diff --git a/meta/classes/buildchroot.bbclass b/meta/classes/buildchroot.bbclass
index e4a7a571..947529b0 100644
--- a/meta/classes/buildchroot.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes/buildchroot.bbclass
@@ -38,8 +38,9 @@ buildchroot_do_mounts() {
             mount --rbind /sys '${BUILDCHROOT_DIR}/sys'
         mount --make-rslave '${BUILDCHROOT_DIR}/sys'
 
-        # Mount base-apt if 'ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO' is set
-        if [ "${@repr(bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO')))}" = 'True' ]
+        # Mount base-apt if 'ISAR_PREFETCH_BASE_APT' or 'ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO' is set
+        if [ "${@repr(bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_PREFETCH_BASE_APT')))}" = 'True' ] || \
+           [ "${@repr(bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO')))}" = 'True' ]
         then
             mkdir -p '${BUILDCHROOT_DIR}/base-apt'
             mountpoint -q '${BUILDCHROOT_DIR}/base-apt' || \
diff --git a/meta/classes/rootfs.bbclass b/meta/classes/rootfs.bbclass
index 22449d71..cedde239 100644
--- a/meta/classes/rootfs.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes/rootfs.bbclass
@@ -54,8 +54,9 @@ rootfs_do_mounts() {
                 mount --bind '${REPO_ISAR_DIR}/${DISTRO}' '${ROOTFSDIR}/isar-apt'
         fi
 
-        # Mount base-apt if 'ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO' is set
-        if [ "${@repr(bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO')))}" = 'True' ]
+        # Mount base-apt if 'ISAR_PREFETCH_BASE_APT' or 'ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO' is set
+        if [ "${@repr(bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_PREFETCH_BASE_APT')))}" = 'True' ] || \
+           [ "${@repr(bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO')))}" = 'True' ]
         then
             mkdir -p '${ROOTFSDIR}/base-apt'
             mountpoint -q '${ROOTFSDIR}/base-apt' || \
diff --git a/meta/recipes-core/isar-bootstrap/isar-bootstrap.inc b/meta/recipes-core/isar-bootstrap/isar-bootstrap.inc
index b94ae0bd..0cfe82ab 100644
--- a/meta/recipes-core/isar-bootstrap/isar-bootstrap.inc
+++ b/meta/recipes-core/isar-bootstrap/isar-bootstrap.inc
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ python () {
     # installation afterwards. However, debootstrap will include the key into
     # the rootfs automatically thus the right place is distro_bootstrap_keys.
 
-    if bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO')):
+    if bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_PREFETCH_BASE_APT')) or \
+       bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO')) :
         own_pub_key = d.getVar("BASE_REPO_KEY")
         if own_pub_key:
             distro_bootstrap_keys += own_pub_key.split()
@@ -110,7 +111,8 @@ def parse_aptsources_list_line(source_list_line):
 def get_apt_source_mirror(d, aptsources_entry_list):
     import re
 
-    if bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO')):
+    if bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_PREFETCH_BASE_APT')) or \
+       bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO')) :
         premirrors = "\S* file://${REPO_BASE_DIR}/${BOOTSTRAP_BASE_DISTRO}\n"
     else:
         premirrors = d.getVar('DISTRO_APT_PREMIRRORS') or ""
@@ -286,7 +288,8 @@ do_bootstrap() {
     if [ -f "${DISTRO_BOOTSTRAP_KEYRING}" ]; then
         debootstrap_args="$debootstrap_args --keyring=${DISTRO_BOOTSTRAP_KEYRING}"
     fi
-    if [ "${ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO}" = "1" -a -z "${BASE_REPO_KEY}" ]; then
+    if [ "${ISAR_PREFETCH_BASE_APT}" = "1" -a -z "${BASE_REPO_KEY}" ] || \
+       [ "${ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO}" = "1" -a -z "${BASE_REPO_KEY}" ]; then
         debootstrap_args="$debootstrap_args --no-check-gpg"
     fi
     E="${@ isar_export_proxies(d)}"
@@ -313,7 +316,8 @@ do_bootstrap() {
         install -v -m644 "${APTPREFS}" \
                          "${ROOTFSDIR}/etc/apt/preferences.d/bootstrap"
         mkdir -p "${ROOTFSDIR}/etc/apt/sources.list.d"
-        if [ "${ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO}" = "1" ]; then
+        if [ "${ISAR_PREFETCH_BASE_APT}" = "1" ] || \
+           [ "${ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO}" = "1" ]; then
             line="file:///base-apt/${BOOTSTRAP_BASE_DISTRO} ${BASE_DISTRO_CODENAME} main"
             if [ -z "${BASE_REPO_KEY}" ]; then
                 line="[trusted=yes] ${line}"
diff --git a/meta/recipes-devtools/base-apt/base-apt.bb b/meta/recipes-devtools/base-apt/base-apt.bb
index ea885fe6..e62958d1 100644
--- a/meta/recipes-devtools/base-apt/base-apt.bb
+++ b/meta/recipes-devtools/base-apt/base-apt.bb
@@ -57,9 +57,12 @@ repo() {
         "${BASE_DISTRO_CODENAME}" \
         "${WORKDIR}/distributions.in" \
         "${KEYFILES}"
-    populate_base_apt "${BASE_DISTRO}"
-    repo_sanity_test "${REPO_BASE_DIR}"/"${BASE_DISTRO}" \
-        "${REPO_BASE_DB_DIR}"/"${BASE_DISTRO}"
+    if [ "${ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO}" = "1" ] && \
+       [ "${ISAR_PREFETCH_BASE_APT}" != "1" ]; then
+        populate_base_apt "${BASE_DISTRO}"
+        repo_sanity_test "${REPO_BASE_DIR}"/"${BASE_DISTRO}" \
+            "${REPO_BASE_DB_DIR}"/"${BASE_DISTRO}"
+    fi
 
     if [ '${BASE_DISTRO}' != '${HOST_BASE_DISTRO}' ]; then
         repo_create "${REPO_BASE_DIR}"/"${HOST_BASE_DISTRO}" \
@@ -67,14 +70,18 @@ repo() {
             "${BASE_DISTRO_CODENAME}" \
             "${WORKDIR}/distributions.in" \
             "${KEYFILES}"
-        populate_base_apt "${HOST_BASE_DISTRO}"
-        repo_sanity_test "${REPO_BASE_DIR}"/"${HOST_BASE_DISTRO}" \
-            "${REPO_BASE_DB_DIR}"/"${HOST_BASE_DISTRO}"
+        if [ "${ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO}" = "1" ] && \
+           [ "${ISAR_PREFETCH_BASE_APT}" != "1" ]; then
+            populate_base_apt "${HOST_BASE_DISTRO}"
+            repo_sanity_test "${REPO_BASE_DIR}"/"${HOST_BASE_DISTRO}" \
+                "${REPO_BASE_DB_DIR}"/"${HOST_BASE_DISTRO}"
+        fi
     fi
 }
 
 python do_cache() {
-    if not bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO')):
+    if not bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_PREFETCH_BASE_APT')) and \
+       not bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO')):
         return 0
 
     for key in d.getVar('BASE_REPO_KEY').split():
