diff --git a/ci/setup-cfengine-build-host.sh b/ci/setup-cfengine-build-host.sh
index afbce6495..290950d8a 100755
--- a/ci/setup-cfengine-build-host.sh
+++ b/ci/setup-cfengine-build-host.sh
@@ -2,45 +2,6 @@
 shopt -s expand_aliases
 thisdir="$(dirname "$0")"
 
-# Use the newest CFEngine version we can
-CFE_VERSION=3.26.0
-if [ -f /etc/centos-release ]; then
-  _version=$(cat /etc/centos-release | cut -d' ' -f3 | cut -d. -f1)
-  if [ "$_version" = "6" ]; then
-    CFE_VERSION=3.24.2
-  fi
-elif [ -f /etc/os-release ]; then
-  source /etc/os-release
-  if [ "$ID" = "debian" ]; then
-    if [ "$VERSION_ID" -lt "9" ]; then
-      echo "Platform $ID $VERSION_ID is too old."
-      exit 9
-    fi
-    if [ "$VERSION_ID" -lt "11" ]; then
-      CFE_VERSION=3.21.7
-    fi
-  fi
-  if [ "$ID" = "redhat" ] || [ "$ID" = "centos" ]; then
-    if [ "$VERSION_ID" -lt "6" ]; then
-      echo "Platform $ID $VERSION_ID is too old."
-      exit 9
-    fi
-    if [ "$VERSION_ID" -lt "7" ]; then
-      CFE_VERSION=3.24.2
-    fi
-  fi
-  if [ "$ID" = "ubuntu" ]; then
-    _version="$(echo "$VERSION_ID" | cut -d. -f1)"
-    if [ "$_version" -lt "16" ]; then
-      echo "Platform $ID $VERSION_ID is too old."
-      exit 9
-    fi
-    if [ "$_version" -lt "20" ]; then
-      CFE_VERSION=3.21.7
-    fi
-  fi
-fi
-
 # install needed packages and software for a build host
 set -ex
 if [ "$(id -u)" != "0" ]; then
@@ -146,61 +107,40 @@ else
   exit 1
 fi
 
-echo "Checking for pre-installed CFEngine (chicken/egg problem)"
-# We need a cf-agent to run build host setup policy and redhat-10-arm has not previous package to install.
-# solution: install from source and make a custom AWS AMI image
-if ! /var/cfengine/bin/cf-agent -V; then
-  echo "No existing CFEngine install found, try quickinstall script..."
-  if grep -i suse /etc/os-release; then
-    # need to add our public key first otherwise zypper install fails
-    rpm --import https://cfengine-package-repos.s3.amazonaws.com/pub/gpg.key
-    if grep 'VERSION.*12' /etc/os-release; then
-      urlget https://cfengine-package-repos.s3.amazonaws.com/enterprise/Enterprise-"$CFE_VERSION"/agent/agent_suse12_x86_64/cfengine-nova-"$CFE_VERSION"-1.suse12.x86_64.rpm
-      zypper install -y cfengine-nova-"$CFE_VERSION"-1.suse12.x86_64.rpm
-    elif grep 'VERSION.*15' /etc/os-release; then
-      urlget https://cfengine-package-repos.s3.amazonaws.com/enterprise/Enterprise-"$CFE_VERSION"/agent/agent_suse15_x86_64/cfengine-nova-"$CFE_VERSION"-1.suse15.x86_64.rpm
-      zypper install -y cfengine-nova-"$CFE_VERSION"-1.suse15.x86_64.rpm
-    else
-      echo "Unsupported suse version:"
-      grep VERSION /etc/os-release
-      exit 1
-    fi
+echo "Installing cf-remote for possible package install and masterfiles download"
+# try pipx first for debian as pip won't work.
+# If that fails to install CFEngine then try python3-pip for redhats.
+if software pipx; then
+  pipx install cf-remote
+  export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH
+elif software python3-pip; then
+  if command -v pip; then
+    pip install cf-remote
+  elif command -v pip3; then
+    pip3 install cf-remote
   else
-    urlget https://s3.amazonaws.com/cfengine.packages/quick-install-cfengine-enterprise.sh
-    # log sha256 checksum expected and actuall for debugging purposes
-    echo "Expected quick install checksum: "
-    cat "$thisdir"/quick-install-cfengine-enterprise.sh.sha256
-    echo "Actual quick install checksum: "
-    sha256sum quick-install-cfengine-enterprise.sh
-  
-    sha256sum --check "$thisdir"/quick-install-cfengine-enterprise.sh.sha256
-    chmod +x quick-install-cfengine-enterprise.sh
-    export CFEngine_Enterprise_Package_Version="$CFE_VERSION"
-    bash ./quick-install-cfengine-enterprise.sh agent
+    echo "failure: neither pip nor pip3 seem to be available."
+    exit 42
   fi
 fi
+export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH # add /usr/local/bin for pip/pipx installed cf-remote
+
+if ! command -v cf-remote; then
+  echo "cf-remote was not installed, it is required so exiting now"
+  exit 42
+fi
 
+echo "Checking for pre-installed CFEngine (chicken/egg problem)"
+# We need a cf-agent to run build host setup policy and redhat-10-arm did not have a previous package to install.
 if ! /var/cfengine/bin/cf-agent -V; then
-  echo "quickinstall script didn't install CFEngine, try cf-remote..."
-  # try pipx first for debian as pip won't work.
-  # If that fails to install CFEngine then try python3-pip for redhats.
-  if software pipx; then
-    pipx install cf-remote
-    export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH
-  elif software python3-pip; then
-    pip install cf-remote
-  fi
-  export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH # add /usr/local/bin for pip/pipx installed cf-remote
-  if command -v cf-remote >/dev/null; then
-    cf-remote --log-level info --version master install --clients localhost || true
-  fi
+  echo "No existing CFEngine install found, try cf-remote..."
+  cf-remote --log-level info --version master install --clients localhost || true
 fi
 
 if [ ! -x /var/cfengine/bin/cf-agent ]; then
   echo "cf-remote didn't install CFEngine, build from source..."
   software git
-  echo "quickinstall and cf-remote didn't install cf-agent, try from source"
-  CFE_VERSION=3.26.0 # need to use an actualy release which has a checksum for masterfiles download
+  echo "cf-remote didn't install cf-agent, try from source"
   rm -rf core # just in case we are repeating the script
   git clone --recursive --depth 1 https://github.com/cfengine/core
   (
@@ -210,11 +150,9 @@ if [ ! -x /var/cfengine/bin/cf-agent ]; then
 fi
 
 # get masterfiles
-urlget https://cfengine-package-repos.s3.amazonaws.com/enterprise/Enterprise-"$CFE_VERSION"/misc/cfengine-masterfiles-"$CFE_VERSION"-1.pkg.tar.gz
-
-sha256sum --check "$thisdir"/cfengine-masterfiles-"$CFE_VERSION"-1.pkg.tar.gz.sha256
-
-tar xf cfengine-masterfiles-"$CFE_VERSION"-1.pkg.tar.gz
+rm -rf cfengine-masterfiles*tar.gz
+cf-remote download masterfiles --output-dir .
+tar xf cfengine-masterfiles-*tar.gz
 cp -a masterfiles/* /var/cfengine/inputs/
 
 # run three times to ensure all is done