diff --git a/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml b/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
index 50f306e1c..cedc84de5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
   push:
     branches:
       - main
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ jobs:
           - {os: 'windows-latest', tf: 'release', r: 'release'}
           - {os: 'macOS-latest'  , tf: 'release', r: 'release'}
 
-          - {os: 'ubuntu-latest', tf: '2.13.0rc1', r: 'release'}
+          - {os: 'ubuntu-latest', tf: '2.13', r: 'release'}
           - {os: 'ubuntu-latest', tf: '2.12', r: 'release'}
           - {os: 'ubuntu-latest', tf: '2.11', r: 'release'}
           - {os: 'ubuntu-latest', tf: '2.10', r: 'release'}
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index f22fbc681..84926926c 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ Depends:
     R (>= 3.4)
 Imports:
     generics (>= 0.0.1),
-    reticulate (> 1.22),
+    reticulate (>= 1.30.9000),
     tensorflow (>= 2.8.0),
     tfruns (>= 1.0),
     magrittr,
@@ -51,3 +51,5 @@ Suggests:
 Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE, r6 = FALSE)
 RoxygenNote: 7.2.3
 VignetteBuilder: knitr
+Remotes:  
+    rstudio/reticulate
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index f073bc770..c8dfdb961 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -610,6 +610,7 @@ importFrom(reticulate,dict)
 importFrom(reticulate,import)
 importFrom(reticulate,import_builtins)
 importFrom(reticulate,import_from_path)
+importFrom(reticulate,iter_next)
 importFrom(reticulate,iterate)
 importFrom(reticulate,py_call)
 importFrom(reticulate,py_capture_output)
diff --git a/R/model-persistence.R b/R/model-persistence.R
index 665bca1f3..015c408a3 100644
--- a/R/model-persistence.R
+++ b/R/model-persistence.R
@@ -342,7 +342,8 @@ model_from_yaml <- function(yaml, custom_objects = NULL) {
 #' @export
 serialize_model <- function(model, include_optimizer = TRUE) {
 
-  if (!inherits(model, "keras.engine.training.Model"))
+  if (!inherits(model, c("keras.engine.training.Model",
+                         "keras.src.engine.training.Model")))
     stop("You must pass a Keras model object to serialize_model")
 
   # write hdf5 file to temp file
diff --git a/R/model.R b/R/model.R
index 5468af6e9..f486bd507 100644
--- a/R/model.R
+++ b/R/model.R
@@ -555,7 +555,8 @@ resolve_input_data <- function(x, y = NULL) {
     args$x <- as_generator(x)
   } else if (inherits(x, "python.builtin.iterator")) {
     args$x <- x
-  } else if (inherits(x, "keras.utils.data_utils.Sequence")) {
+  } else if (inherits(x, c("keras.src.utils.data_utils.Sequence",
+                           "keras.utils.data_utils.Sequence"))) {
     args$x <- x
   } else {
     if (!is.null(x))
@@ -576,7 +577,8 @@ resolve_validation_data <- function(validation_data) {
       args$validation_data <- as_generator(validation_data)
     else if (inherits(validation_data, "python.builtin.iterator"))
       args$validation_data <- validation_data
-    else if (inherits(validation_data, "keras.utils.data_utils.Sequence"))
+    else if (inherits(validation_data, c("keras.src.utils.data_utils.Sequence",
+                                         "keras.utils.data_utils.Sequence")))
       args$validation_data <- validation_data
     else {
       args$validation_data <- keras_array(validation_data)
@@ -593,32 +595,12 @@ resolve_main_thread_generators <- function(x, callback_type = "on_train_batch_be
     stop("Using generators that call R functions is not supported in TensorFlow 2.1 ",
          "Please upgrade your TF installation or downgrade to 2.0", call. = FALSE)
 
-  # we need a hack to make sure the generator is evaluated in the main thread.
-  python_path <- system.file("python", package = "keras")
-  tools <- reticulate::import_from_path("kerastools", path = python_path)
-
-  # as_generator will return a tuple with 2 elements.
-  # (1) a python generator that just consumes
-  # a queue.
-  # (2) a function that evaluates the next element of the generator
-  # and adds to the queue. This function should be called in the main
-  # thread.
-  # we add a `on_train_batch_begin` to call this function.
-  o <- tools$model$as_generator(x)
-
-  callback <- list(function(batch, logs) {
-    o[[2]]()
-  })
-  names(callback) <- callback_type
-
-  if (callback_type == "on_test_batch_begin") {
-    callback[[2]] <- callback[[1]]
-    names(callback)[[2]] <- "on_test_begin"
-  }
-
-  callback <- do.call(callback_lambda, callback)
-
-  list(generator = o[[1]], callback = callback)
+  # This used to house a mechanism for adding a keras callback that pumps
+  # the R generator from the main thread (e.g., from 'on_train_batch_begin').
+  # This has since been fixed upstream, by adding a `prefetch` arg to
+  # reticulate::py_iterator()
+  # TODO: remove `resolve_main_thread_generators()` from package
+  list(generator = x, callback = NULL)
 }
 
 #' Train a Keras model
@@ -1289,7 +1271,7 @@ as_generator.tensorflow.python.data.ops.dataset_ops.DatasetV2 <- function(x) {
 as_generator.function <- function(x) {
   python_path <- system.file("python", package = "keras")
   tools <- reticulate::import_from_path("kerastools", path = python_path)
-  iter <- reticulate::py_iterator(function() {
+  reticulate::py_iterator(function() {
     elem <- keras_array(x())
 
     # deals with the case where the generator is used for prediction and only
@@ -1298,8 +1280,8 @@ as_generator.function <- function(x) {
       elem[[2]] <- list()
 
     do.call(reticulate::tuple, elem)
-  })
-  tools$generator$iter_generator(iter)
+  }, prefetch = 1L)
+
 }
 
 as_generator.keras_preprocessing.sequence.TimeseriesGenerator <- function(x) {
@@ -1354,6 +1336,9 @@ is_main_thread_generator.keras_preprocessing.sequence.TimeseriesGenerator <- fun
   FALSE
 }
 
+is_main_thread_generator.keras.src.preprocessing.sequence.TimeseriesGenerator <-
+  is_main_thread_generator.keras_preprocessing.sequence.TimeseriesGenerator
+
 is_tensorflow_dataset <- function(x) {
   inherits(x, "tensorflow.python.data.ops.dataset_ops.DatasetV2") ||
     inherits(x, "tensorflow.python.data.ops.dataset_ops.Dataset")
diff --git a/R/package.R b/R/package.R
index 78aeaa8bd..9de9134c8 100644
--- a/R/package.R
+++ b/R/package.R
@@ -154,7 +154,8 @@ keras <- NULL
 
     # let KerasTensor inherit all the S3 methods of tf.Tensor, but
     # KerasTensor methods take precedence.
-    if("keras.engine.keras_tensor.KerasTensor" %in% classes)
+    if(any(c("keras.src.engine.keras_tensor.KerasTensor",
+             "keras.engine.keras_tensor.KerasTensor") %in% classes))
       classes <- unique(c("keras.engine.keras_tensor.KerasTensor",
                           "tensorflow.tensor",
                           classes))
diff --git a/R/preprocessing.R b/R/preprocessing.R
index 4222d2781..a541b1511 100644
--- a/R/preprocessing.R
+++ b/R/preprocessing.R
@@ -615,12 +615,20 @@ image_array_save <- function(img, path, data_format = NULL, file_format = NULL,
 
 
 
-#' Generate batches of image data with real-time data augmentation. The data will be
-#' looped over (in batches).
+#' [Deprecated] Generate batches of image data with real-time data augmentation.
+#' The data will be looped over (in batches).
+#'
+#' Deprecated: `image_data_generator` is not
+#' recommended for new code. Prefer loading images with
+#' `image_dataset_from_directory` and transforming the output
+#' TF Dataset with preprocessing layers. For more information, see the
+#' tutorials for loading images and augmenting images, as well as the
+#' preprocessing layer guide.
 #'
 #' @param featurewise_center Set input mean to 0 over the dataset, feature-wise.
 #' @param samplewise_center Boolean. Set each sample mean to 0.
-#' @param featurewise_std_normalization Divide inputs by std of the dataset, feature-wise.
+#' @param featurewise_std_normalization Divide inputs by std of the dataset,
+#'   feature-wise.
 #' @param samplewise_std_normalization Divide each input by its std.
 #' @param zca_whitening apply ZCA whitening.
 #' @param zca_epsilon Epsilon for ZCA whitening. Default is 1e-6.
@@ -630,12 +638,11 @@ image_array_save <- function(img, path, data_format = NULL, file_format = NULL,
 #' @param brightness_range the range of brightness to apply
 #' @param shear_range shear intensity (shear angle in radians).
 #' @param zoom_range amount of zoom. if scalar z, zoom will be randomly picked
-#'   in the range `[1-z, 1+z]`. A sequence of two can be passed instead to select
-#'   this range.
+#'   in the range `[1-z, 1+z]`. A sequence of two can be passed instead to
+#'   select this range.
 #' @param channel_shift_range shift range for each channels.
-#' @param fill_mode One of "constant", "nearest", "reflect" or "wrap".
-#' Points outside the boundaries of the input are filled according to
-#' the given mode:
+#' @param fill_mode One of "constant", "nearest", "reflect" or "wrap". Points
+#'   outside the boundaries of the input are filled according to the given mode:
 #'    - "constant": `kkkkkkkk|abcd|kkkkkkkk` (`cval=k`)
 #'    - "nearest":  `aaaaaaaa|abcd|dddddddd`
 #'    - "reflect":  `abcddcba|abcd|dcbaabcd`
@@ -649,14 +656,15 @@ image_array_save <- function(img, path, data_format = NULL, file_format = NULL,
 #'   other transformation).
 #' @param preprocessing_function function that will be implied on each input.
 #'   The function will run before any other modification on it. The function
-#'   should take one argument: one image (tensor with rank 3), and should
-#'   output a tensor with the same shape.
+#'   should take one argument: one image (tensor with rank 3), and should output
+#'   a tensor with the same shape.
 #' @param data_format 'channels_first' or 'channels_last'. In 'channels_first'
 #'   mode, the channels dimension (the depth) is at index 1, in 'channels_last'
 #'   mode it is at index 3. It defaults to the `image_data_format` value found
 #'   in your Keras config file at `~/.keras/keras.json`. If you never set it,
 #'   then it will be "channels_last".
-#' @param validation_split fraction of images reserved for validation (strictly between 0 and 1).
+#' @param validation_split fraction of images reserved for validation (strictly
+#'   between 0 and 1).
 #'
 #' @export
 image_data_generator <- function(featurewise_center = FALSE, samplewise_center = FALSE,
@@ -685,6 +693,7 @@ image_data_generator <- function(featurewise_center = FALSE, samplewise_center =
     preprocessing_function = preprocessing_function,
     data_format = data_format
   )
+
   if (keras_version() >= "2.0.4")
     args$zca_epsilon <- zca_epsilon
   if (keras_version() >= "2.1.5") {
@@ -692,6 +701,11 @@ image_data_generator <- function(featurewise_center = FALSE, samplewise_center =
     args$validation_split <- validation_split
   }
 
+  if(is.function(preprocessing_function) &&
+     !inherits(preprocessing_function, "python.builtin.object"))
+    args$preprocessing_function <-
+      reticulate::py_main_thread_func(preprocessing_function)
+
   do.call(keras$preprocessing$image$ImageDataGenerator, args)
 
 }
@@ -766,6 +780,7 @@ fit_image_data_generator <- function(object, x, augment = FALSE, rounds = 1, see
 #'
 #' @family image preprocessing
 #'
+#' @importFrom reticulate iter_next
 #' @export
 flow_images_from_data <- function(
   x, y = NULL, generator = image_data_generator(), batch_size = 32,
@@ -790,7 +805,21 @@ flow_images_from_data <- function(
   if (keras_version() >= "2.2.0")
     args$sample_weight <- sample_weight
 
-  do.call(generator$flow, args)
+  iterator <- do.call(generator$flow, args)
+
+  if(!is.null(generator$preprocessing_function)) {
+    # user supplied a custom preprocessing function, which likely is an R
+    # function that must be called from the main thread. Wrap this in
+    # py_iterator(prefetch=1) to ensure we don't end in a deadlock.
+    iter_env <- new.env(parent = parent.env(environment())) # pkg namespace
+    iter_env$.iterator <- iterator
+    expr <- substitute(py_iterator(function() iter_next(iterator), prefetch=1L),
+                       list(iterator = quote(.iterator)))
+    iterator <- eval(expr, iter_env)
+  }
+
+  iterator
+
 }
 
 #' Generates batches of data from images in a directory (with optional
diff --git a/R/py-classes.R b/R/py-classes.R
index 603039576..d05bd0b95 100644
--- a/R/py-classes.R
+++ b/R/py-classes.R
@@ -568,7 +568,7 @@ print.py_R6ClassGenerator <- function(x, ...) {
 #' @export
 `$.py_R6ClassGenerator` <- function(x, name) {
   if (identical(name, "new"))
-    return(self)
+    return(x)
   NextMethod()
 }
 
diff --git a/R/zzz.R b/R/zzz.R
index b5ca7a5f1..5bca627de 100644
--- a/R/zzz.R
+++ b/R/zzz.R
@@ -35,3 +35,5 @@ py_to_r_wrapper.keras.src.engine.training.Model <- py_to_r_wrapper.keras.engine.
 
 #' @export
 summary.keras.src.engine.training.Model <- summary.keras.engine.training.Model
+
+as_generator.keras.src.utils.data_utils.Sequence <- as_generator.keras_preprocessing.sequence.TimeseriesGenerator
diff --git a/man/image_data_generator.Rd b/man/image_data_generator.Rd
index 4f1ea69f7..3acf44f3f 100644
--- a/man/image_data_generator.Rd
+++ b/man/image_data_generator.Rd
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 % Please edit documentation in R/preprocessing.R
 \name{image_data_generator}
 \alias{image_data_generator}
-\title{Generate batches of image data with real-time data augmentation. The data will be
-looped over (in batches).}
+\title{\link{Deprecated} Generate batches of image data with real-time data augmentation.
+The data will be looped over (in batches).}
 \usage{
 image_data_generator(
   featurewise_center = FALSE,
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ image_data_generator(
 
 \item{samplewise_center}{Boolean. Set each sample mean to 0.}
 
-\item{featurewise_std_normalization}{Divide inputs by std of the dataset, feature-wise.}
+\item{featurewise_std_normalization}{Divide inputs by std of the dataset,
+feature-wise.}
 
 \item{samplewise_std_normalization}{Divide each input by its std.}
 
@@ -53,14 +54,13 @@ image_data_generator(
 \item{shear_range}{shear intensity (shear angle in radians).}
 
 \item{zoom_range}{amount of zoom. if scalar z, zoom will be randomly picked
-in the range \verb{[1-z, 1+z]}. A sequence of two can be passed instead to select
-this range.}
+in the range \verb{[1-z, 1+z]}. A sequence of two can be passed instead to
+select this range.}
 
 \item{channel_shift_range}{shift range for each channels.}
 
-\item{fill_mode}{One of "constant", "nearest", "reflect" or "wrap".
-Points outside the boundaries of the input are filled according to
-the given mode:
+\item{fill_mode}{One of "constant", "nearest", "reflect" or "wrap". Points
+outside the boundaries of the input are filled according to the given mode:
 \itemize{
 \item "constant": \code{kkkkkkkk|abcd|kkkkkkkk} (\code{cval=k})
 \item "nearest":  \code{aaaaaaaa|abcd|dddddddd}
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ other transformation).}
 
 \item{preprocessing_function}{function that will be implied on each input.
 The function will run before any other modification on it. The function
-should take one argument: one image (tensor with rank 3), and should
-output a tensor with the same shape.}
+should take one argument: one image (tensor with rank 3), and should output
+a tensor with the same shape.}
 
 \item{data_format}{'channels_first' or 'channels_last'. In 'channels_first'
 mode, the channels dimension (the depth) is at index 1, in 'channels_last'
@@ -90,9 +90,14 @@ mode it is at index 3. It defaults to the \code{image_data_format} value found
 in your Keras config file at \verb{~/.keras/keras.json}. If you never set it,
 then it will be "channels_last".}
 
-\item{validation_split}{fraction of images reserved for validation (strictly between 0 and 1).}
+\item{validation_split}{fraction of images reserved for validation (strictly
+between 0 and 1).}
 }
 \description{
-Generate batches of image data with real-time data augmentation. The data will be
-looped over (in batches).
+Deprecated: \code{image_data_generator} is not
+recommended for new code. Prefer loading images with
+\code{image_dataset_from_directory} and transforming the output
+TF Dataset with preprocessing layers. For more information, see the
+tutorials for loading images and augmenting images, as well as the
+preprocessing layer guide.
 }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/helper-utils.R b/tests/testthat/helper-utils.R
index f74392728..be1eebf7e 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/helper-utils.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/helper-utils.R
@@ -1,11 +1,18 @@
-Sys.setenv(TF_CPP_MIN_LOG_LEVEL = 1)
+# Sys.setenv(TF_CPP_MIN_LOG_LEVEL = 1)
 # 0 = all messages are logged (default behavior)
 # 1 = INFO messages are not printed
 # 2 = INFO and WARNING messages are not printed
 # 3 = INFO, WARNING, and ERROR messages are not printed
 
-if(reticulate::virtualenv_exists("r-tensorflow"))
+if(!reticulate::py_available() && reticulate::virtualenv_exists("r-tensorflow"))
   reticulate::use_virtualenv("r-tensorflow")
+
+if(reticulate::py_available()) {
+  print(reticulate::py_config())
+} else {
+  setHook("reticulate.onPyInit", function() print(reticulate::py_config()))
+}
+
 # Sys.setenv(RETICULATE_PYTHON = "~/.local/share/r-miniconda/envs/tf-2.7-cpu/bin/python")
 # Sys.setenv(RETICULATE_PYTHON = "~/.local/share/r-miniconda/envs/tf-nightly-cpu/bin/python")
 # reticulate::use_condaenv("tf-2.5-cpu", required = TRUE)
@@ -147,3 +154,4 @@ local_tf_device <- function(device_name = "CPU") {
   withr::defer_parent(device$`__exit__`())
   invisible(device)
 }
+
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-callbacks.R b/tests/testthat/test-callbacks.R
index 10c3809ee..afb671292 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-callbacks.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-callbacks.R
@@ -31,7 +31,9 @@ if (tensorflow::tf_version() <= "2.1")
   test_callback("progbar_logger", callback_progbar_logger())
 
 
-test_callback("model_checkpoint", callback_model_checkpoint(tempfile(fileext = ".h5")), h5py = TRUE)
+test_callback("model_checkpoint",
+              callback_model_checkpoint(tempfile(fileext = ".keras")),
+              h5py = TRUE)
 
 if(tf_version() >= "2.8")
   test_callback("backup_and_restore", callback_backup_and_restore(tempfile()))
@@ -252,7 +254,7 @@ test_succeeds("on predict/evaluation callbacks", {
 
   warns <- capture_warnings(
     out <- capture_output(
-      pred <- predict(model, gen, callbacks = cc, steps = 1)
+      pred <- predict(model, gen, callbacks = cc, steps = 5)
     )
   )
   expect_warns_and_out(warns, out)
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-metrics.R b/tests/testthat/test-metrics.R
index 2e223e949..9373c11d5 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-metrics.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-metrics.R
@@ -143,7 +143,8 @@ test_metric <- function(metric, ...) {
     m <- metric(...)
 
     expect_s3_class(m, c("keras.metrics.Metric",
-                         'keras.metrics.base_metric.Metric'))
+                         'keras.metrics.base_metric.Metric',
+                         'keras.src.metrics.base_metric.Metric'))
 
     define_model() %>%
       compile(loss = loss,