diff --git a/.changeset/fetch-bundled-drivers-at-build-time.md b/.changeset/fetch-bundled-drivers-at-build-time.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7f6822bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fetch-bundled-drivers-at-build-time.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"ftw": patch
+---
+
+`make drivers` fetches the bundled snapshot from the pinned device-drivers commit, and CI proves a build works from the pin alone.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index c0a77f79..9d3b7642 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -164,6 +164,56 @@ jobs:
       - run: npm ci --prefer-offline --no-audit --no-fund
       - run: npm test
 
+  # Proves the cutover before it happens: throw the committed drivers away,
+  # fetch them from the pin alone, and run the suites that read them. While
+  # the files are still committed this is redundant with the drift check. The
+  # moment they stop being committed it is the only thing standing between a
+  # fresh clone and a build that cannot find a driver.
+  drivers-from-pin:
+    name: drivers build from the pin alone
+    needs: changes
+    if: needs.changes.outputs.drivers == 'true'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
+      - uses: actions/setup-go@v7
+        with:
+          go-version: '1.26'
+          cache-dependency-path: go/go.sum
+
+      - name: Discard the committed snapshot
+        run: rm -f drivers/*.lua
+
+      - name: The presence guard notices
+        run: |
+          if make drivers-present 2>/dev/null; then
+            echo "::error::drivers-present passed with no drivers on disk"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "guard fired as expected"
+
+      - name: Fetch from the pin
+        run: make drivers
+
+      - name: Every pinned driver came back
+        run: |
+          want="$(jq -r '.drivers | length' drivers/BUNDLED_SOURCE.json)"
+          got="$(ls drivers/*.lua | wc -l | tr -d ' ')"
+          echo "pinned ${want}, fetched ${got}"
+          [ "$want" = "$got" ] || { echo "::error::fetched ${got} of ${want}"; exit 1; }
+
+      # The fetched files land at the same path the committed ones did, so
+      # nothing that reads drivers/ needs to know where they came from.
+      - name: The driver suites pass against the fetched copies
+        working-directory: go
+        run: go test ./internal/drivers/... ./internal/driverinventory/...
+
+      - name: They are byte-for-byte what was committed
+        run: |
+          git diff --exit-code -- drivers/ \
+            || { echo "::error::fetched snapshot differs from the committed one"; exit 1; }
+          echo "identical"
+
   drivers:
     name: drivers
     needs: changes
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e1a41522..e1e8d87f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@
 
 .PHONY: help test optimizer-install optimizer-test compose-migration-test container-boundary-test build build-arm64 build-amd64 build-windows-amd64 release \
         run-sim dev fmt vet clean e2e ci ci-ui ci-hw-pi docs \
-		verify verify-all install-hooks driver-repository-validate driver-versions
+		verify verify-all install-hooks driver-repository-validate driver-versions \
+        drivers drivers-present
 
 VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty 2>/dev/null || echo dev)
 LDFLAGS := -s -w -X main.Version=$(VERSION)
@@ -42,11 +43,31 @@ help:
 	@echo "  ci-ui                browser smoke against FTW_BASE_URL"
 	@echo "  ci-hw-pi             deploy candidate to Pi CI slot + browser smoke"
 	@echo "  fmt vet              Go format + static checks"
+	@echo "  drivers              fetch drivers/ from the pinned device-drivers commit"
 	@echo "  clean                nuke build artifacts"
 
+# ---- Bundled drivers ----
+#
+# drivers/ is a snapshot of srcfl/device-drivers at the commit pinned in
+# drivers/BUNDLED_SOURCE.json. It is fetched, not authored here. The Go tests
+# read it, the container image copies it, and the release tarballs carry it,
+# so it has to be populated before any of those run.
+
+# Fetch the snapshot. Safe to re-run; it writes the same bytes every time.
+drivers:
+	bash scripts/sync-bundled-drivers.sh
+
+# Cheap enough to run before every test invocation, and it costs no network.
+# Fetching here instead would put a remote call in the inner loop.
+drivers-present:
+	@ls drivers/*.lua >/dev/null 2>&1 || { \
+	  echo "drivers/ has no .lua files. Run 'make drivers' to fetch the" >&2; \
+	  echo "snapshot pinned in drivers/BUNDLED_SOURCE.json." >&2; \
+	  exit 1; }
+
 # ---- Testing ----
 
-test: optimizer/.venv/.installed
+test: optimizer/.venv/.installed drivers-present
 	@status=0; \
 	optimizer/.venv/bin/pytest -q optimizer/tests & py_pid=$$!; \
 	(cd go && go test ./...) & go_pid=$$!; \
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 498a52af..e812b511 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -50,8 +50,14 @@ editable source and FTW's default signed driver channel.
 [`drivers/BUNDLED_SOURCE.json`](drivers/BUNDLED_SOURCE.json). It exists because
 startup is deliberately local: a gateway boots and runs without the network, so
 a remote refresh must never block it. Editing a `.lua` file here is not a way to
-change a driver — fix it upstream, move the pin, and run
-`scripts/sync-bundled-drivers.sh`. CI fails if the two drift.
+change a driver — fix it upstream, move the pin, and run `make drivers`.
+CI fails if the two drift.
+
+A fresh clone gets the files from git today. `make drivers` fetches the same
+bytes from the pin, and CI proves the two agree on every pull request by
+throwing the committed copies away and rebuilding from the pin alone. That is
+the groundwork for dropping them from git entirely, so this repository holds no
+driver source at all.
 
 ## Install on Linux