diff --git a/Taskfile.yml b/Taskfile.yml
index 6be6e2e..43310dd 100644
--- a/Taskfile.yml
+++ b/Taskfile.yml
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ vars:
   DEVDB_CONTAINER: spin-storage-devdb
   DEVDB_PORT: '{{.DEVDB_PORT | default "55432"}}'
   # The guest kernel, at the one path the lane reads. Put there by `task machine`.
-  GUEST_KERNEL: '{{.OUTPUT_DIR}}/guest/vmlinux'
+  GUEST_KERNEL: '{{.OUTPUT_DIR}}/kernel/vmlinux'
   # Target database for db:plan / db:apply — the local development database by
   # default. Point DB_* at a real one to plan or apply against it; the password
   # comes from the environment (PGPASSWORD), never from a var in this file.
diff --git a/hack/demo-lib.sh b/hack/demo-lib.sh
index 5922553..a99f6af 100755
--- a/hack/demo-lib.sh
+++ b/hack/demo-lib.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ OUT=$ROOT/_output
 QEMU=$OUT/bin/qemu-system-x86_64
 QEMU_TCG=$OUT/bin/qemu-system-x86_64-tcg
 QEMU_IMG=$OUT/bin/qemu-img
-KERNEL=$OUT/guest/vmlinux
+KERNEL=$OUT/kernel/vmlinux
 INITRAMFS=$OUT/guest/initramfs.cpio.gz
 CP=$OUT/bin/control-plane
 AGENT=$OUT/bin/volume-agent
diff --git a/hack/spin-machine b/hack/spin-machine
index 00b548c..07559fc 100755
--- a/hack/spin-machine
+++ b/hack/spin-machine
@@ -30,8 +30,12 @@ NAME="spin-machine-${VERSION}-linux-${ARCH}"
 # Both qemu-system binaries: the Agent runs on hosts with /dev/kvm and CI does not, and the
 # split between a binary that refuses to emulate and one that can is the whole reason there
 # are two. qemu-img because every qcow2 chain is created and inspected by running it — v6
-# forbids a parser of our own. The kernel goes to _output/guest/vmlinux, which is the one
-# path the guest lane reads.
+# forbids a parser of our own.
+#
+# Each of them at the path the release already gives it, so _output/ has the release's own
+# shape. What this repository builds for itself — the guest initramfs — keeps its own
+# directory, and the split is worth reading off a listing: bin/, kernel/ and qemu/ came
+# from a release, guest/ was built here.
 #
 # Not taken: the base image. Nothing here boots from it.
 place() {
@@ -48,12 +52,17 @@ place() {
     install -m "$([ -x "${src}" ] && echo 0755 || echo 0644)" "${src}" "${dest}"
   }
 
+  # Each file at the path the release already gives it. This used to rearrange
+  # them — the kernel to guest/, the firmware under share/spin-stack/ — which
+  # meant the same files had one layout in the release and another here, with a
+  # translation between the two that every reader had to know about. There is
+  # nothing to know now: what the tarball says is where it is.
   copy bin/qemu-system-x86_64     bin/qemu-system-x86_64
   copy bin/qemu-system-x86_64-tcg bin/qemu-system-x86_64-tcg
   copy bin/qemu-img               bin/qemu-img
-  copy kernel/vmlinux             guest/vmlinux
+  copy kernel/vmlinux             kernel/vmlinux
   for f in bios.bin bios-256k.bin pvh.bin kvmvapic.bin efi-virtio.rom; do
-    copy "qemu/${f}" "share/spin-stack/qemu/${f}"
+    copy "qemu/${f}" "qemu/${f}"
   done
 
   [ "${missing}" -eq 0 ] || {
@@ -69,20 +78,15 @@ place() {
 # left-hand function, so a copy that failed halfway reports success.
 have_sibling() {
   local out="${SIBLING}/_output"
-  [ -f "${out}/bin/qemu-system-x86_64" ] && [ -f "${out}/vmlinux" ]
+  [ -f "${out}/bin/qemu-system-x86_64" ] && [ -f "${out}/kernel/vmlinux" ]
 }
 
 from_sibling() {
-  local out="${SIBLING}/_output" staged
   echo "Using the machine built in ${SIBLING}"
-  staged="$(mktemp -d)"
-  trap 'rm -rf "${staged}"' RETURN
-  mkdir -p "${staged}/bin" "${staged}/kernel" "${staged}/qemu"
-  cp "${out}/bin/qemu-system-x86_64" "${out}/bin/qemu-system-x86_64-tcg" \
-     "${out}/bin/qemu-img" "${staged}/bin/"
-  cp "${out}/vmlinux" "${staged}/kernel/vmlinux"
-  cp "${out}"/share/spin-stack/qemu/* "${staged}/qemu/"
-  place "${staged}"
+  # A built tree and an unpacked release are the same shape, so this is the same copy
+  # the release path does. It used to stage the files into a third layout first,
+  # because they were not.
+  place "${SIBLING}/_output"
 }
 
 from_release() {
@@ -154,4 +158,4 @@ done
   exit 1
 }
 
-echo "✓ machine ${VERSION}: qemu $("${OUTPUT_DIR}/bin/qemu-img" --version | head -1 | awk '{print $3}'), kernel $(stat -c%s "${OUTPUT_DIR}/guest/vmlinux") bytes"
+echo "✓ machine ${VERSION}: qemu $("${OUTPUT_DIR}/bin/qemu-img" --version | head -1 | awk '{print $3}'), kernel $(stat -c%s "${OUTPUT_DIR}/kernel/vmlinux") bytes"
diff --git a/hack/stage1-demo.sh b/hack/stage1-demo.sh
index dde6459..bdd33ba 100755
--- a/hack/stage1-demo.sh
+++ b/hack/stage1-demo.sh
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ mkfifo "$DIR/ctl"
 exec 9<>"$DIR/ctl"
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=hold" \
   -drive "file=$IMAGE,format=qcow2,if=virtio,cache=writeback" \
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ grep -m1 "GUESTINIT-PASS" "$DIR/logs/guest1.log"
 say "7. a second boot, reading only"
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=verify" \
   -drive "file=$IMAGE,format=qcow2,if=virtio,cache=writeback" \
diff --git a/hack/stage2-demo.sh b/hack/stage2-demo.sh
index 52b6fe0..7dc77b1 100755
--- a/hack/stage2-demo.sh
+++ b/hack/stage2-demo.sh
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ mkfifo "$DIR/ctl"
 exec 9<>"$DIR/ctl"
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=hold spin.churn=$CHURN" \
   -blockdev "driver=file,filename=$FIRST,node-name=vol-file,discard=unmap" \
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ echo "    qemu-img check: all $LAYERS layers sound"
 say "8. a second boot, reading only, through the whole chain"
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=verify" \
   -drive "file=$TIP,format=qcow2,if=virtio,cache=writeback" \
diff --git a/hack/stage3-demo.sh b/hack/stage3-demo.sh
index 0b99594..a7ee2fc 100755
--- a/hack/stage3-demo.sh
+++ b/hack/stage3-demo.sh
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ mkfifo "$DIR/ctl"
 exec 9<>"$DIR/ctl"
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=hold spin.churn=$CHURN" \
   -drive "file=$FIRST,format=qcow2,if=virtio,cache=writeback" \
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ say "9. a second boot, reading only"
 TIP=$(cat "$POINTER")
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=verify" \
   -drive "file=$TIP,format=qcow2,if=virtio,cache=writeback" \
diff --git a/hack/stage4-demo.sh b/hack/stage4-demo.sh
index fa2f5f5..f7e32c3 100755
--- a/hack/stage4-demo.sh
+++ b/hack/stage4-demo.sh
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ mkfifo "$DIR/ctl"
 exec 9<>"$DIR/ctl"
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=hold spin.churn=$CHURN" \
   -drive "file=$FIRST,format=qcow2,if=virtio,cache=writeback" \
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ echo "    qemu-img check: every downloaded layer is sound"
 say "9. a guest reads back what a guest on a host that no longer exists wrote"
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=verify" \
   -drive "file=$RECOVERED,format=qcow2,if=virtio,cache=writeback" \
diff --git a/hack/stage5-demo.sh b/hack/stage5-demo.sh
index 5609730..9967699 100755
--- a/hack/stage5-demo.sh
+++ b/hack/stage5-demo.sh
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ mkfifo "$DIR/ctl"
 exec 9<>"$DIR/ctl"
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=hold spin.churn=$CHURN" \
   -drive "file=$FIRST,format=qcow2,if=virtio,cache=writeback" \
diff --git a/hack/stage6-demo.sh b/hack/stage6-demo.sh
index cefbd5b..f235d80 100755
--- a/hack/stage6-demo.sh
+++ b/hack/stage6-demo.sh
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ mkfifo "$DIR/ctl"
 exec 9<>"$DIR/ctl"
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=hold spin.churn=8 spin.slot=0" \
   -drive "file=$(cat "$POINTER"),format=qcow2,if=virtio,cache=writeback" \
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ say "7. a second guest boots the clone and reads the FIRST guest's pattern"
 CSOCK=$(grep "volume_id=$CLONE" "$DIR/logs/agent1.log" | grep -m1 -o 'qmp_socket=[^ ]*' | cut -d= -f2)
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=verify spin.slot=0" \
   -drive "file=$CIMAGE,format=qcow2,if=virtio,cache=writeback" \
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ mkfifo "$DIR/ctl2"
 exec 8<>"$DIR/ctl2"
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=hold spin.slot=1" \
   -drive "file=$CIMAGE,format=qcow2,if=virtio,cache=writeback" \
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ echo "    its chain is $GDEPTH layers deep"
 say "12. a guest boots the clone of the clone and reads the ORIGINAL guest's slot"
 "$QEMU" -machine "q35,accel=$ACCEL" -m 512 -smp 1 -display none -vga none -monitor none -no-reboot \
   -net none \
-  -L "$OUT/share/spin-stack/qemu" \
+  -L "$OUT/qemu" \
   -kernel "$KERNEL" -initrd "$INITRAMFS" \
   -append "console=ttyS0 panic=1 spin.mode=verify spin.slot=0" \
   -drive "file=$GIMAGE,format=qcow2,if=virtio,cache=writeback" \
diff --git a/taskfiles/machine.yml b/taskfiles/machine.yml
index 55515b8..03a9afa 100644
--- a/taskfiles/machine.yml
+++ b/taskfiles/machine.yml
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ tasks:
       - "{{.OUTPUT_DIR}}/bin/qemu-img --version"
       - "{{.OUTPUT_DIR}}/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 --version"
       - "{{.OUTPUT_DIR}}/bin/qemu-system-x86_64-tcg --version"
-      - "test -f {{.OUTPUT_DIR}}/guest/vmlinux"
-      - "test -f {{.OUTPUT_DIR}}/share/spin-stack/qemu/pvh.bin"
+      - "test -f {{.OUTPUT_DIR}}/kernel/vmlinux"
+      - "test -f {{.OUTPUT_DIR}}/qemu/pvh.bin"
     cmds:
       - |
         set -euo pipefail