diff --git a/BUILD.bazel b/BUILD.bazel
index 07ca453610c9..5df071cea56e 100644
--- a/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/BUILD.bazel
@@ -144,14 +144,30 @@ filegroup(
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
 )
 
+# Temp target to fork form build.config.gki.aarch64 which may potentially be
+# used elsewhere.
+# TODO(b/236012223): Delete this once we have build-config-less builds for GKI.
+write_file(
+    name = "build.config.gki.aarch64_generated",
+    out = "build.config.gki.aarch64.generated",
+    content = [
+        ". ${ROOT_DIR}/${KERNEL_DIR}/build.config.common",
+        ". ${ROOT_DIR}/${KERNEL_DIR}/build.config.aarch64",
+        "",  # keep new line at the end
+    ],
+    visibility = ["//visibility:private"],
+)
+
 common_kernel(
     name = "kernel_aarch64",
     outs = DEFAULT_GKI_OUTS,
     arch = "arm64",
-    build_config = "build.config.gki.aarch64",
+    build_config = ":build.config.gki.aarch64_generated",
     build_gki_artifacts = True,
+    check_defconfig_minimized = True,
     ddk_headers_archive = ":kernel_aarch64_ddk_headers_archive",
     ddk_module_headers = [":all_headers_aarch64"],
+    defconfig = "arch/arm64/configs/gki_defconfig",
     extra_dist = [
         ":test_mappings_zip",
         ":tests_zip_arm64",
@@ -180,10 +196,12 @@ common_kernel(
     name = "kernel_aarch64_16k",
     outs = DEFAULT_GKI_OUTS,
     arch = "arm64",
-    build_config = "build.config.gki.aarch64",
+    build_config = ":build.config.gki.aarch64_generated",
     build_gki_artifacts = True,
+    check_defconfig_minimized = True,
     ddk_headers_archive = ":kernel_aarch64_ddk_headers_archive",
     ddk_module_headers = [":all_headers_aarch64"],
+    defconfig = "arch/arm64/configs/gki_defconfig",
     extra_dist = [
         ":test_mappings_zip",
         ":tests_zip_arm64",
@@ -210,9 +228,11 @@ common_kernel(
     name = "kernel_aarch64_interceptor",
     outs = DEFAULT_GKI_OUTS,
     arch = "arm64",
-    build_config = "build.config.gki.aarch64",
+    build_config = ":build.config.gki.aarch64_generated",
+    check_defconfig_minimized = True,
     ddk_headers_archive = ":kernel_aarch64_ddk_headers_archive",
     ddk_module_headers = [":all_headers_aarch64"],
+    defconfig = "arch/arm64/configs/gki_defconfig",
     enable_interceptor = True,
     extra_dist = [
         ":test_mappings_zip",
@@ -225,6 +245,20 @@ common_kernel(
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
 )
 
+# Temp target to fork form build.config.gki.x86_64 which may potentially be
+# used elsewhere.
+# TODO(b/236012223): Delete this once we have build-config-less builds for GKI.
+write_file(
+    name = "build.config.gki.x86_64_generated",
+    out = "build.config.gki.x86_64.generated",
+    content = [
+        ". ${ROOT_DIR}/${KERNEL_DIR}/build.config.common",
+        ". ${ROOT_DIR}/${KERNEL_DIR}/build.config.x86_64",
+        "",  # keep new line at the end
+    ],
+    visibility = ["//visibility:private"],
+)
+
 fail_rule(
     name = "kernel_x86_64_debug",
     message = """\
@@ -238,9 +272,11 @@ common_kernel(
     name = "kernel_x86_64",
     outs = X86_64_OUTS,
     arch = "x86_64",
-    build_config = "build.config.gki.x86_64",
+    build_config = "build.config.gki.x86_64_generated",
     build_gki_artifacts = True,
+    check_defconfig_minimized = True,
     ddk_module_headers = [":all_headers_x86_64"],
+    defconfig = "arch/x86/configs/gki_defconfig",
     extra_dist = [
         ":test_mappings_zip",
         ":tests_zip_x86_64",
diff --git a/build.config.gki b/build.config.gki
index 4b931d9eb333..1ab17536a63c 100644
--- a/build.config.gki
+++ b/build.config.gki
@@ -1,2 +1,5 @@
+echo "WARNING: Do not source build.config.gki.
+    Use kernel_build.defconfig and kernel_build.check_defconfig instead." >&2
+
 DEFCONFIG=gki_defconfig
 POST_DEFCONFIG_CMDS="check_defconfig"
diff --git a/build.config.gki.aarch64 b/build.config.gki.aarch64
index 3069101736a6..6ed2a4d0aaa3 100644
--- a/build.config.gki.aarch64
+++ b/build.config.gki.aarch64
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+# Note: This file is no longer used by the GKI to build. The file is kept
+# here because of external usages.
+# TODO(b/236012223): Deprecate and remove this file once build-config-less
+#   builds are fully supported.
+
 . ${ROOT_DIR}/${KERNEL_DIR}/build.config.common
 . ${ROOT_DIR}/${KERNEL_DIR}/build.config.aarch64
 . ${ROOT_DIR}/${KERNEL_DIR}/build.config.gki
diff --git a/build.config.gki.x86_64 b/build.config.gki.x86_64
index d679a20eff43..1098aa19c857 100644
--- a/build.config.gki.x86_64
+++ b/build.config.gki.x86_64
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+# Note: This file is no longer used by the GKI to build. The file is kept
+# here because of external usages.
+# TODO(b/236012223): Deprecate and remove this file once build-config-less
+#   builds are fully supported.
+
 . ${ROOT_DIR}/${KERNEL_DIR}/build.config.common
 . ${ROOT_DIR}/${KERNEL_DIR}/build.config.x86_64
 . ${ROOT_DIR}/${KERNEL_DIR}/build.config.gki