diff --git a/.devcontainer/post_create.sh b/.devcontainer/post_create.sh
index 73ea60380c..766bcb9f29 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/post_create.sh
+++ b/.devcontainer/post_create.sh
@@ -24,4 +24,4 @@ echo "Installing dev dependencies"
     --file "$SRC_CONDA_BUILD/tests/requirements.txt" \
     --file "$SRC_CONDA_BUILD/tests/requirements-Linux.txt" \
     --file "$SRC_CONDA_BUILD/tests/requirements-ci.txt" \
-    "conda>=23.5.0"
+    "conda>=23.7.0"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index aafe0ed977..29f98a129d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -83,10 +83,10 @@ jobs:
         include:
           # minimum Python/conda combo
           - python-version: '3.8'
-            conda-version: 23.5.0
+            conda-version: 23.7.0
             test-type: serial
           - python-version: '3.8'
-            conda-version: 23.5.0
+            conda-version: 23.7.0
             test-type: parallel
           # maximum Python/conda combo
           - python-version: '3.12'
diff --git a/conda_build/cli/main_build.py b/conda_build/cli/main_build.py
index 18e24827e0..a966677471 100644
--- a/conda_build/cli/main_build.py
+++ b/conda_build/cli/main_build.py
@@ -532,13 +532,14 @@ def check_action(recipe, config):
 
 def execute(args: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
     _, parsed = parse_args(args)
+    context.__init__(argparse_args=parsed)
+
     config = get_or_merge_config(None, **parsed.__dict__)
     build.check_external()
 
     # change globals in build module, see comment there as well
     config.channel_urls = get_channel_urls(parsed.__dict__)
 
-    config.override_channels = parsed.override_channels
     config.verbose = not parsed.quiet or parsed.debug
 
     if "purge" in parsed.recipe:
diff --git a/conda_build/cli/main_convert.py b/conda_build/cli/main_convert.py
index cd12f21ddc..d30b725b3d 100644
--- a/conda_build/cli/main_convert.py
+++ b/conda_build/cli/main_convert.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 from os.path import abspath, expanduser
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
+from conda.base.context import context
+
 from .. import api
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -126,6 +128,8 @@ def parse_args(args: Sequence[str] | None) -> tuple[ArgumentParser, Namespace]:
 
 def execute(args: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
     _, parsed = parse_args(args)
+    context.__init__(argparse_args=parsed)
+
     files = parsed.files
     del parsed.__dict__["files"]
 
diff --git a/conda_build/cli/main_debug.py b/conda_build/cli/main_debug.py
index 59689bfa05..731f964217 100644
--- a/conda_build/cli/main_debug.py
+++ b/conda_build/cli/main_debug.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 import sys
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
+from conda.base.context import context
+
 from .. import api
 from ..utils import on_win
 from . import validators as valid
@@ -94,6 +96,7 @@ def get_parser() -> ArgumentParser:
 def execute(args: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
     parser = get_parser()
     parsed = parser.parse_args(args)
+    context.__init__(argparse_args=parsed)
 
     try:
         activation_string = api.debug(
diff --git a/conda_build/cli/main_develop.py b/conda_build/cli/main_develop.py
index 326c5fd2a7..9b680cbf5a 100644
--- a/conda_build/cli/main_develop.py
+++ b/conda_build/cli/main_develop.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 import logging
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
-from conda.base.context import context, determine_target_prefix
+from conda.base.context import context
 
 from .. import api
 
@@ -88,10 +88,11 @@ def parse_args(args: Sequence[str] | None) -> tuple[ArgumentParser, Namespace]:
 
 def execute(args: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
     _, parsed = parse_args(args)
-    prefix = determine_target_prefix(context, parsed)
+    context.__init__(argparse_args=parsed)
+
     api.develop(
         parsed.source,
-        prefix=prefix,
+        prefix=context.target_prefix,
         no_pth_file=parsed.no_pth_file,
         build_ext=parsed.build_ext,
         clean=parsed.clean,
diff --git a/conda_build/cli/main_inspect.py b/conda_build/cli/main_inspect.py
index 88b31cb837..b1c47c0586 100644
--- a/conda_build/cli/main_inspect.py
+++ b/conda_build/cli/main_inspect.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 from pprint import pprint
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
-from conda.base.context import context, determine_target_prefix
+from conda.base.context import context
 
 from .. import api
 
@@ -196,6 +196,7 @@ def parse_args(args: Sequence[str] | None) -> tuple[ArgumentParser, Namespace]:
 
 def execute(args: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
     parser, parsed = parse_args(args)
+    context.__init__(argparse_args=parsed)
 
     if not parsed.subcommand:
         parser.print_help()
@@ -206,7 +207,7 @@ def execute(args: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
         print(
             api.inspect_linkages(
                 parsed.packages,
-                prefix=determine_target_prefix(context, parsed),
+                prefix=context.target_prefix,
                 untracked=parsed.untracked,
                 all_packages=parsed.all,
                 show_files=parsed.show_files,
@@ -218,7 +219,7 @@ def execute(args: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
         print(
             api.inspect_objects(
                 parsed.packages,
-                prefix=determine_target_prefix(context, parsed),
+                prefix=context.target_prefix,
                 groupby=parsed.groupby,
             )
         )
diff --git a/conda_build/cli/main_metapackage.py b/conda_build/cli/main_metapackage.py
index 0e4507359e..91d2edcebb 100644
--- a/conda_build/cli/main_metapackage.py
+++ b/conda_build/cli/main_metapackage.py
@@ -121,8 +121,12 @@ def parse_args(args: Sequence[str] | None) -> tuple[ArgumentParser, Namespace]:
 
 
 def execute(args: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
-    _, args = parse_args(args)
-    channel_urls = args.__dict__.get("channel") or args.__dict__.get("channels") or ()
-    api.create_metapackage(channel_urls=channel_urls, **args.__dict__)
+    _, parsed = parse_args(args)
+    context.__init__(argparse_args=parsed)
+
+    api.create_metapackage(
+        channel_urls=context.channels,
+        **parsed.__dict__,
+    )
 
     return 0
diff --git a/conda_build/cli/main_render.py b/conda_build/cli/main_render.py
index 3e0bf845f5..a5cbb8b443 100644
--- a/conda_build/cli/main_render.py
+++ b/conda_build/cli/main_render.py
@@ -202,6 +202,7 @@ def parse_args(args: Sequence[str] | None) -> tuple[ArgumentParser, Namespace]:
 
 def execute(args: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
     _, parsed = parse_args(args)
+    context.__init__(argparse_args=parsed)
 
     config = get_or_merge_config(None, **parsed.__dict__)
 
@@ -213,8 +214,6 @@ def execute(args: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
 
     config.channel_urls = get_channel_urls(parsed.__dict__)
 
-    config.override_channels = parsed.override_channels
-
     if parsed.output:
         config.verbose = False
         config.debug = False
diff --git a/conda_build/cli/main_skeleton.py b/conda_build/cli/main_skeleton.py
index 825f3742de..7013e2ffab 100644
--- a/conda_build/cli/main_skeleton.py
+++ b/conda_build/cli/main_skeleton.py
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 from importlib import import_module
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
+from conda.base.context import context
+
 from .. import api
 from ..config import Config
 
@@ -52,6 +54,8 @@ def parse_args(args: Sequence[str] | None) -> tuple[ArgumentParser, Namespace]:
 
 def execute(args: Sequence[str] | None = None) -> int:
     parser, parsed = parse_args(args)
+    context.__init__(argparse_args=parsed)
+
     config = Config(**parsed.__dict__)
 
     if not parsed.repo:
diff --git a/conda_build/config.py b/conda_build/config.py
index 98f3e8b447..1e1f64de9d 100644
--- a/conda_build/config.py
+++ b/conda_build/config.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 from conda.base.context import context
 from conda.utils import url_path
 
+from .deprecations import deprecated
 from .utils import (
     get_build_folders,
     get_conda_operation_locks,
@@ -88,7 +89,6 @@ def _get_default_settings():
         Setting("dirty", False),
         Setting("include_recipe", True),
         Setting("no_download_source", False),
-        Setting("override_channels", False),
         Setting("skip_existing", False),
         Setting("token", None),
         Setting("user", None),
@@ -296,6 +296,10 @@ def set_lang(variant, lang):
         for lang in ("perl", "lua", "python", "numpy", "r_base"):
             set_lang(self.variant, lang)
 
+        # --override-channels is a valid CLI argument but we no longer wish to set it here
+        # use conda.base.context.context.override_channels instead
+        kwargs.pop("override_channels", None)
+
         self._build_id = kwargs.pop("build_id", getattr(self, "_build_id", ""))
         source_cache = kwargs.pop("cache_dir", None)
         croot = kwargs.pop("croot", None)
@@ -778,6 +782,15 @@ def test_dir(self):
     def subdirs_same(self):
         return self.host_subdir == self.build_subdir
 
+    @property
+    @deprecated(
+        "24.5",
+        "24.7",
+        addendum="Use `conda.base.context.context.override_channels` instead.",
+    )
+    def override_channels(self):
+        return context.override_channels
+
     def clean(self, remove_folders=True):
         # build folder is the whole burrito containing envs and source folders
         #   It will only exist if we download source, or create a build or test environment
diff --git a/news/5271-context b/news/5271-context
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b4143e00f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/5271-context
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+### Enhancements
+
+* Require `conda >=23.7.0`. (#5271)
+
+### Bug fixes
+
+* Fix all CLI arguments to properly initialize `conda.base.context.context` with parsed arguments. Fixes issue with arguments not being processed (e.g., `--override-channels` was previously ignored). (#3693 via #5271)
+
+### Deprecations
+
+* Deprecate `conda_build.config.Config.override_channels`. Use `conda.base.context.context.override_channels` instead. (#5271)
+
+### Docs
+
+* <news item>
+
+### Other
+
+* <news item>
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 229333b6a5..334c119996 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ classifiers = [
 dependencies = [
   "beautifulsoup4",
   "chardet",
-  "conda >=23.5.0",
+  "conda >=23.7.0",
   "conda-index >=0.4.0",
   "conda-package-handling >=1.3",
   "filelock",
diff --git a/recipe/meta.yaml b/recipe/meta.yaml
index 8171f8167d..d1b6440118 100644
--- a/recipe/meta.yaml
+++ b/recipe/meta.yaml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ requirements:
   run:
     - beautifulsoup4
     - chardet
-    - conda >=23.5.0
+    - conda >=23.7.0
     - conda-index >=0.4.0
     - conda-package-handling >=1.3
     - filelock
diff --git a/tests/cli/test_main_build.py b/tests/cli/test_main_build.py
index 15b3d67237..9f4ce1cbb0 100644
--- a/tests/cli/test_main_build.py
+++ b/tests/cli/test_main_build.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import pytest
+from conda.exceptions import PackagesNotFoundError
 
 from conda_build import api
 from conda_build.cli import main_build, main_render
@@ -549,3 +550,14 @@ def test_user_warning(tmpdir, recwarn):
 
     main_build.parse_args([str(dir_recipe_path)])
     assert not recwarn.list
+
+
+def test_build_with_empty_channel_fails(empty_channel: Path) -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(PackagesNotFoundError):
+        main_build.execute(
+            [
+                "--override-channels",
+                f"--channel={empty_channel}",
+                os.path.join(metadata_dir, "_recipe_requiring_external_channel"),
+            ]
+        )
diff --git a/tests/cli/test_main_render.py b/tests/cli/test_main_render.py
index bf00ac6fd1..ef5fdf077d 100644
--- a/tests/cli/test_main_render.py
+++ b/tests/cli/test_main_render.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 import yaml
+from conda.exceptions import PackagesNotFoundError
 
 from conda_build import api
 from conda_build.cli import main_render
@@ -48,26 +49,16 @@ def test_render_add_channel(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     ), f"Expected version number 1.0 on successful rendering, but got {required_package_details[1]}"
 
 
-def test_render_without_channel_fails(tmp_path):
-    # do make extra channel available, so the required package should not be found
-    rendered_filename = tmp_path / "out.yaml"
-    args = [
-        "--override-channels",
-        os.path.join(metadata_dir, "_recipe_requiring_external_channel"),
-        "--file",
-        str(rendered_filename),
-    ]
-    main_render.execute(args)
-    with open(rendered_filename) as rendered_file:
-        rendered_meta = yaml.safe_load(rendered_file)
-    required_package_string = [
-        pkg
-        for pkg in rendered_meta.get("requirements", {}).get("build", [])
-        if "conda_build_test_requirement" in pkg
-    ][0]
-    assert (
-        required_package_string == "conda_build_test_requirement"
-    ), f"Expected to get only base package name because it should not be found, but got :{required_package_string}"
+def test_render_with_empty_channel_fails(tmp_path: Path, empty_channel: Path) -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(PackagesNotFoundError):
+        main_render.execute(
+            [
+                "--override-channels",
+                f"--channel={empty_channel}",
+                os.path.join(metadata_dir, "_recipe_requiring_external_channel"),
+                f"--file={tmp_path / 'out.yaml'}",
+            ]
+        )
 
 
 def test_render_output_build_path(
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index f055b05d80..7dc0ae021c 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 from conda.common.compat import on_mac, on_win
+from conda_index.api import update_index
 from pytest import MonkeyPatch
 
 import conda_build
@@ -251,3 +252,11 @@ def conda_build_test_recipe_envvar(
     name = "CONDA_BUILD_TEST_RECIPE_PATH"
     monkeypatch.setenv(name, str(conda_build_test_recipe_path))
     return name
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def empty_channel(tmp_path_factory: pytest.TempPathFactory) -> Path:
+    """Create a temporary, empty conda channel."""
+    channel = tmp_path_factory.mktemp("empty_channel", numbered=False)
+    update_index(channel)
+    return channel
diff --git a/tests/requirements.txt b/tests/requirements.txt
index e005250f59..acb3317206 100644
--- a/tests/requirements.txt
+++ b/tests/requirements.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 beautifulsoup4
 chardet
-conda >=23.5.0
+conda >=23.7.0
 conda-index >=0.4.0
 conda-libmamba-solver  # ensure we use libmamba
 conda-package-handling >=1.3