diff --git a/pmb/chroot/apk.py b/pmb/chroot/apk.py
index 5b2a27649710349525136b7b77039fac2499dd3c..521ae51889e5312f0a641e74712de1a59c6bc812 100644
--- a/pmb/chroot/apk.py
+++ b/pmb/chroot/apk.py
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ def install_run_apk(to_add: list[str], to_add_local: list[Path], to_del: list[st
     # FIXME: use /mnt/pmb… until MR 2351 is reverted (pmb#2388)
     user_repo = []
     for channel in pmb.config.pmaports.all_channels():
-        user_repo += ["--repository", Path("/mnt/pmbootstrap/packages") / channel]
+        user_repo += ["--repository", context.config.work / "packages" / channel]
 
     for i, command in enumerate(commands):
         # --no-interactive is a parameter to `add`, so it must be appended or apk
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ def install_run_apk(to_add: list[str], to_add_local: list[Path], to_del: list[st
         if context.offline:
             command = ["--no-network"] + command
         if i == 0:
-            pmb.helpers.apk.apk_with_progress(["apk"] + command, chroot)
+            pmb.helpers.apk.apk_with_progress(command, chroot)
         else:
             # Virtual package related commands don't actually install or remove
             # packages, but only mark the right ones as explicitly installed.
diff --git a/pmb/chroot/apk_static.py b/pmb/chroot/apk_static.py
index 6050be53d7a7d05688e5802a88c070539048aa88..651900a06af9add2b52eac29c907a640cd989383 100644
--- a/pmb/chroot/apk_static.py
+++ b/pmb/chroot/apk_static.py
@@ -182,4 +182,4 @@ def run(parameters):
 
     if get_context().offline:
         parameters = ["--no-network"] + parameters
-    pmb.helpers.apk.apk_with_progress([get_context().config.work / "apk.static"] + parameters)
+    pmb.helpers.apk.apk_with_progress(parameters)
diff --git a/pmb/helpers/apk.py b/pmb/helpers/apk.py
index 2908ee6d7499084c4ad9280fd3451c5cdcf4b05a..ace74e4325e0bbef3880727b0cd150b2463e2926 100644
--- a/pmb/helpers/apk.py
+++ b/pmb/helpers/apk.py
@@ -16,23 +16,7 @@ import pmb.parse.version
 from pmb.core.context import get_context
 
 
-def _run(command, chroot: Chroot | None, output="log"):
-    """Run a command.
-
-    :param command: command in list form
-    :param chroot: whether to run the command inside the chroot or on the host
-    :param suffix: chroot suffix. Only applies if the "chroot" parameter is
-                   set to True.
-
-    See pmb.helpers.run_core.core() for a detailed description of all other
-    arguments and the return value.
-    """
-    if chroot:
-        return pmb.chroot.root(command, output=output, chroot=chroot, disable_timeout=True)
-    return pmb.helpers.run.root(command, output=output)
-
-
-def _prepare_fifo(chroot: Chroot | None):
+def _prepare_fifo() -> Path:
     """Prepare the progress fifo for reading / writing.
 
     :param chroot: whether to run the command inside the chroot or on the host
@@ -43,17 +27,13 @@ def _prepare_fifo(chroot: Chroot | None):
               path of the fifo as needed by cat to read from it (always
               relative to the host)
     """
-    if chroot:
-        fifo = Path("tmp/apk_progress_fifo")
-        fifo_outside = chroot / fifo
-    else:
-        pmb.helpers.run.root(["mkdir", "-p", get_context().config.work / "tmp"])
-        fifo = fifo_outside = get_context().config.work / "tmp/apk_progress_fifo"
-    if os.path.exists(fifo_outside):
-        pmb.helpers.run.root(["rm", "-f", fifo_outside])
+    pmb.helpers.run.root(["mkdir", "-p", get_context().config.work / "tmp"])
+    fifo = get_context().config.work / "tmp/apk_progress_fifo"
+    if os.path.exists(fifo):
+        pmb.helpers.run.root(["rm", "-f", fifo])
 
-    _run(["mkfifo", fifo], chroot)
-    return (fifo, fifo_outside)
+    pmb.helpers.run.root(["mkfifo", fifo])
+    return fifo
 
 
 def _create_command_with_progress(command, fifo):
@@ -90,13 +70,12 @@ def apk_with_progress(command: Sequence[PathString], chroot: Chroot | None = Non
     """Run an apk subcommand while printing a progress bar to STDOUT.
 
     :param command: apk subcommand in list form
-    :param chroot: whether to run commands inside the chroot or on the host
-    :param suffix: chroot suffix. Only applies if the "chroot" parameter is
-                   set to True.
     :raises RuntimeError: when the apk command fails
     """
-    fifo, _ = _prepare_fifo(chroot)
-    _command: list[str] = []
+    fifo = _prepare_fifo()
+    _command: list[str] = [str(get_context().config.work / "apk.static")]
+    if chroot:
+        _command.extend(["--root", str(chroot.path), "--arch", str(chroot.arch)])
     for c in command:
         if isinstance(c, Arch):
             _command.append(str(c))
@@ -104,8 +83,8 @@ def apk_with_progress(command: Sequence[PathString], chroot: Chroot | None = Non
             _command.append(os.fspath(c))
     command_with_progress = _create_command_with_progress(_command, fifo)
     log_msg = " ".join(_command)
-    with _run(["cat", fifo], chroot, output="pipe") as p_cat:
-        with _run(command_with_progress, chroot, output="background") as p_apk:
+    with pmb.helpers.run.root(["cat", fifo], output="pipe") as p_cat:
+        with pmb.helpers.run.root(command_with_progress, output="background") as p_apk:
             while p_apk.poll() is None:
                 line = p_cat.stdout.readline().decode("utf-8")
                 progress = _compute_progress(line)