diff --git a/.github/workflows/machine-os-pr.yml b/.github/workflows/machine-os-pr.yml
index 5cf986ec76..db222ce83d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/machine-os-pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/machine-os-pr.yml
@@ -2,11 +2,6 @@ name: "Machine OS PR"
 
 on:
   pull_request_target:
-    # prevent action from running on older release-process branches
-    # TODO: remove when we move to new release flow
-    branches:
-      - 'v5.5'
-      - 'main'
     paths:
       - 'version/rawversion/version.go'
 
@@ -34,8 +29,10 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           VERSION=$(curl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/$PODMAN_REPO/$SHA/version/rawversion/version.go" | sed -n 's/^const RawVersion = \"\(.*\)\"$/\1/p')
           # ignore -dev version bumps unless on main
-          if [[ ${{github.base_ref}} != "main" ]] && [[ $VERSION == *-dev ]] ; then
-            echo "::warning:: SKIPPING: dev bump not on main"
+          if [[ $VERSION == *-dev ]] ; then
+            echo "::warning:: SKIPPING: dev bump"
+          elif [[ ${{github.base_ref}} == "main" ]] ; then
+            echo "::warning:: SKIPPING: main branch"
           elif [[ ${{github.base_ref}} == *-rhel ]] ; then
             echo "::warning:: SKIPPING: rhel branch"
           else
@@ -128,9 +125,11 @@ jobs:
         id: pr
         run: |
           bumpbranch="pr${{github.event.number}}"
+          body=$(printf 'Triggered by https://github.com/%s/pull/%s\n\n```release-note\nRelease v%s\n```\n' \
+          "$PODMAN_REPO" "${{github.event.number}}" "${{ steps.getversion.outputs.version }}")
           uri=`gh pr create \
             --title "Bump Podman to v${{ steps.getversion.outputs.version }}" \
-            --body  "Triggered by https://github.com/$PODMAN_REPO/pull/${{github.event.number}}" \
+            --body  "$body" \
             --head "podmanbot:$bumpbranch" \
             --base "${{github.base_ref}}" \
             --repo $UPSTREAM_MACHINE_OS`
diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES.md b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
index 8df761895d..429456927f 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
@@ -49,12 +49,16 @@
 - Fixed a bug where the `podman system df` command could show a negative reclaimable size.
 - Fixed a bug where accessing a rootful `podman machine` VM that was not `podman-machine-default` (the default VM) with the `podman machine ssh` command would put the user into the rootless shell ([#25332](https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/25332)).
 - Fixed a bug where the `podman machine init` would report nonsensical memory values in error messages when trying to create a machine with more memory than the system.
+- Fixed a bug where the remote Podman client's `podman start --attach` command would incorrectly print an error when run on a container created with the `--rm` option ([#25965](https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/25965)).
+- Fixed a bug where the remote Podman client's `podman pull` command could hang and leak memory if the server was unexpectedly stopped or encountered an error during a pull.
 - Fixed a bug where the remote Podman client's `podman cp` command would, on Windows, often fail to copy files into the container due to improper handling of Windows paths ([#14862](https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/14862)).
 - Fixed a bug where the `podman container clone` command did not correctly copy healthcheck settings to the new container ([#21630](https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/21630)).
 - Fixed a bug where the `podman kube play` command would fail to start empty pods ([#25786](https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/25786)).
 - Fixed a bug where the `podman volume ls` command did not output headers when no volumes were present ([#25911](https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/25911)).
 - Fixed a bug where healthcheck configuration provided by a container's image could not be overridden unless the `--health-cmd` option was specified when creating the container ([#20212](https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/20212)).
 - Fixed a bug where the `--user` option to `podman create` and `podman run` could not be used with users added to the container by the `--hostuser` option ([#25805](https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/25805)).
+- Fixed a bug where the `podman system reset` command on FreeBSD would incorrectly print an error.
+- Fixed a bug where stopping the `podman machine start` command with SIGINT could result in machine state being incorrectly set to "Starting" ([#24416](https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/24416)).
 
 ### API
 - Fixed a bug where the Compat Create API for Containers ignored ulimits specified in the request when Podman was run rootless ([#25881](https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/25881)).
diff --git a/pkg/machine/shim/host.go b/pkg/machine/shim/host.go
index ad1d9ff4bf..3b368b4a87 100644
--- a/pkg/machine/shim/host.go
+++ b/pkg/machine/shim/host.go
@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
+	"os/signal"
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
+	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/machine"
@@ -440,6 +442,7 @@ func stopLocked(mc *vmconfigs.MachineConfig, mp vmconfigs.VMProvider, dirs *mach
 func Start(mc *vmconfigs.MachineConfig, mp vmconfigs.VMProvider, dirs *machineDefine.MachineDirs, opts machine.StartOptions) error {
 	defaultBackoff := 500 * time.Millisecond
 	maxBackoffs := 6
+	signalChanClosed := false
 
 	mc.Lock()
 	defer mc.Unlock()
@@ -471,17 +474,41 @@ func Start(mc *vmconfigs.MachineConfig, mp vmconfigs.VMProvider, dirs *machineDe
 		}
 	}
 
+	// if the machine cannot continue starting due to a signal, ensure the state
+	// reflects the machine is no longer starting
+	signalChan := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
+	signal.Notify(signalChan, os.Interrupt, syscall.SIGTERM)
+	go func() {
+		sig, ok := <-signalChan
+		if ok {
+			mc.Starting = false
+			logrus.Error("signal received when starting the machine: ", sig)
+
+			if err := mc.Write(); err != nil {
+				logrus.Error(err)
+			}
+
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+	}()
+
 	// Set starting to true
 	mc.Starting = true
 	if err := mc.Write(); err != nil {
 		logrus.Error(err)
 	}
+
 	// Set starting to false on exit
 	defer func() {
 		mc.Starting = false
 		if err := mc.Write(); err != nil {
 			logrus.Error(err)
 		}
+
+		if !signalChanClosed {
+			signal.Stop(signalChan)
+			close(signalChan)
+		}
 	}()
 
 	gvproxyPidFile, err := dirs.RuntimeDir.AppendToNewVMFile("gvproxy.pid", nil)
@@ -557,6 +584,11 @@ func Start(mc *vmconfigs.MachineConfig, mp vmconfigs.VMProvider, dirs *machineDe
 		return errors.New(msg)
 	}
 
+	// now that the machine has transitioned into the running state, we don't need a goroutine listening for SIGINT or SIGTERM to handle state
+	signal.Stop(signalChan)
+	close(signalChan)
+	signalChanClosed = true
+
 	if err := proxyenv.ApplyProxies(mc); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}