diff --git a/base/voidlinux.sh b/base/voidlinux.sh
index 8f766f2..b669dc7 100755
--- a/base/voidlinux.sh
+++ b/base/voidlinux.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/sh
+# base OS tweaks.
+# the script assumes SYSUPDATES_CHANNEL env var is set to the desired changes
+# channel, whatever the update.sh accept which is typically "dev" or "master".
+
 # try to ensure sysupdates are running regularily before doing anoything else
 xbps-install -y snooze
 ln -sfT /etc/sv/snooze-hourly /var/service/snooze-hourly
@@ -11,7 +15,7 @@ if [ ! -f /etc/cron.hourly/sysupdate ]; then
         # run updates approx. every hour
         cat <<EOF > /etc/cron.hourly/sysupdate
 #!/bin/sh
-exec /ssd/sysupdates/update.sh
+exec /ssd/sysupdates/update.sh "$SYSUPDATES_CHANNEL"
 EOF
         chmod +x /etc/cron.hourly/sysupdate
     fi
diff --git a/update.sh b/update.sh
index 164853e..01d0a5d 100755
--- a/update.sh
+++ b/update.sh
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 # after user confirmation.
 
 # git branch to pull from. defaults to master.
+# another value is "dev", for a development aka unstable version.
 BRANCH="${1:-master}"
 # output everything to a temp file and print its contents only in case of an error,
 # so that when run via a cronjob, the output is empty on success which prevents
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
 fi
 
 # run repo's update script
+export SYSUPDATES_CHANNEL="$BRANCH"
 ./apply.sh >> $LOGFILE 2>&1
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
     echo "ERROR: apply failed"