diff --git a/kernel-tools.spec b/kernel-tools.spec
index 7bbfa7c..e73465b 100644
--- a/kernel-tools.spec
+++ b/kernel-tools.spec
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
 # note: on hs.el9 it might be possible to use LIBBPF_DYNAMIC=1 so try when reenabling bpftool
 %bcond_with bpftool
 
+# disable perl support by default. On hs.el8 this currently pulls in an updated Perl stack
+# from modular packages, making it a pain to use on systems with modules filtered out
+%bcond_with perl
+
 # Much of this is borrowed from the original kernel.spec
 # It needs a bunch of the macros for rawhide vs. not-rawhide builds.
 
@@ -49,7 +53,7 @@
 # pkg_release is what we'll fill in for the rpm Release: field
 %if 0%{?released_kernel}
 
-%global pkg_release %{fedora_build}%{?buildid}.1%{?dist}
+%global pkg_release %{fedora_build}%{?buildid}.2%{?dist}
 
 %else
 
@@ -72,10 +76,10 @@
 %undefine _strict_symbol_defs_build
 
 BuildRequires: kmod, patch, bash, tar, git-core
-BuildRequires: bzip2, xz, findutils, gzip, m4, perl-interpreter, perl(Carp), perl-devel, perl-generators, make, diffutils, gawk
+BuildRequires: bzip2, xz, findutils, gzip, m4, make, diffutils, gawk
 BuildRequires: gcc, binutils, redhat-rpm-config, hmaccalc
 BuildRequires: net-tools, hostname, bc, elfutils-devel
-BuildRequires: zlib-devel binutils-devel newt-devel python3-docutils perl(ExtUtils::Embed) bison flex xz-devel
+BuildRequires: zlib-devel binutils-devel newt-devel python3-docutils bison flex xz-devel
 BuildRequires: audit-libs-devel glibc-devel glibc-headers glibc-static python3-devel java-devel
 BuildRequires: asciidoc xmlto libcap-devel python3-setuptools
 BuildRequires: openssl-devel libbabeltrace-devel
@@ -83,6 +87,13 @@ BuildRequires: libtracefs-devel libtraceevent-devel
 %if %{with bpftool}
 BuildRequires: libbpf-devel
 %endif
+%if %{with perl}
+BuildRequires: perl-devel
+BuildRequires: perl-generators
+BuildRequires: perl-interpreter
+BuildRequires: perl(Carp)
+BuildRequires: perl(ExtUtils::Embed)
+%endif
 BuildRequires: clang llvm
 # Used to mangle unversioned shebangs to be Python 3
 BuildRequires: /usr/bin/pathfix.py
@@ -620,6 +631,9 @@ popd
 %{_mandir}/man1/rv.1.gz
 
 %changelog
+* Thu Jun 29 2023 Michel Alexandre Salim <salimma@centosproject.org> - 6.3.3-200.2
+- Disable Perl support by default to avoid modularity issues on hs.el8
+
 * Wed Jun 28 2023 Michel Alexandre Salim <salimma@centosproject.org> - 6.3.3-200.1
 - Initial Hyperscale SIG package