diff --git a/modules/kernel.nix b/modules/kernel.nix
index f10e3d7..8455daf 100644
--- a/modules/kernel.nix
+++ b/modules/kernel.nix
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ in {
   options = {
     kernel = {
       src = mkOption { type = types.path; } ;
+      version = mkOption { type = types.str; default = "5.15.137";} ;
       modular = mkOption {
         type = types.bool;
         default = true;
@@ -79,7 +80,8 @@ in {
           config.kernel.conditionalConfig;
         k = liminix.builders.kernel.override {
           config = mergedConfig;
-          inherit (config.kernel) src extraPatchPhase;
+          version = builtins.trace config.kernel.version config.kernel.version;
+          inherit (config.kernel)  src extraPatchPhase;
           targets = config.kernel.makeTargets;
         };
       in {
diff --git a/pkgs/kernel/default.nix b/pkgs/kernel/default.nix
index 8ff2522..0a1b065 100644
--- a/pkgs/kernel/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/kernel/default.nix
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
  , config
  , src
+ , version ? "0"
  , extraPatchPhase ? "echo"
  , targets ? ["vmlinux"]
 } :
@@ -51,9 +52,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   patches = [
     ./cmdline-cookie.patch
-    ./phram-allow-cached-mappings.patch
     ./mips-malta-fdt-from-bootloader.patch
-  ];
+  ] ++ lib.optional (lib.versionOlder version "5.18.0")
+    ./phram-allow-cached-mappings.patch;
 
   # this is here to work around what I think is a bug in nixpkgs
   # packaging of ncurses: it installs pkg-config data files which