diff --git a/pkg/rpm_pfg.bzl b/pkg/rpm_pfg.bzl
index 9f4adccc..53a86268 100644
--- a/pkg/rpm_pfg.bzl
+++ b/pkg/rpm_pfg.bzl
@@ -25,11 +25,6 @@ find_system_rpmbuild(name="rules_pkg_rpmbuild")
 ```
 """
 
-load(
-    "@rules_pkg//toolchains/rpm:rpmbuild_configure.bzl",
-    "DEBUGINFO_TYPE_FEDORA",
-    "DEBUGINFO_TYPE_NONE",
-)
 load(
     "//pkg:providers.bzl",
     "PackageDirsInfo",
@@ -39,6 +34,11 @@ load(
     "PackageVariablesInfo",
 )
 load("//pkg/private:util.bzl", "setup_output_files", "substitute_package_variables")
+load(
+    "//toolchains/rpm:rpmbuild_configure.bzl",
+    "DEBUGINFO_TYPE_FEDORA",
+    "DEBUGINFO_TYPE_NONE",
+)
 
 rpm_filetype = [".rpm"]
 
diff --git a/toolchains/rpm/rpmbuild_configure.bzl b/toolchains/rpm/rpmbuild_configure.bzl
index ffa45194..e11f94c4 100644
--- a/toolchains/rpm/rpmbuild_configure.bzl
+++ b/toolchains/rpm/rpmbuild_configure.bzl
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ def _parse_release_info(release_info):
 
     return os_name, os_version
 
+DEBUGINFO_TYPE_DEFAULT = "default"
+
+# The below are also defined in `pkg/make_rpm.py`
 DEBUGINFO_TYPE_NONE = "none"
 DEBUGINFO_TYPE_CENTOS = "centos"
 DEBUGINFO_TYPE_FEDORA = "fedora"
@@ -67,11 +70,25 @@ DEBUGINFO_TYPE_BY_OS_RELEASE = {
     "fedora": DEBUGINFO_TYPE_FEDORA,
 }
 
+DEBUGINFO_VALID_VALUES = [
+    DEBUGINFO_TYPE_FEDORA,
+    DEBUGINFO_TYPE_CENTOS,
+    DEBUGINFO_TYPE_NONE,
+    DEBUGINFO_TYPE_DEFAULT,
+]
+
 def _build_repo_for_rpmbuild_toolchain_impl(rctx):
-    debuginfo_type = DEBUGINFO_TYPE_NONE
-    if rctx.path(RELEASE_PATH).exists:
-        os_name, _ = _parse_release_info(rctx.read(RELEASE_PATH))
-        debuginfo_type = DEBUGINFO_TYPE_BY_OS_RELEASE.get(os_name, debuginfo_type)
+    if rctx.attr.debuginfo_type not in DEBUGINFO_VALID_VALUES:
+        fail("debuginfo_type must be one of", DEBUGINFO_VALID_VALUES)
+
+    debuginfo_type = rctx.attr.debuginfo_type
+    if debuginfo_type == DEBUGINFO_TYPE_DEFAULT:
+        rctx.watch(RELEASE_PATH)
+        if rctx.path(RELEASE_PATH).exists:
+            os_name, _ = _parse_release_info(rctx.read(RELEASE_PATH))
+            debuginfo_type = DEBUGINFO_TYPE_BY_OS_RELEASE.get(os_name, debuginfo_type)
+        else:
+            debuginfo_type = DEBUGINFO_TYPE_NONE
 
     rpmbuild_path = rctx.which("rpmbuild")
     if rctx.attr.verbose:
@@ -80,9 +97,6 @@ def _build_repo_for_rpmbuild_toolchain_impl(rctx):
         else:
             print("No system rpmbuild found.")  # buildifier: disable=print
 
-    if rctx.attr.debuginfo_type not in ["centos7", "fedora40", "none"]:
-        fail("debuginfo_type must be one of centos7, fedora40, or none")
-
     version = "unknown"
     if rpmbuild_path:
         res = rctx.execute([rpmbuild_path, "--version"])
@@ -112,9 +126,9 @@ build_repo_for_rpmbuild_toolchain = repository_rule(
             doc = """
             The underlying debuginfo configuration for the system rpmbuild.
 
-            One of `centos`, `fedora`, and `none`
+            One of `centos`, `fedora`, `none`, and `default` (which looks up `/etc/os-release`)
             """,
-            default = "none",
+            default = DEBUGINFO_TYPE_DEFAULT,
         ),
     },
 )