diff --git a/Makefile.rhelver b/Makefile.rhelver
index 9e42da42f..c9670fb00 100644
--- a/Makefile.rhelver
+++ b/Makefile.rhelver
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ RHEL_MINOR = 99
 #
 # Use this spot to avoid future merge conflicts.
 # Do not trim this comment.
-RHEL_RELEASE = 22
+RHEL_RELEASE = 23
 
 #
 # RHEL_REBASE_NUM
diff --git a/kernel.spec b/kernel.spec
index c7f9f328c..6f416cd4c 100644
--- a/kernel.spec
+++ b/kernel.spec
@@ -163,13 +163,13 @@ Summary: The Linux kernel
 %define specrpmversion 6.6.0
 %define specversion 6.6.0
 %define patchversion 6.6
-%define pkgrelease 0.rc2.20230921git42dc814987c1.22
+%define pkgrelease 0.rc2.20230922git27bbf45eae9c.23
 %define kversion 6
-%define tarfile_release 6.6-rc2-48-g42dc814987c1
+%define tarfile_release 6.6-rc2-244-g27bbf45eae9c
 # This is needed to do merge window version magic
 %define patchlevel 6
 # This allows pkg_release to have configurable %%{?dist} tag
-%define specrelease 0.rc2.20230921git42dc814987c1.22%{?buildid}%{?dist}
+%define specrelease 0.rc2.20230922git27bbf45eae9c.23%{?buildid}%{?dist}
 # This defines the kabi tarball version
 %define kabiversion 6.6.0
 
@@ -193,6 +193,8 @@ Summary: The Linux kernel
 #
 # standard kernel
 %define with_up        %{?_without_up:        0} %{?!_without_up:        1}
+# build the base variants
+%define with_base      %{?_without_base:      0} %{?!_without_base:      1}
 # build also debug variants
 %define with_debug     %{?_without_debug:     0} %{?!_without_debug:     1}
 # kernel-zfcpdump (s390 specific kernel for zfcpdump)
@@ -205,7 +207,7 @@ Summary: The Linux kernel
 %define with_realtime  %{?_with_realtime:     1} %{?!_with_realtime:     0}
 
 # Supported variants
-#            (base)    with_debug    with_gcov
+#            with_base with_debug    with_gcov
 # up         X         X             X
 # zfcpdump   X                       X
 # arm64_16k  X         X             X
@@ -399,6 +401,7 @@ Summary: The Linux kernel
 
 # if requested, only build debug kernel
 %if %{with_dbgonly}
+%define with_base 0
 %define with_vdso_install 0
 %define with_perf 0
 %define with_tools 0
@@ -606,22 +609,22 @@ Summary: The Linux kernel
 %endif
 
 # short-hand for "are we building base/non-debug variants of ...?"
-%if %{with_up} && !%{with_dbgonly}
+%if %{with_up} && %{with_base}
 %define with_up_base 1
 %else
 %define with_up_base 0
 %endif
-%if %{with_realtime} && !%{with_dbgonly}
+%if %{with_realtime} && %{with_base}
 %define with_realtime_base 1
 %else
 %define with_realtime_base 0
 %endif
-%if %{with_arm64_16k} && !%{with_dbgonly}
+%if %{with_arm64_16k} && %{with_base}
 %define with_arm64_16k_base 1
 %else
 %define with_arm64_16k_base 0
 %endif
-%if %{with_arm64_64k} && !%{with_dbgonly}
+%if %{with_arm64_64k} && %{with_base}
 %define with_arm64_64k_base 1
 %else
 %define with_arm64_64k_base 0
@@ -3694,6 +3697,11 @@ fi\
 #
 #
 %changelog
+* Fri Sep 22 2023 Fedora Kernel Team <kernel-team@fedoraproject.org> [6.6.0-0.rc2.27bbf45eae9c.23]
+- gitlab-ci: use --with debug/base to select kernel variants (Michael Hofmann)
+- kernel.spec: add rpmbuild --without base option (Michael Hofmann)
+- Linux v6.6.0-0.rc2.27bbf45eae9c
+
 * Thu Sep 21 2023 Fedora Kernel Team <kernel-team@fedoraproject.org> [6.6.0-0.rc2.42dc814987c1.22]
 - redhat: spec: Fix typo for kernel_variant_preun for 16k-debug flavor (Neal Gompa)
 - Linux v6.6.0-0.rc2.42dc814987c1
diff --git a/sources b/sources
index 3c00f1c1a..8190af9a5 100644
--- a/sources
+++ b/sources
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-SHA512 (linux-6.6-rc2-48-g42dc814987c1.tar.xz) = 743976319e905ca0552211c602acfd32f2864384aefd469ada5ad02aa99b9d0883cfe32edf69eb4ee6da15a81b500b81920d1b079ad5b3057011fb7f4ae83a08
-SHA512 (kernel-abi-stablelists-6.6.0.tar.bz2) = 58a013941a0b95449ebb8f6cca2484a7d1e84b08707988773d422ff9bad2e603c0502e651f088d43909b1131be080c1ee975a55d70134b3ccb9be31ca80c840c
-SHA512 (kernel-kabi-dw-6.6.0.tar.bz2) = fb0b2541938e4f4034ef5324a66b2e9e7aea9a3d72ad07ca041965c504140757be1057d259914d548180d21794ec24ba189d5dcc5f5be34244ec66ef1056c4e9
+SHA512 (linux-6.6-rc2-244-g27bbf45eae9c.tar.xz) = b4ae0825ed8c72f186aa03d5bc82a844f1a8471ed55b356dfec76df1bba4a35202cf936c2e6ec0385e0d398cd1d24c1beeda2e9299f5e65386befbe23db7a13c
+SHA512 (kernel-abi-stablelists-6.6.0.tar.bz2) = 8460d5cfdc9c9386a3537b57ce8d969c89af68fa5712b66b904d22809932ca4c20f0c7320044d7c6c1e7fafe6a7fd7d154d79c60c4e1db0d0e5a63deef065aa6
+SHA512 (kernel-kabi-dw-6.6.0.tar.bz2) = 33f1a01e50055f0225013e3cf46ba5e766d661e3357adf7cbffdbbb874b116dc7328099e0910607af0b84ba5fb2cad0e56dc0e7e9c1063e1aa4770cae9234d37