diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 6c79ec74ff6a07d6651f110069a4ade1bbd55b23..354e08f934aa1a3455448084087e1b3494960fc7 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ variables:
 
 stages:
   - config
+  - build:base            ## build stable Debian
   - build:oneapi_jug      ## OneAPI + Jug_Dev Image 
   - deploy                ## build/deploy singularity images            
   - finalize
@@ -207,6 +208,18 @@ cuda_base:default:
                    containers/cuda
     - !reference [.build, script]
 
+debian_stable_base:default:
+  extends: .build
+  stage: build:base
+  needs:
+    - version
+  variables:
+    BUILD_IMAGE: "debian_stable_base"
+  script:
+    - docker build -t ${CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE}/${BUILD_IMAGE}:${INTERNAL_TAG} 
+                   -f containers/debian/stable.Dockerfile
+                   containers/debian
+    - !reference [.build, script]
 
 oneapi_jug_dev:default:
   extends: .build
diff --git a/containers/debian/Dockerfile b/containers/debian/base.Dockerfile
similarity index 100%
rename from containers/debian/Dockerfile
rename to containers/debian/base.Dockerfile
diff --git a/containers/debian/stable.Dockerfile b/containers/debian/stable.Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..20941582372a497f56370fea255f909873cc388d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/containers/debian/stable.Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1.2
+
+# Minimal container based on Debian Stable for LTS packages,
+# required for oneAPI containers
+# Very lightweight container with a minimal build environment.
+
+FROM  amd64/debian:stable-20220527-slim
+
+
+COPY bashrc /root/.bashrc
+
+ENV CLICOLOR_FORCE=1                                                    \
+    LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8                                                \
+    LANG=en_US.UTF-8                                                    \
+    LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8
+
+## Install additional packages. Remove the auto-cleanup functionality
+## for docker, as we're using the new buildkit cache instead.
+## TODO: libyaml-cpp-dev is a dependency for afterburner. We can probably remove
+##       this once afterburner is added to spack
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/var/cache/apt                            \
+    rm -f /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/docker-clean                              \
+ && ln -fs /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtime          \
+ && echo "US/Eastern" > /etc/timezone                                   \
+ && apt-get -yqq update                                                 \
+ && apt-get -yqq upgrade                                                \
+ && apt-get -yqq install --no-install-recommends                        \
+        bc                                                              \
+        ca-certificates                                                 \
+        clang-format                                                    \
+        clang-tidy                                                      \
+        curl                                                            \
+        file                                                            \
+        build-essential                                                 \
+        g++-10                                                          \
+        gcc-10                                                          \
+        gdb                                                             \
+        gfortran-10                                                     \
+        ghostscript                                                     \
+        git                                                             \
+        gnupg2                                                          \
+        gv                                                              \
+        iproute2                                                        \
+        iputils-ping                                                    \
+        iputils-tracepath                                               \
+        less                                                            \
+        libcbor-xs-perl                                                 \
+        libjson-xs-perl                                                 \
+        libyaml-cpp-dev                                                 \
+        locales                                                         \
+        lua-posix                                                       \
+        make                                                            \
+        nano                                                            \
+        openssh-client                                                  \
+        parallel                                                        \
+        poppler-utils                                                   \
+        time                                                            \
+        unzip                                                           \
+        valgrind                                                        \
+        vim-nox                                                         \
+        wget                                                            \
+ && localedef -i en_US -f UTF-8 en_US.UTF-8                             \
+ && update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-10 100  \
+ && update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-10 100  \
+ && update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gfortran gfortran            \
+                                  /usr/bin/gfortran-10 100              \
+ && gcc --version                                                       \
+ && curl -L                                                             \
+    "https://packages.gitlab.com/install/repositories/runner/gitlab-runner/script.deb.sh" \
+    | bash                                                              \
+ && apt-get -yqq update                                                 \
+ && apt-get -yqq install --no-install-recommends                        \
+        gitlab-runner                                                   \
+ && apt-get -yqq autoremove                                             \
+ && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*                                         
+
diff --git a/containers/oneapi/onedev.Dockerfile b/containers/oneapi/onedev.Dockerfile
index 9b11017ed07c8a87d1756d36cfdf875805d13f34..12391b7bc7fc8371756f0739c22b21789fa4edf0 100644
--- a/containers/oneapi/onedev.Dockerfile
+++ b/containers/oneapi/onedev.Dockerfile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 # Container based on Jug_dev with Intel oneAPI support.
 
-# Start with Debian base and layer oneAPI on top, prevents spack compiler errors.
+# Start with Debian-stable and layer oneAPI on top, prevents spack compiler errors.
 
 ## ========================================================================================
 ## STAGE 1: spack builder image
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@
 ## ========================================================================================
 
 ARG DOCKER_REGISTRY="eicweb.phy.anl.gov:4567/containers/eic_container/"
-ARG INTERNAL_TAG="testing" 
+ARG INTERNAL_TAG="unstable-mr-290-306" 
 
-FROM ${DOCKER_REGISTRY}debian_base:${INTERNAL_TAG} as builder
+FROM ${DOCKER_REGISTRY}debian_stable_base:${INTERNAL_TAG} as builder
 
 ## Install some extra spack dependencies
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/var/cache/apt                            \
@@ -241,7 +241,6 @@ ENV CLICOLOR_FORCE=1                                                    \
 
 ## Install additional packages. Remove the auto-cleanup functionality
 ## for docker, as we're using the new buildkit cache instead.
-## We also install gitlab-runner, from the buster package (as bullseye is not available atm)
 ## TODO: libyaml-cpp-dev is a dependency for afterburner. We can probably remove
 ##       this once afterburner is added to spack
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/var/cache/apt                            \
@@ -290,8 +289,6 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/var/cache/apt                            \
  && curl -L                                                             \
     "https://packages.gitlab.com/install/repositories/runner/gitlab-runner/script.deb.sh" \
     | bash                                                              \
- && sed -i "s/bookworm/buster/"                                         \
-           /etc/apt/sources.list.d/runner_gitlab-runner.list            \
  && apt-get -yqq update                                                 \
  && apt-get -yqq install --no-install-recommends                        \
         gitlab-runner                                                   \