["mutate-os-release"]' | sed 's|\.|-|')
-prev_build_url=${REDIRECTOR_URL}/rhcos-${ocpver}/
-# we want to use RHEL 8.5 for testing until we can start using 8.6
-# see https://github.com/openshift/release/pull/26193
-curl -L http://base-"${ocpver_mut}"-rhel85.ocp.svc.cluster.local > src/config/ocp.repo
-# fetch the 8.6 appstream repo to enable building of extensions
-# see: https://github.com/openshift/os/issues/795
-curl -Ls http://base-"${ocpver_mut}"-rhel86.ocp.svc.cluster.local | grep -A 3 rhel-8-appstream | sed '1,3 s/rhel-8-appstream/rhel-86-appstream/g' >> src/config/ocp.repo
-cosa buildfetch --url=${prev_build_url}
-cosa fetch
-cosa build
-cosa buildextend-extensions
+"$dn/prow-build.sh"
 cosa kola --basic-qemu-scenarios
 kola run-upgrade -b rhcos -v --find-parent-image --qemu-image-dir tmp/ --output-dir tmp/kola-upgrade
 cosa kola run --parallel 2
diff --git a/ci/prow-build.sh b/ci/prow-build.sh
index 99a0381b7..1e905bcc4 100755
--- a/ci/prow-build.sh
+++ b/ci/prow-build.sh
@@ -1,53 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -xeuo pipefail
 
-# Prow jobs don't support adding emptydir today
-export COSA_SKIP_OVERLAY=1
-# Create a temporary cosa workdir if COSA_DIR is not set.
-cosa_dir="${COSA_DIR:-$(mktemp -d)}"
-echo "Using $cosa_dir for build"
-cd "$cosa_dir"
-cosa init --transient /src
-
-# This script is called via build.sh which is the main Prow
-# entrypoint for PRs to this repo, as well as for PRs on other repos,
-# mainly coreos-assembler.  It assumes that `cosa init` has been run.
-
-REDIRECTOR_URL="https://rhcos-redirector.apps.art.xq1c.p1.openshiftapps.com/art/storage/releases/"
-
-# record information about cosa + rpm-ostree
-if test -d /cosa; then
-    jq . < /cosa/coreos-assembler-git.json
-fi
-rpm-ostree --version
+dn="$(dirname "$0")"
 
-# We generate .repo files which write to the source, but
-# we captured the source as part of the Docker build.
-# In OpenShift default SCC we'll run as non-root, so we need
-# to make a new copy of the source.  TODO fix cosa to be happy
-# if src/config already exists instead of wanting to reference
-# it or clone it.  Or we could write our .repo files to a separate
-# place.
-if test '!' -w src/config; then
-    git clone --recurse src/config src/config.writable
-    rm src/config -rf
-    mv src/config.writable src/config
-fi
-
-#
-# NOTE: If you are adjusting how the repos are fetched in this script, you
-#        must also make the same change in the `prow-build-test-qemu.sh` script
-#
-# Grab the raw value of `mutate-os-release` and use sed to convert the value
-# to X-Y format
-ocpver=$(rpm-ostree compose tree --print-only src/config/manifest.yaml | jq -r '.["mutate-os-release"]')
-ocpver_mut=$(rpm-ostree compose tree --print-only src/config/manifest.yaml | jq -r '.["mutate-os-release"]' | sed 's|\.|-|')
-prev_build_url=${REDIRECTOR_URL}/rhcos-${ocpver}/
-
-# Fetch RHEL 8.6 repos
-curl -L http://base-"${ocpver_mut}"-rhel86.ocp.svc.cluster.local > src/config/ocp.repo
+# Create a temporary cosa workdir if COSA_DIR is not set.
+export COSA_DIR="${COSA_DIR:-$(mktemp -d)}"
+echo "Using $COSA_DIR for build"
+cd "$COSA_DIR"
 
-cosa buildfetch --url=${prev_build_url}
-cosa fetch
-cosa build
-cosa buildextend-extensions
+"$dn/prow-prepare.sh"
+"$dn/cosa-build.sh"
diff --git a/ci/prow-prepare.sh b/ci/prow-prepare.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..27687010e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/prow-prepare.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -xeuo pipefail
+
+# This script sets up the cosa session for a given Prow CI run.
+
+# Prow jobs don't support adding emptydir today
+export COSA_SKIP_OVERLAY=1
+cosa init --transient /src
+
+# This script is called via prow-build.sh scripts which is the main Prow
+# entrypoint for PRs to this repo, as well as for PRs on other repos,
+# mainly coreos-assembler.  It assumes that `cosa init` has been run.
+
+REDIRECTOR_URL="https://rhcos-redirector.apps.art.xq1c.p1.openshiftapps.com/art/storage/releases/"
+
+# record information about cosa + rpm-ostree
+if test -d /cosa; then
+    jq . < /cosa/coreos-assembler-git.json
+fi
+rpm-ostree --version
+
+# We generate .repo files which write to the source, but
+# we captured the source as part of the Docker build.
+# In OpenShift default SCC we'll run as non-root, so we need
+# to make a new copy of the source.  TODO fix cosa to be happy
+# if src/config already exists instead of wanting to reference
+# it or clone it.  Or we could write our .repo files to a separate
+# place.
+if test '!' -w src/config; then
+    git clone --recurse src/config src/config.writable
+    rm src/config -rf
+    mv src/config.writable src/config
+fi
+
+#
+# NOTE: If you are adjusting how the repos are fetched in this script, you
+#        must also make the same change in the `prow-build-test-qemu.sh` script
+#
+# Grab the raw value of `mutate-os-release` and use sed to convert the value
+# to X-Y format
+ocpver=$(rpm-ostree compose tree --print-only src/config/manifest.yaml | jq -r '.["mutate-os-release"]')
+ocpver_mut=$(rpm-ostree compose tree --print-only src/config/manifest.yaml | jq -r '.["mutate-os-release"]' | sed 's|\.|-|')
+prev_build_url=${REDIRECTOR_URL}/rhcos-${ocpver}/
+
+# Fetch RHEL 8.6 repos
+curl -L http://base-"${ocpver_mut}"-rhel86.ocp.svc.cluster.local > src/config/ocp.repo
+
+cosa buildfetch --url=${prev_build_url}
+cosa fetch