diff --git a/src/installer/installer.go b/src/installer/installer.go
index 10e7f9584..2f0de89c3 100644
--- a/src/installer/installer.go
+++ b/src/installer/installer.go
@@ -410,6 +410,18 @@ func (i *installer) startBootstrap() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// If we're in a pure RHEL/CentOS environment, we need to overlay the node image
+	// first to have access to e.g. oc, kubelet, cri-o, etc...
+	// https://github.com/openshift/enhancements/pull/1637
+	if !i.ops.FileExists("/usr/bin/oc") {
+		err = i.ops.SystemctlAction("start", "node-image-overlay.service")
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		i.waitForNodeImageOverlay(context.Background())
+	}
+
 	servicesToStart := []string{"bootkube.service", "approve-csr.service", "progress.service"}
 	for _, service := range servicesToStart {
 		err = i.ops.SystemctlAction("start", service)
@@ -626,6 +638,25 @@ func (i *installer) waitForBootkube(ctx context.Context) {
 	}
 }
 
+func (i *installer) waitForNodeImageOverlay(ctx context.Context) {
+	i.log.Infof("Waiting for node image overlay to complete")
+
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			i.log.Info("Context cancelled, terminating wait for node image overlay\n")
+			return
+		case <-time.After(generalWaitInterval):
+			out, err := i.ops.ExecPrivilegeCommand(nil, "systemctl", "is-active", "node-image-overlay.service")
+			if err == nil {
+				i.log.Info("node image overlay service completed")
+				return
+			}
+			i.log.Debugf("node image overlay service not yet active: %s", out)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func (i *installer) waitForController(kc k8s_client.K8SClient) error {
 	i.log.Infof("Waiting for controller to be ready")
 	i.UpdateHostInstallProgress(models.HostStageWaitingForController, "waiting for controller pod ready event")