diff --git a/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-core/dropbear/dropbear_%.bbappend b/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-core/dropbear/dropbear_%.bbappend
index 206aa04a..a878e1c2 100644
--- a/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-core/dropbear/dropbear_%.bbappend
+++ b/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-core/dropbear/dropbear_%.bbappend
@@ -1,7 +1,16 @@
+FILESEXTRAPATHS_prepend := "${THISDIR}/files:"
+
+SRC_URI += "file://opentrons-dropbear.default"
+
 do_install_append() {
    # create a symlink to store rsa host keys in read-write /var/lib/dropbear dir.
    install -d ${D}/var/lib/dropbear
    rm -rf ${D}/${sysconfdir}/dropbear
    ln -sf /var/lib/dropbear ${D}/${sysconfdir}/dropbear
 
+   # install dropbear config if release
+   if [[ "${OT_BUILD_TYPE}" =~ "release" ]]; then
+      bbnote "Installing custom dropbear config for release build."
+      install -m 0644 ${WORKDIR}/opentrons-dropbear.default ${D}${sysconfdir}/default/dropbear
+   fi
 }
diff --git a/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-core/dropbear/files/opentrons-dropbear.default b/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-core/dropbear/files/opentrons-dropbear.default
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1509ffc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-core/dropbear/files/opentrons-dropbear.default
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Disable SSH password logins.  We only use public key authentication.
+# This prevents a confusing password prompt from showing up when someone
+# tries to log in with a missing or wrong key.
+DROPBEAR_EXTRA_ARGS="-s"
diff --git a/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-images/images/opentrons-ot3-image.bb b/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-images/images/opentrons-ot3-image.bb
index 936aa24a..1265d60e 100644
--- a/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-images/images/opentrons-ot3-image.bb
+++ b/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-images/images/opentrons-ot3-image.bb
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ IMAGE_INSTALL += " \
     opentrons-jupyter-notebook opentrons-usb-bridge \
     opentrons-system-server opentrons-mcu-firmware \
     opentrons-user-environment opentrons-module-firmware \
-    opentrons-systemd-units \
+    opentrons-systemd-units opentrons-ssh-keys \
  "
 
 # We do NOT want the toradex libusbgx packages that autoconfigure the OTG USB
diff --git a/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-robot/opentrons-ssh-keys/files/opentrons-flex.pub b/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-robot/opentrons-ssh-keys/files/opentrons-flex.pub
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..93f3f773
--- /dev/null
+++ b/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-robot/opentrons-ssh-keys/files/opentrons-flex.pub
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQCmd34g9YqwQ7oMOJjPJezLIAOsov9vtr/dWqrwsVPLX1MkM0zFJg1Ou9NE9p30VaDnE92Hx0N9ndr8mznoImx/l8lkm9Z2QW+uO1eSKoQVwlz/1Dc+MJq8gy41GWYlKLr7p2b0TicAPcvGGYsFOmEUszOr5M78kOa2SHcHryd5Ol0T1bZQJ9p66JM8yY0upclrZouJEI5ozq/fHcihuR/WVo/dq81lM3lImfnfTe48exV42CGMndfTM0LFwRSRN1ANNr+Wto1a+X4lRnlk/RFzxB8a49UxNqQTCpdy/49wilQV7FJu9oHsaJI1dcKV9DE657gOrzM7tBaJXL6yh8Jn
+
diff --git a/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-robot/opentrons-ssh-keys/opentrons-ssh-keys.bb b/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-robot/opentrons-ssh-keys/opentrons-ssh-keys.bb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0e4053e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/layers/meta-opentrons/recipes-robot/opentrons-ssh-keys/opentrons-ssh-keys.bb
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+DESCRIPTION = "Install authorized SSH keys to the image"
+LICENSE="Apache-2.0"
+LIC_FILES_CHKSUM = "file://${COMMON_LICENSE_DIR}/Apache-2.0;md5=89aea4e17d99a7cacdbeed46a0096b10"
+
+SRC_URI = "file://opentrons-flex.pub"
+
+do_install () {
+    install -m 700 -d ${D}/home/root/.ssh
+    install -m 644 ${WORKDIR}/opentrons-flex.pub ${D}/home/root/.ssh/authorized_keys
+}
+
+FILES_${PN} += "/home/root/.ssh/authorized_keys"
diff --git a/linux-toradex_5.4-2.3.x.patch b/linux-toradex_5.4-2.3.x.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index 975b5446..00000000
--- a/linux-toradex_5.4-2.3.x.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-10c10
-<     git://git.toradex.com/linux-toradex.git;protocol=https;branch=${SRCBRANCH};name=machine \
----
->     git://git.toradex.com/linux-toradex.git;protocol=http;branch=${SRCBRANCH};name=machine \
-25c25
-< SRCREV_machine = "64dbf17bb33e10d844b01fd7294104cd4f1b8c5b"
----
-> SRCREV_machine = "2dd6306225361e47a9ef40f6a81a5487920a09ab"