diff --git a/pkg/api/handlers/compat/images_build.go b/pkg/api/handlers/compat/images_build.go
index 64805b7fa4..2c98a5361e 100644
--- a/pkg/api/handlers/compat/images_build.go
+++ b/pkg/api/handlers/compat/images_build.go
@@ -393,16 +393,16 @@ func BuildImage(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	defer auth.RemoveAuthfile(authfile)
 
 	// Channels all mux'ed in select{} below to follow API build protocol
-	stdout := channel.NewWriter(make(chan []byte, 1))
+	stdout := channel.NewWriter(make(chan []byte))
 	defer stdout.Close()
 
-	auxout := channel.NewWriter(make(chan []byte, 1))
+	auxout := channel.NewWriter(make(chan []byte))
 	defer auxout.Close()
 
-	stderr := channel.NewWriter(make(chan []byte, 1))
+	stderr := channel.NewWriter(make(chan []byte))
 	defer stderr.Close()
 
-	reporter := channel.NewWriter(make(chan []byte, 1))
+	reporter := channel.NewWriter(make(chan []byte))
 	defer reporter.Close()
 
 	runtime := r.Context().Value("runtime").(*libpod.Runtime)
@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@ func BuildImage(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 
 	enc := json.NewEncoder(body)
 	enc.SetEscapeHTML(true)
-loop:
+
 	for {
 		m := struct {
 			Stream string `json:"stream,omitempty"`
@@ -543,13 +543,13 @@ loop:
 				stderr.Write([]byte(err.Error()))
 			}
 			flush()
-		case e := <-auxout.Chan():
+		case e := <-reporter.Chan():
 			m.Stream = string(e)
 			if err := enc.Encode(m); err != nil {
 				stderr.Write([]byte(err.Error()))
 			}
 			flush()
-		case e := <-reporter.Chan():
+		case e := <-auxout.Chan():
 			m.Stream = string(e)
 			if err := enc.Encode(m); err != nil {
 				stderr.Write([]byte(err.Error()))
@@ -561,8 +561,8 @@ loop:
 				logrus.Warnf("Failed to json encode error %v", err)
 			}
 			flush()
+			return
 		case <-runCtx.Done():
-			flush()
 			if success {
 				if !utils.IsLibpodRequest(r) {
 					m.Stream = fmt.Sprintf("Successfully built %12.12s\n", imageID)
@@ -579,7 +579,8 @@ loop:
 					}
 				}
 			}
-			break loop
+			flush()
+			return
 		case <-r.Context().Done():
 			cancel()
 			logrus.Infof("Client disconnect reported for build %q / %q.", registry, query.Dockerfile)
diff --git a/pkg/bindings/connection.go b/pkg/bindings/connection.go
index fd93c5ac7e..62b1655acf 100644
--- a/pkg/bindings/connection.go
+++ b/pkg/bindings/connection.go
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ func (c *Connection) DoRequest(httpBody io.Reader, httpMethod, endpoint string,
 	uri := fmt.Sprintf("http://d/v%d.%d.%d/libpod"+endpoint, params...)
 	logrus.Debugf("DoRequest Method: %s URI: %v", httpMethod, uri)
 
-	req, err := http.NewRequest(httpMethod, uri, httpBody)
+	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(context.WithValue(context.Background(), clientKey, c), httpMethod, uri, httpBody)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -337,7 +337,6 @@ func (c *Connection) DoRequest(httpBody io.Reader, httpMethod, endpoint string,
 	for key, val := range header {
 		req.Header.Set(key, val)
 	}
-	req = req.WithContext(context.WithValue(context.Background(), clientKey, c))
 	// Give the Do three chances in the case of a comm/service hiccup
 	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
 		response, err = c.Client.Do(req) // nolint
diff --git a/pkg/bindings/images/build.go b/pkg/bindings/images/build.go
index 142204f277..a35f461a77 100644
--- a/pkg/bindings/images/build.go
+++ b/pkg/bindings/images/build.go
@@ -391,42 +391,50 @@ func Build(ctx context.Context, containerFiles []string, options entities.BuildO
 	dec := json.NewDecoder(body)
 
 	var id string
-	var mErr error
 	for {
 		var s struct {
 			Stream string `json:"stream,omitempty"`
 			Error  string `json:"error,omitempty"`
 		}
-		if err := dec.Decode(&s); err != nil {
-			if errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
-				if mErr == nil && id == "" {
-					mErr = errors.New("stream dropped, unexpected failure")
-				}
-				break
-			}
-			s.Error = err.Error() + "\n"
-		}
 
 		select {
+		// FIXME(vrothberg): it seems we always hit the EOF case below,
+		// even when the server quit but it seems desirable to
+		// distinguish a proper build from a transient EOF.
 		case <-response.Request.Context().Done():
-			return &entities.BuildReport{ID: id}, mErr
+			return &entities.BuildReport{ID: id}, nil
 		default:
 			// non-blocking select
 		}
 
+		if err := dec.Decode(&s); err != nil {
+			if errors.Is(err, io.ErrUnexpectedEOF) {
+				return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "server probably quit")
+			}
+			// EOF means the stream is over in which case we need
+			// to have read the id.
+			if errors.Is(err, io.EOF) && id != "" {
+				break
+			}
+			return &entities.BuildReport{ID: id}, errors.Wrap(err, "decoding stream")
+		}
+
 		switch {
 		case s.Stream != "":
-			stdout.Write([]byte(s.Stream))
-			if iidRegex.Match([]byte(s.Stream)) {
+			raw := []byte(s.Stream)
+			stdout.Write(raw)
+			if iidRegex.Match(raw) {
 				id = strings.TrimSuffix(s.Stream, "\n")
 			}
 		case s.Error != "":
-			mErr = errors.New(s.Error)
+			// If there's an error, return directly.  The stream
+			// will be closed on return.
+			return &entities.BuildReport{ID: id}, errors.New(s.Error)
 		default:
 			return &entities.BuildReport{ID: id}, errors.New("failed to parse build results stream, unexpected input")
 		}
 	}
-	return &entities.BuildReport{ID: id}, mErr
+	return &entities.BuildReport{ID: id}, nil
 }
 
 func nTar(excludes []string, sources ...string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/domain/infra/runtime_abi.go b/pkg/domain/infra/runtime_abi.go
index ca201b5aed..177e9cff40 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/infra/runtime_abi.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/infra/runtime_abi.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ func NewImageEngine(facts *entities.PodmanConfig) (entities.ImageEngine, error)
 		r, err := NewLibpodImageRuntime(facts.FlagSet, facts)
 		return r, err
 	case entities.TunnelMode:
+		// TODO: look at me!
 		ctx, err := bindings.NewConnectionWithIdentity(context.Background(), facts.URI, facts.Identity)
 		return &tunnel.ImageEngine{ClientCtx: ctx}, err
 	}
diff --git a/test/system/070-build.bats b/test/system/070-build.bats
index 7b76c585f9..26113e45c7 100644
--- a/test/system/070-build.bats
+++ b/test/system/070-build.bats
@@ -749,16 +749,9 @@ RUN echo $random_string
 EOF
 
     run_podman 125 build -t build_test --pull-never $tmpdir
-    # FIXME: this is just ridiculous. Even after #10030 and #10034, Ubuntu
-    # remote *STILL* flakes this test! It fails with the correct exit status,
-    # but the error output is 'Error: stream dropped, unexpected failure'
-    # Let's just stop checking on podman-remote. As long as it exits 125,
-    # we're happy.
-    if ! is_remote; then
-        is "$output" \
-           ".*Error: error creating build container: quay.io/libpod/nosuchimage:nosuchtag: image not known" \
-           "--pull-never fails with expected error message"
-    fi
+    is "$output" \
+       ".*Error: error creating build container: quay.io/libpod/nosuchimage:nosuchtag: image not known" \
+       "--pull-never fails with expected error message"
 }
 
 @test "podman build --logfile test" {