diff --git a/.chef/knife.rb b/.chef/knife.rb
index f307d82..c8d218b 100644
--- a/.chef/knife.rb
+++ b/.chef/knife.rb
@@ -11,3 +11,9 @@ local_mode                true # Chef local mode, replacing Solo
 cookbook_copyright     'Kosmos'
 cookbook_license       'none'
 cookbook_email         'mail@kosmos.org'
+
+# Disable knife-solo's Berkshelf integration, since we vendor all third party
+# cookbooks
+knife[:berkshelf] = false
+# Set Chef version installed by `knife solo prepare`
+knife[:bootstrap_version] = "13.8.5"