diff --git a/cmd/release-controller-api/http.go b/cmd/release-controller-api/http.go
index 8135f5078..24e4188a5 100644
--- a/cmd/release-controller-api/http.go
+++ b/cmd/release-controller-api/http.go
@@ -705,7 +705,14 @@ func (c *Controller) apiReleaseInfo(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 			})
 		}
 
-		wg.Go(func() {
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			// Skip node image info for 4.18 and earlier: rpmdb collection requires
+			// pulling the entire rhel-coreos image for those releases.
+			if !releasecontroller.ReleaseTagHasCheapRpmdb(tagInfo.Tag) {
+				return
+			}
 			streams, err := c.releaseInfo.ListMachineOSStreams(tagInfo.TagPullSpec)
 			if err != nil {
 				nodeImageErr = newHTTPError(http.StatusInternalServerError, "listing machine-OS streams for %s: %w", tagInfo.Tag, err)
@@ -771,7 +778,7 @@ func (c *Controller) apiReleaseInfo(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 				result = append(result, e.APINodeImageStream)
 			}
 			nodeImageStreams = result
-		})
+		}()
 
 		wg.Wait()
 
diff --git a/cmd/release-controller-api/http_changelog.go b/cmd/release-controller-api/http_changelog.go
index b6f3d87ca..99d7cfc50 100644
--- a/cmd/release-controller-api/http_changelog.go
+++ b/cmd/release-controller-api/http_changelog.go
@@ -88,6 +88,13 @@ func (c *Controller) getChangeLog(ctx context.Context, ch chan renderResult, chN
 		return
 	}
 
+	// Skip node image info for 4.18 and earlier: rpmdb collection requires
+	// pulling the entire rhel-coreos image for those releases.
+	if !releasecontroller.ReleaseTagHasCheapRpmdb(toTag) {
+		chNodeInfo <- renderResult{}
+		return
+	}
+
 	toImagePullspec := toImage.GenerateDigestPullSpec()
 	fromImagePullspec := fromImage.GenerateDigestPullSpec()
 
@@ -200,6 +207,12 @@ func (c *Controller) renderChangeLog(w http.ResponseWriter, fromPull string, fro
 		return
 	}
 
+	// Skip node image info for 4.18 and earlier: rpmdb collection requires
+	// pulling the entire rhel-coreos image for those releases.
+	if !releasecontroller.ReleaseTagHasCheapRpmdb(toTag) {
+		return
+	}
+
 	fmt.Fprintf(w, "<h2 id=\"node-image-info\">Node Image Info</h2>")
 	fmt.Fprintf(w, `<p id="node_loading" class="alert alert-info">Loading node image info, this may take a while ...</p>`)
 	flusher.Flush()
diff --git a/pkg/release-controller/semver.go b/pkg/release-controller/semver.go
index 2a0a8588a..60ec0a5f7 100644
--- a/pkg/release-controller/semver.go
+++ b/pkg/release-controller/semver.go
@@ -174,3 +174,17 @@ func ReleaseTagIsDualRHCOS(toTag string) bool {
 	}
 	return v.Major == 4 && v.Minor >= 21
 }
+
+// ReleaseTagHasCheapRpmdb reports whether the target release tag supports
+// rpmdb collection without pulling the entire rhel-coreos image.
+// Releases 4.19 and later store the rpmdb separately; 4.18 and earlier
+// require pulling the full image, so Node Info is omitted for those releases.
+// If the tag cannot be parsed as a semver version, it is assumed to support
+// cheap rpmdb (i.e., nightly or CI tags are not gated).
+func ReleaseTagHasCheapRpmdb(toTag string) bool {
+	v, err := SemverParseTolerant(toTag)
+	if err != nil {
+		return true
+	}
+	return !(v.Major == 4 && v.Minor <= 18)
+}