diff --git a/.evergreen-functions.yml b/.evergreen-functions.yml
index f5766d127..daac22d9a 100644
--- a/.evergreen-functions.yml
+++ b/.evergreen-functions.yml
@@ -297,7 +297,6 @@ functions:
       params:
         env:
           SKIP_MINIKUBE_SETUP: ${skip_minikube_setup!|false}
-          SKIP_INSTALL_REQUIREMENTS: ${skip_install_python_requirements!|true}
         working_dir: src/github.com/mongodb/mongodb-kubernetes
         add_to_path:
           - ${workdir}/bin
diff --git a/scripts/dev/recreate_python_venv.sh b/scripts/dev/recreate_python_venv.sh
index bc86bd455..4b8df991d 100755
--- a/scripts/dev/recreate_python_venv.sh
+++ b/scripts/dev/recreate_python_venv.sh
@@ -118,14 +118,8 @@ PYENV_VERSION="${PYTHON_VERSION}" python -m venv venv
 source venv/bin/activate
 pip install --upgrade pip
 
-skip_requirements="${SKIP_INSTALL_REQUIREMENTS:-false}"
-if [[ "${skip_requirements}" != "true" ]]; then
-    echo "Installing requirements.txt..."
-    pip install -r requirements.txt
-else
-    echo "Skipping requirements.txt installation."
-    pip install requests
-fi
+echo "Installing requirements.txt..."
+pip install -r requirements.txt
 
 echo "Python venv was recreated successfully."
 echo "Using Python: $(which python) ($(python --version))" >&2
diff --git a/scripts/dev/setup_ibm_container_runtime.sh b/scripts/dev/setup_ibm_container_runtime.sh
index afd544679..c750939a8 100755
--- a/scripts/dev/setup_ibm_container_runtime.sh
+++ b/scripts/dev/setup_ibm_container_runtime.sh
@@ -1,43 +1,74 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
-set -Eeou pipefail
+set -Eeoux pipefail
 
-echo "Cleaning DNF cache..."
-sudo dnf clean all && sudo rm -r /var/cache/dnf
+echo "Setting up IBM container runtime (rootful podman for minikube)"
 
-echo "Installing/upgrading crun..."
-sudo dnf upgrade -y crun --disableplugin=subscription-manager || \
-sudo dnf install -y crun --disableplugin=subscription-manager || \
-sudo yum upgrade -y crun --disableplugin=subscription-manager || \
-sudo yum install -y crun --disableplugin=subscription-manager
-
-if ! crun --version &>/dev/null; then
-  echo "❌ crun installation failed"
-  exit 1
+# Install crun if not present (OCI runtime for cgroup v2)
+if ! command -v crun &>/dev/null; then
+    echo "Installing crun..."
+    sudo dnf install -y crun --disableplugin=subscription-manager 2>/dev/null || \
+    sudo yum install -y crun --disableplugin=subscription-manager 2>/dev/null || \
+    echo "Warning: Could not install crun"
+else
+    echo "crun already installed: $(crun --version | head -1)"
 fi
 
-current_version=$(crun --version | head -n1)
-echo "✅ Using crun: ${current_version}"
+# Clean up stale container state (safe for shared CI machines)
+cleanup_stale_state() {
+    echo "Cleaning up stale container state..."
 
-# Clean up any existing conflicting configurations
-echo "Cleaning up existing container configurations..."
-rm -f ~/.config/containers/containers.conf 2>/dev/null || true
-sudo rm -f /root/.config/containers/containers.conf 2>/dev/null || true
-sudo rm -f /etc/containers/containers.conf 2>/dev/null || true
+    # Skip if minikube is running
+    if command -v minikube &>/dev/null && minikube status &>/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo "  Minikube running - skipping cleanup"
+        return 0
+    fi
 
-crun_path=$(which crun)
-echo "Using crun path: ${crun_path}"
+    # Kill orphaned root conmon processes (PPID=1 means orphaned)
+    for pid in $(sudo pgrep conmon 2>/dev/null); do
+        ppid=$(ps -o ppid= -p "$pid" 2>/dev/null | tr -d ' ')
+        if [[ "$ppid" == "1" ]]; then
+            echo "  Killing orphaned conmon $pid"
+            sudo kill -9 "$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+        fi
+    done
 
-config="[containers]
-cgroup_manager = \"cgroupfs\"
+    # Clean stale lock files
+    sudo find /run/crun -name "*.lock" -mmin +60 -delete 2>/dev/null || true
 
-[engine]
-runtime = \"crun\""
+    # Prune exited containers and dangling volumes
+    sudo podman container prune -f 2>/dev/null || true
+    sudo podman volume prune -f 2>/dev/null || true
+}
 
-mkdir -p ~/.config/containers
-echo "${config}" > ~/.config/containers/containers.conf
+cleanup_stale_state
 
-sudo mkdir -p /root/.config/containers
-echo "${config}" | sudo tee /root/.config/containers/containers.conf >/dev/null
+# Test sudo podman (used by minikube in rootful mode)
+echo "Testing sudo podman..."
+if ! sudo podman run --rm docker.io/library/alpine:latest echo "sudo podman works" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "Sudo podman not working, resetting..."
+    sudo podman system reset --force 2>/dev/null || true
+    sleep 1
+
+    if sudo podman run --rm docker.io/library/alpine:latest echo "sudo podman works" 2>/dev/null; then
+        echo "Sudo podman working after reset"
+    else
+        echo "Warning: Sudo podman still not working"
+    fi
+else
+    echo "Sudo podman working"
+fi
+
+# Configure root-level podman
+sudo mkdir -p /etc/containers
+sudo tee /etc/containers/containers.conf > /dev/null << 'EOF'
+[containers]
+cgroup_manager = "systemd"
+
+[engine]
+runtime = "crun"
+EOF
 
-echo "✅ Configured crun"
+echo "Container runtime setup complete"
+echo "  crun: $(crun --version 2>/dev/null | head -1 || echo 'not found')"
+echo "  podman: $(sudo podman --version)"
diff --git a/scripts/evergreen/setup_minikube_host.sh b/scripts/evergreen/setup_minikube_host.sh
index 0e0e02427..41ece4280 100755
--- a/scripts/evergreen/setup_minikube_host.sh
+++ b/scripts/evergreen/setup_minikube_host.sh
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ run_setup_step() {
 
 # Setup Python environment (needed for AWS CLI pip installation)
 export GRPC_PYTHON_BUILD_SYSTEM_OPENSSL=1
-export SKIP_INSTALL_REQUIREMENTS=${SKIP_INSTALL_REQUIREMENTS:-true}
 run_setup_step "Python Virtual Environment" "scripts/dev/recreate_python_venv.sh"
 
 run_setup_step "AWS CLI Setup" "scripts/evergreen/setup_aws.sh"
diff --git a/scripts/funcs/install b/scripts/funcs/install
index d55b638d0..b4a960703 100644
--- a/scripts/funcs/install
+++ b/scripts/funcs/install
@@ -46,7 +46,9 @@ download_and_install_binary() {
 
   mkdir -p "${dir}"
   echo "Downloading ${url}"
-  curl --retry 5 --retry-delay 3 --retry-all-errors --fail --show-error --max-time 180 --silent -L "${url}" -o "${bin}"
+  # Use longer timeout (10 min) for large binaries like minikube (~140MB) on slow IBM networks
+  # Add -C - for resume capability in case of partial downloads
+  curl --retry 5 --retry-delay 10 --retry-all-errors --fail --show-error --max-time 600 -L "${url}" -o "${bin}"
   chmod +x "${bin}"
   mv "${bin}" "${dir}"
   echo "Installed ${bin} to ${dir}"
diff --git a/scripts/minikube/setup_minikube.sh b/scripts/minikube/setup_minikube.sh
index ee969d092..09fe9e6cb 100755
--- a/scripts/minikube/setup_minikube.sh
+++ b/scripts/minikube/setup_minikube.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 source scripts/dev/set_env_context.sh
 source scripts/funcs/install
 
+
 set -Eeou pipefail
 
 set_limits() {
@@ -78,31 +79,19 @@ setup_local_registry_and_custom_image() {
       echo "✅ Local registry already running"
     fi
 
-    # Configure podman to trust local registry (both user and root level for minikube)
+    # Configure podman to trust local registry (rootful only since minikube uses sudo podman)
     echo "Configuring registries.conf to trust local registry..."
-
-    # User-level config
-    mkdir -p ~/.config/containers
-    cat > ~/.config/containers/registries.conf << 'EOF'
-[[registry]]
-location = "localhost:5000"
-insecure = true
-EOF
-
-    # Root-level config (since minikube uses sudo podman)
     sudo mkdir -p /root/.config/containers
     sudo tee /root/.config/containers/registries.conf << 'EOF' >/dev/null
 [[registry]]
 location = "localhost:5000"
 insecure = true
 EOF
+    echo "✅ Registry configuration created"
 
-    echo "✅ Registry configuration created for both user and root"
-    custom_image_tag="localhost:5000/kicbase:v0.0.47"
-
-    # Determine image tag
-    custom_image_tag="localhost:5000/kicbase:v0.0.47"
-    if curl -s http://localhost:5000/v2/kicbase/tags/list | grep -q "v0.0.47"; then
+    # Use kicbase v0.0.48 to match minikube v1.37.0 default
+    custom_image_tag="localhost:5000/kicbase:v0.0.48"
+    if curl -s http://localhost:5000/v2/kicbase/tags/list | grep -q "v0.0.48"; then
       echo "Custom kicbase image already exists in local registry"
       return 0
     fi
@@ -113,7 +102,7 @@ EOF
     # Build custom kicbase image
     mkdir -p "${PROJECT_DIR:-.}/scripts/minikube/kicbase"
     cat > "${PROJECT_DIR:-.}/scripts/minikube/kicbase/Dockerfile" << 'EOF'
-FROM gcr.io/k8s-minikube/kicbase:v0.0.47
+FROM gcr.io/k8s-minikube/kicbase:v0.0.48
 RUN if [ "$(uname -m)" = "ppc64le" ]; then \
         CRICTL_VERSION="v1.28.0" && \
         curl -L "https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cri-tools/releases/download/${CRICTL_VERSION}/crictl-${CRICTL_VERSION}-linux-ppc64le.tar.gz" \
@@ -129,6 +118,21 @@ EOF
       echo "Failed to build custom image"
       return 1
     }
+
+    # Ensure registry is still running before push (may have been cleaned up during build)
+    if ! curl -s --max-time 2 http://localhost:5000/v2/_catalog >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      echo "Registry not responding, restarting..."
+      sudo podman rm -f registry 2>/dev/null || true
+      sudo podman run -d -p 5000:5000 --name registry --restart=always docker.io/library/registry:2
+      for _ in {1..10}; do
+        if curl -s --max-time 2 http://localhost:5000/v2/_catalog >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+          echo "Registry restarted successfully"
+          break
+        fi
+        sleep 1
+      done
+    fi
+
     sudo podman push "${custom_image_tag}" --tls-verify=false || {
       echo "Failed to push to registry"
       return 1
@@ -139,9 +143,20 @@ EOF
   return 0
 }
 
-# Start minikube with podman driver
+# Start minikube with podman driver (rootful mode for reliable networking)
 start_minikube_cluster() {
-  echo ">>> Starting minikube cluster with podman driver..."
+  echo ">>> Starting minikube cluster with podman driver (rootful mode)..."
+
+  # IDEMPOTENT: If minikube is already running and healthy, skip setup
+  if "${PROJECT_DIR:-.}/bin/minikube" status &>/dev/null; then
+    echo "✅ Minikube is already running - verifying health..."
+    if "${PROJECT_DIR:-.}/bin/minikube" kubectl -- get nodes &>/dev/null; then
+      echo "✅ Minikube cluster is healthy - skipping setup"
+      return 0
+    else
+      echo "⚠️ Minikube running but unhealthy - will recreate"
+    fi
+  fi
 
   # Clean up any existing minikube state to avoid cached configuration issues
   echo "Cleaning up any existing minikube state..."
@@ -153,19 +168,27 @@ start_minikube_cluster() {
   echo "Ensuring clean minikube state..."
   "${PROJECT_DIR:-.}/bin/minikube" delete 2>/dev/null || true
 
-  local start_args=("--driver=podman")
+  # Clean up stale podman volumes
+  echo "Cleaning up stale podman volumes..."
+  sudo podman volume rm -f minikube 2>/dev/null || true
+  sudo podman network rm -f minikube 2>/dev/null || true
+
+  # Use rootful podman - rootless has iptables/CNI issues on ppc64le and s390x
+  local start_args=("--driver=podman" "--container-runtime=containerd" "--rootless=false")
   start_args+=("--cpus=4" "--memory=8g")
 
   if [[ "${ARCH}" == "ppc64le" ]]; then
     echo "Using custom kicbase image for ppc64le with crictl..."
 
-    start_args+=("--base-image=localhost:5000/kicbase:v0.0.47")
+    start_args+=("--base-image=localhost:5000/kicbase:v0.0.48")
     start_args+=("--insecure-registry=localhost:5000")
+    # Use bridge CNI for ppc64le - kindnet doesn't have ppc64le images
+    start_args+=("--cni=bridge")
+  elif [[ "${ARCH}" == "s390x" ]]; then
+    # Use bridge CNI for s390x to avoid potential image availability issues
+    start_args+=("--cni=bridge")
   fi
 
-  # Use default bridge CNI to avoid Docker Hub rate limiting issues
-  # start_args+=("--cni=bridge")
-
   echo "Starting minikube with args: ${start_args[*]}"
   if "${PROJECT_DIR:-.}/bin/minikube" start "${start_args[@]}"; then
     echo "✅ Minikube started successfully"
@@ -194,14 +217,6 @@ else
     exit 1
 fi
 
-if [[ "${ARCH}" == "ppc64le" ]]; then
-    echo ""
-    echo ">>> Note: crictl will be patched into the minikube container after startup"
-else
-    echo ""
-    echo ">>> Using standard kicbase image (crictl included for x86_64/aarch64/s390x)"
-fi
-
 # Start the minikube cluster
 start_minikube_cluster