diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration_test.yaml b/.github/workflows/integration_test.yaml
index 47ae675d..7f35c3e0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/integration_test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/integration_test.yaml
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   integration-tests:
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
     uses: canonical/operator-workflows/.github/workflows/integration_test.yaml@main
     secrets: inherit
     with:
diff --git a/app/src/github_runner_image_builder/templates/cloud-init.sh.j2 b/app/src/github_runner_image_builder/templates/cloud-init.sh.j2
index c0381b85..90deb4a2 100644
--- a/app/src/github_runner_image_builder/templates/cloud-init.sh.j2
+++ b/app/src/github_runner_image_builder/templates/cloud-init.sh.j2
@@ -83,7 +83,6 @@ EOF
 
 function install_apt_packages() {
     local packages="$1"
-    local hwe_version="$2"
 
     # The gh package (GitHub CLI application) is not in the APT repository for focal.
     # For focal, the apt repository of GitHub is added.
@@ -104,11 +103,6 @@ function install_apt_packages() {
     DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive /usr/bin/apt-get upgrade -y
     echo "Installing apt packages $packages"
     DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive /usr/bin/apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends ${packages}
-    # Skip installing the HWE kernel package on resolute since there is no HWE kernel for it.
-    if [ $RELEASE != "resolute" ]; then
-        echo "Installing linux-generic-hwe-${hwe_version}"
-        DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive /usr/bin/apt-get install -y --install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-${hwe_version}
-    fi
 }
 
 function disable_unattended_upgrades() {
@@ -231,7 +225,6 @@ function configure_system_users() {
 
 proxy="{{ PROXY }}"
 apt_packages="{{ APT_PACKAGES }}"
-hwe_version="{{ HWE_VERSION }}"
 github_runner_version="{{ RUNNER_VERSION }}"
 github_runner_arch="{{ RUNNER_ARCH }}"
 runner_binary_repo="{{ RUNNER_BINARY_REPO }}"
@@ -242,7 +235,7 @@ configure_proxy "$proxy"
 if [ "$github_runner_arch" == "arm" ]; then
     enable_armhf_multiarch
 fi
-install_apt_packages "$apt_packages" "$hwe_version"
+install_apt_packages "$apt_packages"
 disable_unattended_upgrades
 enable_network_fair_queuing_congestion
 configure_usr_local_bin
diff --git a/app/tests/integration/commands.py b/app/tests/integration/commands.py
index 7b02109c..71c0dd38 100644
--- a/app/tests/integration/commands.py
+++ b/app/tests/integration/commands.py
@@ -64,12 +64,6 @@ class Commands:
     Commands(
         name="test sctp support", command="sudo apt-get install lksctp-tools -yq && checksctp"
     ),
-    # Exclude 26.04 from HWE kernel test since there is no HWE kernel for it.
-    Commands(
-        name="test that HWE kernel is installed  (only for non-resolute)",
-        command="lsb_release -r | grep 26.04 || uname -a | "
-        "grep $(dpkg -l | grep linux-generic-hwe | awk '{print $3}' | cut -d'.' -f1-3)",
-    ),
     Commands(
         name="test network congestion policy(fq)",
         command="sudo sysctl -a | grep 'net.core.default_qdisc = fq'",
diff --git a/app/tests/unit/test_openstack_builder.py b/app/tests/unit/test_openstack_builder.py
index 759271c2..4812a886 100644
--- a/app/tests/unit/test_openstack_builder.py
+++ b/app/tests/unit/test_openstack_builder.py
@@ -706,7 +706,6 @@ def test__generate_cloud_init_script(
         if arch == openstack_builder.Arch.ARM
         else openstack_builder.BaseImage.JAMMY
     )
-    expected_hwe = openstack_builder.BaseImage.get_version(base)
     assert (
         openstack_builder._generate_cloud_init_script(
             image_config=openstack_builder.config.ImageConfig(
@@ -811,7 +810,6 @@ def test__generate_cloud_init_script(
 
 function install_apt_packages() {{
     local packages="$1"
-    local hwe_version="$2"
 
     # The gh package (GitHub CLI application) is not in the APT repository for focal.
     # For focal, the apt repository of GitHub is added.
@@ -835,11 +833,6 @@ def test__generate_cloud_init_script(
     DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive /usr/bin/apt-get upgrade -y
     echo "Installing apt packages $packages"
     DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive /usr/bin/apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends ${{packages}}
-    # Skip installing the HWE kernel package on resolute since there is no HWE kernel for it.
-    if [ $RELEASE != "resolute" ]; then
-        echo "Installing linux-generic-hwe-${{hwe_version}}"
-        DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive /usr/bin/apt-get install -y --install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-${{hwe_version}}
-    fi
 }}
 
 function disable_unattended_upgrades() {{
@@ -963,7 +956,6 @@ def test__generate_cloud_init_script(
 
 proxy="test.proxy.internal:3128"
 apt_packages="{expected_apt_packages}"
-hwe_version="{expected_hwe}"
 github_runner_version=""
 github_runner_arch="{arch.value}"
 runner_binary_repo="canonical/github-actions-runner"
@@ -974,7 +966,7 @@ def test__generate_cloud_init_script(
 if [ "$github_runner_arch" == "arm" ]; then
     enable_armhf_multiarch
 fi
-install_apt_packages "$apt_packages" "$hwe_version"
+install_apt_packages "$apt_packages"
 disable_unattended_upgrades
 enable_network_fair_queuing_congestion
 configure_usr_local_bin
diff --git a/docs/changelog.md b/docs/changelog.md
index 02573a62..4cb5f607 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.md
+++ b/docs/changelog.md
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@
 
 - Update integration tests that were intentionally not done in #185.
 
+## [#196 fix: use default kernel instead of HWE kernel](https://github.com/canonical/github-runner-image-builder-operator/pull/196) (2026-02-12)
+
+* Use the default kernel instead of the HWE kernel in GitHub runner images.
+
 ## [#185 Remove aproxy installation and add proxy support in workload](https://github.com/canonical/github-runner-image-builder-operator/pull/185) (2026-01-20)
 
 - Remove `aproxy` snap installation in the charm and inject proxy values from the model config into the workload process.