diff --git a/SPECS/gawk/gawk.spec b/SPECS/gawk/gawk.spec
index 695ea078bad..ddbca273351 100644
--- a/SPECS/gawk/gawk.spec
+++ b/SPECS/gawk/gawk.spec
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Summary:        Contains programs for manipulating text files
 Name:           gawk
 Version:        5.2.2
-Release:        2%{?dist}
+Release:        3%{?dist}
 License:        GPLv3
 Vendor:         Microsoft Corporation
 Distribution:   Azure Linux
@@ -14,10 +14,6 @@ Patch2:         CVE-2026-40553.patch
 Requires:       gmp
 Requires:       mpfr
 Requires:       readline >= 7.0
-%if 0%{?with_check}
-BuildRequires:  shadow-utils
-BuildRequires:  sudo
-%endif
 Provides:       /bin/awk
 Provides:       /bin/gawk
 Provides:       awk
@@ -51,12 +47,7 @@ sed -i 's/ pty1 / /' test/Makefile
 # Generate locale for `en_US.iso88591` which is required for ptest
 # Ideally it should have been present. Investigate if its a `chroot` only issue
 %{_sbindir}/locale-gen.sh
-
-# gawk's check_pma_security() refuses persistent memory when geteuid() == 0, so the
-# pma test only runs if the suite is not run as root.
-useradd testuser -m
-chown -R testuser:testuser .
-sudo -u testuser make %{?_smp_mflags} check
+make %{?_smp_mflags} check
 
 %post   -p /sbin/ldconfig
 %postun -p /sbin/ldconfig
@@ -75,6 +66,12 @@ sudo -u testuser make %{?_smp_mflags} check
 %{_sysconfdir}/profile.d/gawk.sh
 
 %changelog
+* Wed Aug 19 2026 Jon Slobodzian <joslobo@microsoft.com> - 5.2.2-3
+- Revert the `%check` section to its 5.2.2-1 form: run the test suite directly and
+  drop the sudo and shadow-utils BuildRequires. gawk is a toolchain bootstrap
+  package; those build-time deps created an unresolvable cycle in the package
+  dependency graph (grapher panic), breaking all check-enabled source builds.
+
 * Wed Jul 15 2026 Azure Linux Security Servicing Account <azurelinux-security@microsoft.com> - 5.2.2-2
 - Patch for CVE-2026-40553, CVE-2026-40468, CVE-2026-40467
 - Run the test suite as an unprivileged user so the pma test is exercised.
diff --git a/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/pkggen_core_aarch64.txt b/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/pkggen_core_aarch64.txt
index bfd77ffca3b..af095dd87b7 100644
--- a/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/pkggen_core_aarch64.txt
+++ b/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/pkggen_core_aarch64.txt
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ m4-1.4.19-2.azl3.aarch64.rpm
 grep-3.11-2.azl3.aarch64.rpm
 grep-lang-3.11-2.azl3.aarch64.rpm
 diffutils-3.10-1.azl3.aarch64.rpm
-gawk-5.2.2-2.azl3.aarch64.rpm
+gawk-5.2.2-3.azl3.aarch64.rpm
 findutils-4.9.0-1.azl3.aarch64.rpm
 findutils-lang-4.9.0-1.azl3.aarch64.rpm
 gettext-0.22-1.azl3.aarch64.rpm
diff --git a/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/pkggen_core_x86_64.txt b/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/pkggen_core_x86_64.txt
index e7a3d8ddb73..79a4fdcd1c8 100644
--- a/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/pkggen_core_x86_64.txt
+++ b/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/pkggen_core_x86_64.txt
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ m4-1.4.19-2.azl3.x86_64.rpm
 grep-3.11-2.azl3.x86_64.rpm
 grep-lang-3.11-2.azl3.x86_64.rpm
 diffutils-3.10-1.azl3.x86_64.rpm
-gawk-5.2.2-2.azl3.x86_64.rpm
+gawk-5.2.2-3.azl3.x86_64.rpm
 findutils-4.9.0-1.azl3.x86_64.rpm
 findutils-lang-4.9.0-1.azl3.x86_64.rpm
 gettext-0.22-1.azl3.x86_64.rpm
diff --git a/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/toolchain_aarch64.txt b/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/toolchain_aarch64.txt
index 916884293a6..3006a35635e 100644
--- a/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/toolchain_aarch64.txt
+++ b/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/toolchain_aarch64.txt
@@ -110,8 +110,8 @@ findutils-lang-4.9.0-1.azl3.aarch64.rpm
 flex-2.6.4-7.azl3.aarch64.rpm
 flex-debuginfo-2.6.4-7.azl3.aarch64.rpm
 flex-devel-2.6.4-7.azl3.aarch64.rpm
-gawk-5.2.2-2.azl3.aarch64.rpm
-gawk-debuginfo-5.2.2-2.azl3.aarch64.rpm
+gawk-5.2.2-3.azl3.aarch64.rpm
+gawk-debuginfo-5.2.2-3.azl3.aarch64.rpm
 gcc-13.2.0-7.azl3.aarch64.rpm
 gcc-c++-13.2.0-7.azl3.aarch64.rpm
 gcc-debuginfo-13.2.0-7.azl3.aarch64.rpm
diff --git a/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/toolchain_x86_64.txt b/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/toolchain_x86_64.txt
index eeb8e5570a7..80ca14345e6 100644
--- a/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/toolchain_x86_64.txt
+++ b/toolkit/resources/manifests/package/toolchain_x86_64.txt
@@ -115,8 +115,8 @@ findutils-lang-4.9.0-1.azl3.x86_64.rpm
 flex-2.6.4-7.azl3.x86_64.rpm
 flex-debuginfo-2.6.4-7.azl3.x86_64.rpm
 flex-devel-2.6.4-7.azl3.x86_64.rpm
-gawk-5.2.2-2.azl3.x86_64.rpm
-gawk-debuginfo-5.2.2-2.azl3.x86_64.rpm
+gawk-5.2.2-3.azl3.x86_64.rpm
+gawk-debuginfo-5.2.2-3.azl3.x86_64.rpm
 gcc-13.2.0-7.azl3.x86_64.rpm
 gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu-13.2.0-7.azl3.x86_64.rpm
 gcc-c++-13.2.0-7.azl3.x86_64.rpm