diff --git a/controllers/state_manager.go b/controllers/state_manager.go
index 29eef5cf2..dabe178ca 100644
--- a/controllers/state_manager.go
+++ b/controllers/state_manager.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/go-logr/logr"
@@ -662,42 +661,16 @@ func (n *ClusterPolicyController) getGPUNodeOSInfo() (string, string, error) {
 	if !ok {
 		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("unable to retrieve OS version from label %s", nfdOSVersionIDLabelKey)
 	}
-	osMajorVersion := strings.Split(osVersion, ".")[0]
-
-	// If the OS is RockyLinux or RHEL 10 & above, we will omit the minor version when constructing the os image tag
+	// If the OS is RockyLinux or RHEL, we will omit the minor version when constructing the os image tag
 	switch osName {
-	case "rocky":
-		osVersion = osMajorVersion
-	case "rhel":
-		osMajorNumber, err := parseOSMajorVersion(osVersion)
-		if err != nil {
-			return "", "", err
-		}
-		if osMajorNumber >= 10 {
-			osVersion = osMajorVersion
-		}
+	case "rocky", "rhel":
+		osVersion = strings.Split(osVersion, ".")[0]
 	}
 	osTag := fmt.Sprintf("%s%s", osName, osVersion)
 
 	return osName, osTag, nil
 }
 
-func parseOSMajorVersion(osVersion string) (int, error) {
-	osMajorVersion := strings.Split(osVersion, ".")[0]
-	osMajorVersion = strings.TrimSpace(osMajorVersion)
-	osMajorVersion = strings.TrimPrefix(strings.TrimPrefix(osMajorVersion, "v"), "V")
-	if osMajorVersion == "" {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf("empty OS major version")
-	}
-
-	osMajorNumber, err := strconv.Atoi(osMajorVersion)
-	if err != nil {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf("error processing OS major version %s: %w", osMajorVersion, err)
-	}
-
-	return osMajorNumber, nil
-}
-
 func (n *ClusterPolicyController) setPodSecurityLabelsForNamespace() error {
 	ctx := n.ctx
 	namespaceName := clusterPolicyCtrl.operatorNamespace
diff --git a/controllers/state_manager_test.go b/controllers/state_manager_test.go
index 6585de196..8f675f9e3 100644
--- a/controllers/state_manager_test.go
+++ b/controllers/state_manager_test.go
@@ -46,6 +46,18 @@ func TestGetGPUNodeOSInfo(t *testing.T) {
 			osVersion: "v1.12.6",
 			expected:  "talosv1.12.6",
 		},
+		{
+			name:      "rhel 9 omits minor version",
+			osName:    "rhel",
+			osVersion: "9.4",
+			expected:  "rhel9",
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "rhel 8 omits minor version",
+			osName:    "rhel",
+			osVersion: "8.10",
+			expected:  "rhel8",
+		},
 		{
 			name:      "rhel 10 omits minor version",
 			osName:    "rhel",
@@ -88,13 +100,6 @@ func TestGetGPUNodeOSInfo(t *testing.T) {
 			osVersion: "rolling",
 			expected:  "archlinuxrolling",
 		},
-		{
-			name:              "rhel invalid major version errors",
-			osName:            "rhel",
-			osVersion:         "A.10",
-			expectError:       true,
-			errorContainsText: "error processing OS major version",
-		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
diff --git a/deployments/gpu-operator/values.yaml b/deployments/gpu-operator/values.yaml
index f04b13b10..cf8788a45 100644
--- a/deployments/gpu-operator/values.yaml
+++ b/deployments/gpu-operator/values.yaml
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ driver:
   usePrecompiled: false
   repository: nvcr.io/nvidia
   image: driver
-  version: "595.58.03"
+  version: "595.71.05"
   imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
   imagePullSecrets: []
   startupProbe:
diff --git a/internal/state/nodepool.go b/internal/state/nodepool.go
index c9781cce0..5480a4f75 100644
--- a/internal/state/nodepool.go
+++ b/internal/state/nodepool.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"maps"
-	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
@@ -141,41 +140,13 @@ func getNodePools(ctx context.Context, k8sClient client.Client, selector map[str
 }
 
 func getOSTag(osRelease, osVersion string) (string, error) {
-	osMajorVersion := strings.Split(osVersion, ".")[0]
-
 	var osTagSuffix string
-	// If the OS is RockyLinux or RHEL 10 & above, we will omit the minor version when constructing the os image tag
+	// If the OS is RockyLinux or RHEL, we will omit the minor version when constructing the os image tag
 	switch osRelease {
-	case "rocky":
-		osTagSuffix = osMajorVersion
-	case "rhel":
-		osMajorNumber, err := parseOSMajorVersion(osVersion)
-		if err != nil {
-			return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to parse os version: %w", err)
-		}
-		if osMajorNumber >= 10 {
-			osTagSuffix = osMajorVersion
-		} else {
-			osTagSuffix = osVersion
-		}
+	case "rocky", "rhel":
+		osTagSuffix = strings.Split(osVersion, ".")[0]
 	default:
 		osTagSuffix = osVersion
 	}
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%s%s", osRelease, osTagSuffix), nil
 }
-
-func parseOSMajorVersion(osVersion string) (int, error) {
-	osMajorVersion := strings.Split(osVersion, ".")[0]
-	osMajorVersion = strings.TrimSpace(osMajorVersion)
-	osMajorVersion = strings.TrimPrefix(strings.TrimPrefix(osMajorVersion, "v"), "V")
-	if osMajorVersion == "" {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf("empty OS major version")
-	}
-
-	osMajorNumber, err := strconv.Atoi(osMajorVersion)
-	if err != nil {
-		return 0, err
-	}
-
-	return osMajorNumber, nil
-}
diff --git a/internal/state/nodepool_test.go b/internal/state/nodepool_test.go
index 6d175d7d2..d47b3356d 100644
--- a/internal/state/nodepool_test.go
+++ b/internal/state/nodepool_test.go
@@ -35,7 +35,14 @@ func TestGetOSTag(t *testing.T) {
 			description: "valid os release & version",
 			osRelease:   "rhel",
 			osVersion:   "9.4",
-			expected:    "rhel9.4",
+			expected:    "rhel9",
+			expectError: false,
+		},
+		{
+			description: "valid os release & version - rhel8",
+			osRelease:   "rhel",
+			osVersion:   "8.10",
+			expected:    "rhel8",
 			expectError: false,
 		},
 		{
@@ -73,13 +80,6 @@ func TestGetOSTag(t *testing.T) {
 			expected:    "archlinuxrolling",
 			expectError: false,
 		},
-		{
-			description:  "invalid os version",
-			osRelease:    "rhel",
-			osVersion:    "A.10",
-			expectError:  true,
-			errorMessage: "failed to parse os version: strconv.Atoi: parsing \"A\": invalid syntax",
-		},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {