diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-amd64.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-amd64.yaml
index f0f606850b..869d49bc60 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-amd64.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-amd64.yaml
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ jobs:
           path: kata-artifacts
       - name: merge-artifacts
         run: |
-          ./tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh kata-artifacts
+          ./tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh kata-artifacts versions.yaml
       - name: store-artifacts
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-arm64.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-arm64.yaml
index 2ad97a0ba4..85d7bd18b8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-arm64.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-arm64.yaml
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ jobs:
           path: kata-artifacts
       - name: merge-artifacts
         run: |
-          ./tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh kata-artifacts
+          ./tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh kata-artifacts versions.yaml
       - name: store-artifacts
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-s390x.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-s390x.yaml
index cf28310336..8c7b886370 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-s390x.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-s390x.yaml
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ jobs:
           path: kata-artifacts
       - name: merge-artifacts
         run: |
-          ./tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh kata-artifacts
+          ./tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh kata-artifacts versions.yaml
       - name: store-artifacts
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index e06ed61b58..dbdf182402 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -121,6 +121,19 @@ jobs:
           GITHUB_TOKEN=${{ secrets.GIT_UPLOAD_TOKEN }} hub release edit -m "" -a "${tarball}" "${tag}"
           popd
 
+  upload-versions-yaml-tarball:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - name: upload versions.yaml
+        run: |
+          tag=$(echo $GITHUB_REF | cut -d/ -f3-)
+          pushd $GITHUB_WORKSPACE
+          versions_file="kata-containers-$tag-versions.yaml"
+          cp versions.yaml ${versions_file}
+          hub release edit -m "" -a "${versions_file}" "${tag}"
+          popd
+
   upload-cargo-vendored-tarball:
     needs: upload-multi-arch-static-tarball
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/Makefile b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/Makefile
index fc7ed41d21..ece1900c02 100644
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/Makefile
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/Makefile
@@ -64,9 +64,6 @@ firecracker-tarball:
 kernel-dragonball-experimental-tarball:
 	${MAKE} $@-build
 
-kernel-experimental-tarball:
-	${MAKE} $@-build
-
 kernel-nvidia-gpu-tarball:
 	${MAKE} $@-build
 
@@ -128,7 +125,7 @@ virtiofsd-tarball:
 	${MAKE} $@-build
 
 merge-builds:
-	$(MK_DIR)/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh build
+	$(MK_DIR)/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh build "$(MK_DIR)/../../../../versions.yaml"
 
 install-tarball:
 	tar -xf ./kata-static.tar.xz -C /
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-binaries.sh b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-binaries.sh
index 9b22767420..bcd3a6bb11 100755
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-binaries.sh
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-binaries.sh
@@ -346,14 +346,6 @@ install_kernel_nvidia_gpu_tdx_experimental() {
 		"-x tdx -g nvidia -u ${kernel_url} -H deb"
 }
 
-#Install experimental kernel asset
-install_kernel_experimental() {
-	install_kernel_helper \
-		"assets.kernel-experimental.version" \
-		"kernel-experimental" \
-		"-f -b experimental"
-}
-
 #Install experimental TDX kernel asset
 install_kernel_tdx_experimental() {
 	local kernel_url="$(get_from_kata_deps assets.kernel-tdx-experimental.url)"
@@ -648,8 +640,6 @@ handle_build() {
 
 	kernel-dragonball-experimental) install_kernel_dragonball_experimental ;;
 
-	kernel-experimental) install_kernel_experimental ;;
-
 	kernel-nvidia-gpu) install_kernel_nvidia_gpu ;;
 
 	kernel-nvidia-gpu-snp) install_kernel_nvidia_gpu_snp;;
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh
index b2d02b43fb..ff13708ef8 100755
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ set -o pipefail
 set -o errtrace
 
 kata_build_dir=${1:-build}
+kata_versions_yaml_file=${2:-""}
+
 tar_path="${PWD}/kata-static.tar.xz"
 
 pushd "${kata_build_dir}"
@@ -24,6 +26,15 @@ do
 	tar -xvf "${c}" -C "${tarball_content_dir}"
 done
 
+pushd ${tarball_content_dir}
+	shim="containerd-shim-kata-v2"
+	shim_path=$(find . -name ${shim} | sort | head -1)
+	prefix=${shim_path%"bin/${shim}"}
+
+	echo "$(git describe)" > ${prefix}/VERSION
+	[[ -n "${kata_versions_yaml_file}" ]] && cp ${kata_versions_yaml_file} ${prefix}/
+popd
+
 echo "create ${tar_path}"
 (cd "${tarball_content_dir}"; tar cvfJ "${tar_path}" .)
 popd
diff --git a/versions.yaml b/versions.yaml
index 5cb014fea1..e31dab1645 100644
--- a/versions.yaml
+++ b/versions.yaml
@@ -179,11 +179,6 @@ assets:
       url: "https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/"
       version: "v5.19.2"
 
-  kernel-experimental:
-    description: "Linux kernel with virtio-fs support"
-    url: "https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/"
-    tag: "v5.13.10"
-
   kernel-arm-experimental:
     description: "Linux kernel with cpu/mem hotplug support on arm64"
     url: "https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/"