diff --git a/.github/workflows/development_freeze.yml b/.github/workflows/development_freeze.yml
index ef4f0b50e98..f9738d0ffea 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/development_freeze.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/development_freeze.yml
@@ -8,10 +8,6 @@ on:
     types:
       - completed
 
-env:
-  PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_DIR: pull_request
-  PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_FILE: metadata
-
 permissions:
   contents: read
 
@@ -27,40 +23,11 @@ jobs:
       pull-requests: write
 
     steps:
-      - name: Download Pull Request Metadata artifact
-        uses: actions/github-script@60a0d83039c74a4aee543508d2ffcb1c3799cdea
+      - id: artifact
+        name: Download Pull Request Metadata artifact
+        uses: redhat-plumbers-in-action/download-artifact@463ae626ac2dd333491c7beccaa24c12c5c259b8
         with:
-          script: |
-            const artifacts = await github.rest.actions.listWorkflowRunArtifacts({
-               owner: context.repo.owner,
-               repo: context.repo.repo,
-               run_id: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.id }},
-            });
-
-            const matchArtifact = artifacts.data.artifacts.filter((artifact) => {
-              return artifact.name == "${{ env.PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_FILE }}"
-            })[0];
-
-            const download = await github.rest.actions.downloadArtifact({
-               owner: context.repo.owner,
-               repo: context.repo.repo,
-               artifact_id: matchArtifact.id,
-               archive_format: 'zip',
-            });
-
-            const fs = require('fs');
-            fs.writeFileSync('${{ github.workspace }}/${{ env.PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_FILE }}.zip', Buffer.from(download.data));
-
-      - run: unzip ${{ env.PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_FILE }}.zip
-
-      - name: 'Get Pull Request number'
-        uses: actions/github-script@60a0d83039c74a4aee543508d2ffcb1c3799cdea
-        with:
-          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          script: |
-            const fs = require('fs');
-            const pr_number = Number(fs.readFileSync('./${{ env.PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_FILE }}'));
-            core.exportVariable('pr_number', pr_number);
+          name: Pull Request Metadata
 
       - name: Repository checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@9bb56186c3b09b4f86b1c65136769dd318469633
@@ -68,7 +35,9 @@ jobs:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Development Freezer
-        uses: redhat-plumbers-in-action/devel-freezer@67aec4a153bd9fca5322e1c4dd4d7c419fb36362
+        uses: redhat-plumbers-in-action/devel-freezer@396c94ba8cb417474e6626c83a42addea210a403
         with:
-          pr-number: ${{ env.pr_number }}
+          pr-number: ${{ fromJSON(steps.artifact.outputs.pr-metadata-json).number }}
+          # delay start of validation to allow for some milestone/labels tweaking
+          delay: 20
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gather-pr-metadata.yml b/.github/workflows/gather-pr-metadata.yml
index 68c88fb94bc..ae5921aac46 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gather-pr-metadata.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gather-pr-metadata.yml
@@ -6,10 +6,6 @@ on:
   pull_request:
     branches: [ main ]
 
-env:
-  PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_DIR: pull_request
-  PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_FILE: metadata
-
 permissions:
   contents: read
 
@@ -21,17 +17,14 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Repository checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@9bb56186c3b09b4f86b1c65136769dd318469633
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Store PR number in file
-        run: |
-          mkdir -p ./${{ env.PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_DIR }}
-          echo ${{ github.event.number }} >./${{ env.PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_DIR }}/${{ env.PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_FILE }}
+      - id: metadata
+        name: Gather Pull Request Metadata
+        uses: redhat-plumbers-in-action/gather-pull-request-metadata@69c703f376018c1a41c8ccce21dc2e16a79f3324
 
       - name: Upload Pull Request Metadata artifact
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@5d5d22a31266ced268874388b861e4b58bb5c2f3
         with:
-          name: ${{ env.PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_FILE }}
-          path: ${{ env.PULL_REQUEST_METADATA_DIR }}
+          name: Pull Request Metadata
+          path: ${{ steps.metadata.outputs.metadata-file }}
           retention-days: 1