diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index e481a2a2..2920fee0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -10,8 +10,12 @@ on:
         required: true
         type: string
         default: 'ALL'
-      spack-packages-ref:
-        description: 'spack-packages ref to use'
+      builtin-spack-packages-ref:
+        description: 'spack/spack-packages ref to use'
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      access-spack-packages-ref:
+        description: 'access-nri/access-spack-packages ref to use'
         required: true
         type: string
       spack-config-ref:
@@ -27,16 +31,15 @@ jobs:
     name: Setup CI
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     env:
-      # These defaults can be overridden by the inputs (if the trigger is a workflow_dispatch)
-      DEFAULT_SPACK_REF: 'releases/v1.1'
-      DEFAULT_SPACK_CONFIG_REF: 'main'
-      DEFAULT_SPACK_PACKAGES_REF: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
+      # Note, this needs to be updated in line with refs in the ci job below
+      BUILD_CI_WORKFLOW_VERSION: v3
       PACKAGES_ROOT_DIR: spack_repo/access/nri/packages
     outputs:
       matrix: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
-      spack-packages-ref: ${{ steps.set-refs.outputs.spack-packages-ref }}
-      spack-config-ref: ${{ steps.set-refs.outputs.spack-config-ref }}
-      spack-ref: ${{ steps.set-refs.outputs.spack-ref }}
+      builtin-spack-packages-ref: ${{ inputs.builtin-spack-packages-ref }}
+      access-spack-packages-ref: ${{ inputs.access-spack-packages-ref || github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
+      spack-config-ref: ${{ inputs.spack-config-ref || steps.defaults.outputs.spack-config-ref }}
+      spack-ref: ${{ inputs.spack-ref || steps.defaults.outputs.spack-ref }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout spack-packages
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -120,12 +123,26 @@ jobs:
           # Remove the trailing comma and wrap in square brackets
           echo "matrix=[${json_entries%,}]" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-      - name: Set refs
-        id: set-refs
+      - name: Checkout build-ci
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: access-nri/build-ci
+          ref: ${{ env.BUILD_CI_WORKFLOW_VERSION }}
+
+      - name: Get default refs from build-ci workflow
+        id: defaults
+        # GitHub does not treat empty-string inputs as eligible for substitution with a default
+        # Since we are supporting both workflow_dispatch and pull_request triggers, the entrypoint inputs need to be filled in
+        # So we are getting the default values from the workflow file itself, and passing them back into the workflow
+        # builtin-spack-packages-ref does not need this as the input handles the empty string default.
         run: |
-          echo "spack-packages-ref=${{  inputs.spack-packages-ref || env.DEFAULT_SPACK_PACKAGES_REF }}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          echo "spack-config-ref=${{ inputs.spack-config-ref || env.DEFAULT_SPACK_CONFIG_REF }}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          echo "spack-ref=${{ inputs.spack-ref || env.DEFAULT_SPACK_REF }}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          default_spack_ref=$(yq '.on.workflow_call.inputs."spack-ref".default' .github/workflows/ci.yml)
+          default_spack_config_ref=$(yq '.on.workflow_call.inputs."spack-config-ref".default' .github/workflows/ci.yml)
+
+          echo "Default refs from ${{ env.BUILD_CI_WORKFLOW_VERSION }}: spack-ref=$default_spack_ref, spack-config=$default_spack_config_ref"
+
+          echo "spack-ref=$default_spack_ref" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "spack-config-ref=$default_spack_config_ref" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
   ci:
     name: CI
@@ -156,10 +173,10 @@ jobs:
       spack-manifest-data-path: .github/build-ci/data/standard_definitions.json
       spack-manifest-data-pairs: |-
         package ${{ matrix.package.template_value }}
-      builtin-spack-packages-ref: 39aeb9dbcc13b6a53e40c77b672c397e1f4c93ec # fix intel_oneapi_compilers_classic@:2021.10 (#2176)
-      access-spack-packages-ref: ${{ needs.setup-ci.outputs.spack-packages-ref }}
+      builtin-spack-packages-ref: ${{ needs.setup-ci.outputs.builtin-spack-packages-ref }}
+      access-spack-packages-ref: ${{ needs.setup-ci.outputs.access-spack-packages-ref }}
       spack-config-ref: ${{ needs.setup-ci.outputs.spack-config-ref }}
       spack-ref: ${{ needs.setup-ci.outputs.spack-ref }}
-      container-image-version: :rocky-v1.1-2025.12.001
+      # container-image-version: :rocky
     secrets:
       spack-install-command-pat: ${{ secrets.SPACK_INSTALL_COMMAND_PAT }}