diff --git a/ansible/roles/firstboot/files/ansible_payload/upgrade/roles/decommission/tasks/k3s.yml b/ansible/roles/firstboot/files/ansible_payload/upgrade/roles/decommission/tasks/k3s.yml
index 63b915a..8431e6b 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/firstboot/files/ansible_payload/upgrade/roles/decommission/tasks/k3s.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/firstboot/files/ansible_payload/upgrade/roles/decommission/tasks/k3s.yml
@@ -5,15 +5,26 @@
     kubeconfig: "{{ kubeconfig.path }}"
 
 - name: Drain node
-  kubernetes.core.k8s_drain:
-    name: "{{ decom_nodename }}"
-    state: drain
-    delete_options:
-      ignore_daemonsets: true
-      delete_emptydir_data: true
-      wait_sleep: 10
-      wait_timeout: 0
-    kubeconfig: "{{ kubeconfig.path }}"
+# Currently does not work; returns with error "Failed to delete pod [...] due to: Too Many Requests"
+# See also: https://github.com/ansible-collections/kubernetes.core/issues/474
+#   kubernetes.core.k8s_drain:
+#     name: "{{ decom_nodename }}"
+#     state: drain
+#     delete_options:
+#       ignore_daemonsets: true
+#       delete_emptydir_data: true
+#     kubeconfig: "{{ kubeconfig.path }}"
+  ansible.builtin.shell:
+    cmd: >-
+      kubectl drain {{ decom_nodename }} \
+        --delete-emptydir-data \
+        --ignore-daemonsets
+  register: nodedrain_results
+  until:
+    - nodedrain_results is not failed
+    - (nodedrain_results.stdout_lines | last) is match('node/.* drained')
+  retries: "{{ playbook.retries }}"
+  delay: "{{ playbook.delay.short }}"
 
 - name: Delete node
   kubernetes.core.k8s:
diff --git a/ansible/roles/firstboot/files/ansible_payload/upgrade/roles/decommission/tasks/virtualmachine.yml b/ansible/roles/firstboot/files/ansible_payload/upgrade/roles/decommission/tasks/virtualmachine.yml
index 18de58e..2c13375 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/firstboot/files/ansible_payload/upgrade/roles/decommission/tasks/virtualmachine.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/firstboot/files/ansible_payload/upgrade/roles/decommission/tasks/virtualmachine.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
         name: "{{ virtualmachine_details.instance.hw_name }}"
         folder: "{{ virtualmachine_details.instance.hw_folder }}"
         state: poweredoff
-        # state_change_timeout: "{{ playbook.delay.long }}"
 
     # - name: Delete VM
     #   community.vmware.vmware_guest:
diff --git a/packer/build.pkr.hcl b/packer/build.pkr.hcl
index f754fd3..eabf66a 100644
--- a/packer/build.pkr.hcl
+++ b/packer/build.pkr.hcl
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ build {
   }
 
   provisioner "ansible" {
-    pause_before     = "2m30s"
+    pause_before     = "45s"
 
     playbook_file    = "ansible/playbook.yml"
     user             = "ubuntu"