diff --git a/tools/packaging/kernel/build-kernel.sh b/tools/packaging/kernel/build-kernel.sh
index 4e5549241b..2ad5f339a2 100755
--- a/tools/packaging/kernel/build-kernel.sh
+++ b/tools/packaging/kernel/build-kernel.sh
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@ DESTDIR="${DESTDIR:-/}"
 #PREFIX=
 PREFIX="${PREFIX:-/usr}"
 
-source "${script_dir}/../scripts/lib.sh"
+packaging_scripts_dir="${script_dir}/../scripts"
+source "${packaging_scripts_dir}/lib.sh"
 
 usage() {
 	exit_code="$1"
@@ -332,34 +333,14 @@ setup_kernel() {
 	local major_kernel
 	major_kernel=$(get_major_kernel_version "${kernel_version}")
 	local patches_dir_for_version="${patches_path}/${major_kernel}.x"
-	local kernel_patches=""
-	if [ -d "${patches_dir_for_version}" ]; then
-		# Patches are expected to be named in the standard
-		# git-format-patch(1) format where the first part of the
-		# filename represents the patch ordering
-		# (lowest numbers apply first):
-		#
-		#   "${number}-${dashed_description}"
-		#
-		# For example,
-		#
-		#   0001-fix-the-bad-thing.patch
-		#   0002-improve-the-fix-the-bad-thing-fix.patch
-		#   0003-correct-compiler-warnings.patch
-		kernel_patches=$(find "${patches_dir_for_version}" -name '*.patch' -type f |\
-			sort -t- -k1,1n)
-	else
-		info "kernel patches directory does not exit"
-	fi
 
 	[ -n "${arch_target}" ] || arch_target="$(uname -m)"
 	arch_target=$(arch_to_kernel "${arch_target}")
 	(
 	cd "${kernel_path}" || exit 1
-	for p in ${kernel_patches}; do
-		info "Applying patch $p"
-		patch -p1 --fuzz 0 <"$p"
-	done
+
+	# Apply version specific patches
+	${packaging_scripts_dir}/apply_patches.sh "${patches_dir_for_version}"
 
 	[ -n "${hypervisor_target}" ] || hypervisor_target="kvm"
 	[ -n "${kernel_config_path}" ] || kernel_config_path=$(get_default_kernel_config "${kernel_version}" "${hypervisor_target}" "${arch_target}" "${kernel_path}")
diff --git a/tools/packaging/qemu/apply_patches.sh b/tools/packaging/qemu/apply_patches.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 6cd0ef18c2..0000000000
--- a/tools/packaging/qemu/apply_patches.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-#
-# Copyright (c) 2020 Red Hat, Inc.
-#
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-#
-# This script apply the needed for Kata Containers patches on QEMU.
-# Note: It should be executed from inside the QEMU source directory.
-#
-set -e
-
-script_dir="$(realpath $(dirname $0))"
-
-qemu_version="$(cat VERSION)"
-stable_branch=$(echo $qemu_version | \
-	awk 'BEGIN{FS=OFS="."}{print $1 "." $2 ".x"}')
-patches_dir="${script_dir}/patches/${stable_branch}"
-
-echo "Handle patches for QEMU $qemu_version (stable ${stable_branch})"
-if [ -d $patches_dir ]; then
-	for patch in $(find $patches_dir -name '*.patch'); do
-		echo "Apply $patch"
-		git apply "$patch"
-	done
-else
-	echo "No patches to apply"
-fi
diff --git a/tools/packaging/scripts/apply_patches.sh b/tools/packaging/scripts/apply_patches.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..aa6b19b609
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/packaging/scripts/apply_patches.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2020 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+# This script apply patches.
+#
+set -e
+
+script_dir="$(realpath $(dirname $0))"
+patches_dir="$1"
+
+if [ -z "$patches_dir" ]; then
+	cat <<-EOT
+	Apply patches to the sources at the current directory.
+
+	Patches are expected to be named in the standard git-format-patch(1) format where
+	the first part of the filename represents the patch ordering (lowest numbers
+	apply first):
+	    'NUMBER-DASHED_DESCRIPTION.patch'
+
+	For example,
+
+	    0001-fix-the-bad-thing.patch
+	    0002-improve-the-fix-the-bad-thing-fix.patch
+	    0003-correct-compiler-warnings.patch
+
+	Usage:
+	    $0 PATCHES_DIR
+	Where:
+	    PATCHES_DIR is the directory containing the patches
+	EOT
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "INFO: Apply patches from $patches_dir"
+if [ -d "$patches_dir" ]; then
+	patches=($(find "$patches_dir" -name '*.patch'|sort -t- -k1,1n))
+	echo "INFO: Found ${#patches[@]} patches"
+	for patch in ${patches[@]}; do
+		echo "INFO: Apply $patch"
+		git apply "$patch" || \
+			{ echo >&2 "ERROR: Not applied. Exiting..."; exit 1; }
+	done
+else
+	echo "INFO: Patches directory does not exist"
+fi
diff --git a/tools/packaging/static-build/qemu-virtiofs/Dockerfile b/tools/packaging/static-build/qemu-virtiofs/Dockerfile
index c16049d3e9..ad70070f25 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/static-build/qemu-virtiofs/Dockerfile
+++ b/tools/packaging/static-build/qemu-virtiofs/Dockerfile
@@ -54,16 +54,15 @@ RUN git checkout "${QEMU_VIRTIOFS_TAG}"
 
 ADD scripts/configure-hypervisor.sh /root/configure-hypervisor.sh
 ADD qemu /root/kata_qemu
+ADD scripts/apply_patches.sh /root/apply_patches.sh
 
 # Apply experimental specific patches
 # Patches to quick fix virtiofs fork
 ENV VIRTIOFS_PATCHES_DIR=/root/kata_qemu/patches/${QEMU_VIRTIOFS_TAG}/
-RUN if [ -d ${VIRTIOFS_PATCHES_DIR} ]; then \
-	echo "Patches to apply for virtiofs fixes:"; \
-	for patch in $(find "${VIRTIOFS_PATCHES_DIR}" -name '*.patch' -type f |sort -t- -k1,1n); do \
-		git apply $patch; \
-	done;fi
-RUN /root/kata_qemu/apply_patches.sh
+RUN /root/apply_patches.sh ${VIRTIOFS_PATCHES_DIR}
+# Apply the stable branch patches
+RUN stable_branch=$(cat VERSION | awk 'BEGIN{FS=OFS="."}{print $1 "." $2 ".x"}') && \
+        /root/apply_patches.sh "/root/kata_qemu/patches/${stable_branch}"
 
 RUN PREFIX="${PREFIX}" /root/configure-hypervisor.sh -s kata-qemu | sed -e 's|--disable-seccomp||g' | xargs ./configure \
 	--with-pkgversion=kata-static
diff --git a/tools/packaging/static-build/qemu/Dockerfile b/tools/packaging/static-build/qemu/Dockerfile
index 74d479c9fc..8e434a7be4 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/static-build/qemu/Dockerfile
+++ b/tools/packaging/static-build/qemu/Dockerfile
@@ -54,8 +54,10 @@ RUN git clone https://github.com/qemu/keycodemapdb.git ui/keycodemapdb
 
 ADD scripts/configure-hypervisor.sh /root/configure-hypervisor.sh
 ADD qemu /root/kata_qemu
+ADD scripts/apply_patches.sh /root/apply_patches.sh
 
-RUN  /root/kata_qemu/apply_patches.sh
+RUN stable_branch=$(cat VERSION | awk 'BEGIN{FS=OFS="."}{print $1 "." $2 ".x"}') && \
+	/root/apply_patches.sh "/root/kata_qemu/patches/${stable_branch}"
 
 RUN PREFIX="${PREFIX}" /root/configure-hypervisor.sh -s kata-qemu | xargs ./configure \
 	--with-pkgversion=kata-static