diff --git a/mock-core-configs/etc/mock/templates/rhel-8.tpl b/mock-core-configs/etc/mock/templates/rhel-8.tpl
index 29b1f5b71..c8716c52d 100644
--- a/mock-core-configs/etc/mock/templates/rhel-8.tpl
+++ b/mock-core-configs/etc/mock/templates/rhel-8.tpl
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ config_opts['extra_chroot_dirs'] = [ '/run/lock', ]
 config_opts['releasever'] = '8'
 config_opts['package_manager'] = 'dnf'
 config_opts['bootstrap_image'] = 'registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/ubi'
+config_opts['bootstrap_image_ready'] = True
 config_opts['description'] = 'RHEL 8'
 
 config_opts['dnf_install_command'] += ' subscription-manager'
diff --git a/mock-core-configs/etc/mock/templates/rhel-9.tpl b/mock-core-configs/etc/mock/templates/rhel-9.tpl
index b6d511ea3..04e391b69 100644
--- a/mock-core-configs/etc/mock/templates/rhel-9.tpl
+++ b/mock-core-configs/etc/mock/templates/rhel-9.tpl
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ config_opts['dist'] = 'el{{ releasever }}'  # only useful for --resultdir variab
 config_opts['extra_chroot_dirs'] = [ '/run/lock', ]
 config_opts['package_manager'] = 'dnf'
 config_opts['bootstrap_image'] = 'registry.access.redhat.com/ubi{{ releasever }}/ubi'
+config_opts['bootstrap_image_ready'] = True
 config_opts['description'] = 'RHEL {{ releasever }}'
 
 config_opts['dnf_install_command'] += ' subscription-manager'
diff --git a/mock/docs/site-defaults.cfg b/mock/docs/site-defaults.cfg
index eab167c66..a981e1321 100644
--- a/mock/docs/site-defaults.cfg
+++ b/mock/docs/site-defaults.cfg
@@ -143,6 +143,21 @@
 #config_opts['use_bootstrap_image'] = False
 #config_opts['bootstrap_image'] = 'fedora:latest'
 
+# Mock in a nutshell needs to have the selected config_opts["package_manager"]
+# executable in bootstrap, and "builddep" command working.  That's why Mock
+# automatically installs appropriate packages (e.g. dnf5/dnf5-plugins, if
+# package_manager==dnf5).  If the config_opts["bootstrap_image"] though points
+# to a well-prepared image (no additional packages need to be installed), we
+# can set bootstrap_image_ready to True and Mock then avoids installing
+# packages into the bootstrap chroot.  The initial package manager operation is
+# very expensive (downloading metadata, initializing caches, ...) so setting
+# this to True significantly speeds the bootstrap-from-bootstrap_image
+# preparation.  This can also help work-around some preparation issues, see
+# https://github.com/rpm-software-management/mock/issues/1088
+# "bootstrap_module_setup_commands" and "bootstrap_chroot_additional_packages"
+# options invalidate the effect of this option.
+#config_opts['bootstrap_image_ready'] = False
+
 # anything you specify with 'bootstrap_*' will be copied to bootstrap config
 # e.g. config_opts['bootstrap_system_yum_command'] = '/usr/bin/yum-deprecated' will become
 # config_opts['system_yum_command'] = '/usr/bin/yum-deprecated' for bootstrap config
diff --git a/mock/py/mockbuild/buildroot.py b/mock/py/mockbuild/buildroot.py
index b1f2b1ba3..83047c271 100644
--- a/mock/py/mockbuild/buildroot.py
+++ b/mock/py/mockbuild/buildroot.py
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@
 from .podman import Podman
 
 
+# pylint: disable=too-many-lines
+
+
 def noop_in_bootstrap(f):
     # pylint: disable=inconsistent-return-statements
     def wrapper(self, *args, **kwargs):
@@ -420,6 +423,9 @@ def _init_pkg_management(self):
         # The desired package manager.
         pm = self.config['package_manager']
 
+        if self.bootstrap_image_is_ready:
+            return
+
         if self.is_bootstrap:
             update_state = f'installing {pm} tooling'
             cmd = self.config.get(f"{pm}_install_command")
@@ -941,6 +947,43 @@ def delete(self):
     def uses_bootstrap_image(self):
         return self.is_bootstrap and self.use_bootstrap_image
 
+    @property
+    def bootstrap_image_is_ready(self):
+        """
+        True if bootstrap image is in use, bootstrap_image_ready==True, and no
+        config_opts field is set that would invalidate the bootstrap
+        "readiness" state.
+        """
+        if not self.uses_bootstrap_image:
+            return False
+
+        # TODO(praiskup): Can we have heuristic for checking if extracted
+        # buildroot is ready?
+
+        # All the options checked here were copied from the corresponding
+        # `bootstrap_` prefixed config option.
+        if not self.config['image_ready']:
+            self.root_log.info("Bootstrap image not marked ready")
+            return False
+
+        # Per configuration, we think that image is ready-made (e.g. ubi8 images
+        # have the 'dnf builddep' command available by default).  But there
+        # still might be reasons to do some updates.
+        for check_option in [
+            "module_enable", "module_install", "module_setup_commands",
+            "chroot_additional_packages"
+        ]:
+            if self.config.get(check_option):
+                self.root_log.info(
+                    f"Package management in bootstrap (from image) is going to "
+                    f"be updated because config_opts['{check_option}'] is set."
+                )
+                return False
+
+        self.root_log.info("Not updating bootstrap chroot, "
+                           "bootstrap_image_ready=True")
+        return True
+
     @traceLog()
     def install_as_root(self, *deps):
         """ Becomes root user and calls self.install() """
diff --git a/mock/py/mockbuild/config.py b/mock/py/mockbuild/config.py
index 636a4d00e..349b0ec95 100644
--- a/mock/py/mockbuild/config.py
+++ b/mock/py/mockbuild/config.py
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ def setup_default_config_opts():
     config_opts['use_bootstrap'] = True
     config_opts['use_bootstrap_image'] = False
     config_opts['bootstrap_image'] = 'fedora:latest'
+    config_opts['bootstrap_image_ready'] = False
 
     config_opts['internal_dev_setup'] = True