diff --git a/scripts/build-kernel.sh b/scripts/build-kernel.sh
index c33a25b..49ff8b7 100755
--- a/scripts/build-kernel.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-kernel.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ set -euo pipefail
 REPO="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)"
 K="${KERNELDIR:-$(cd "$REPO/../linux-7.3.4" && pwd)}"
 cd "$K"
-"$REPO/scripts/kernel-config.sh" "${1:-}"
+# kernel-config.sh must configure the *same* tree we are about to build.
+KERNELDIR="$K" "$REPO/scripts/kernel-config.sh" "${1:-}"
 JOBS="${JOBS:-$(($(nproc)-2))}"
 make -j"$JOBS" -s bzImage modules_prepare
 # External module builds need Module.symvers (kbuild only writes
diff --git a/scripts/kernel-config.sh b/scripts/kernel-config.sh
index 7f62884..b799ade 100755
--- a/scripts/kernel-config.sh
+++ b/scripts/kernel-config.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@
 # defconfig baseline + direct-kernel-boot deps. Idempotent.
 # `kernel-config.sh test` additionally enables DEBUG_KMEMLEAK (soak builds).
 set -euo pipefail
-K="${KERNELDIR:-$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/../../linux_kernel/linux-7.3.4" && pwd)}"
+REPO="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)"
+# Default: the kernel tree next to the repository (pf_port/../linux-7.3.4),
+# same rule as build-kernel.sh / build-module.sh.
+K="${KERNELDIR:-$REPO/../linux-7.3.4}"
 cd "$K"
 [ -f .config ] || make defconfig
 scripts/config --file .config \