diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker.yml b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
index f8855674fd..1246c06e46 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
@@ -17,22 +17,17 @@ defaults:
   run:
     shell: bash -xeuo pipefail {0}
 
+env:
+  VERSIONS: '["18.04", "20.04", "22.04", "24.04"]'
+
 jobs:
-  build:
+  generate-tags:
     if: github.repository_owner == 'Homebrew'
-    name: docker (${{ matrix.arch }} Ubuntu ${{ matrix.version }})
-    runs-on: ${{ matrix.arch == 'arm64' && 'ubuntu-24.04-arm' || 'ubuntu-latest' }}
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        version: ["18.04", "20.04", "22.04", "24.04"]
-        arch: ["x86_64", "arm64"]
-        exclude:
-          - version: "18.04"
-            arch: "arm64"
-          - arch: ${{ github.event_name == 'release' && 'arm64' }}
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     outputs:
+      matrix: ${{ steps.attributes.outputs.matrix }}
       tags: ${{ steps.attributes.outputs.tags }}
+      labels: ${{ steps.attributes.outputs.labels }}
       push: ${{ steps.attributes.outputs.push }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -44,11 +39,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Fetch origin/master from Git
         run: git fetch origin master
 
-      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
-        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@b5ca514318bd6ebac0fb2aedd5d36ec1b5c232a2 # v3.10.0
-        with:
-          cache-binary: false
-
       - name: Determine build attributes
         id: attributes
         run: |
@@ -69,48 +59,119 @@ jobs:
           ${DELIMITER}
           EOS
 
-          tags=()
-          if [[ "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME}" == "release" ]]; then
-            tags+=(
-              "ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${{matrix.version}}:${brew_version}"
-              "ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${{matrix.version}}:latest"
-              "homebrew/ubuntu${{matrix.version}}:${brew_version}"
-              "homebrew/ubuntu${{matrix.version}}:latest"
-            )
-            if [[ "${{ matrix.version }}" == "22.04" ]]; then
+          typeset -A tag_hash
+          typeset -A push_hash
+          matrix=()
+          while IFS=$'\n' read -r version; do
+            tags=()
+            if [[ "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME}" == "release" ]]; then
               tags+=(
-                "ghcr.io/homebrew/brew:${brew_version}"
-                "ghcr.io/homebrew/brew:latest"
-                "homebrew/brew:${brew_version}"
-                "homebrew/brew:latest"
+                "ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${version}:${brew_version}"
+                "ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${version}:latest"
+                "homebrew/ubuntu${version}:${brew_version}"
+                "homebrew/ubuntu${version}:latest"
+              )
+              if [[ "${version}" == "22.04" ]]; then
+                tags+=(
+                  "ghcr.io/homebrew/brew:${brew_version}"
+                  "ghcr.io/homebrew/brew:latest"
+                  "homebrew/brew:${brew_version}"
+                  "homebrew/brew:latest"
+                )
+              fi
+            elif [[ "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME}" == "push" &&
+                    "${GITHUB_REF}" == "refs/heads/master" &&
+                    "${version}" == "22.04" ]]; then
+              tags+=(
+                "ghcr.io/homebrew/brew:master"
+                "ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${version}:master"
+                "homebrew/brew:master"
+                "homebrew/ubuntu${version}:master"
               )
             fi
-          elif [[ "${GITHUB_EVENT_NAME}" == "push" &&
-                  "${GITHUB_REF}" == "refs/heads/master" &&
-                  "${{ matrix.version }}" == "22.04" ]]; then
-            tags+=(
-              "ghcr.io/homebrew/brew:master"
-              "ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${{ matrix.version }}:master"
-              "homebrew/brew:master"
-              "homebrew/ubuntu${{matrix.version}}:master"
-            )
-          fi
-          if [[ "${{ matrix.version }}" == "18.04" ]]; then
+
+            if [[ "${#tags[@]}" -ne 0 ]]; then
+              tag_hash["${version}"]="${tags[*]}"
+              push_hash["${version}"]=true
+              matrix+=("${version}")
+            else
+              push_hash["${version}"]=false
+            fi
+          done <<<"$(jq --raw-output '.[]' <<<"${VERSIONS}")"
+
+          # Transform the `matrix` variable into a JSON array.
+          echo "matrix=$(jq --null-input --compact-output '$ARGS.positional' --args "${matrix[@]}")" >>"${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+
+          {
+            DELIMITER="END_TAGS_$(uuidgen)"
+            has_previous=
+            echo "tags<<${DELIMITER}"
+            printf '{'
+            for version in "${!tag_hash[@]}"; do
+              [[ -n "${has_previous:-}" ]] && printf ','
+              printf '"%s": "%s"' "${version}" "${tag_hash[$version]}"
+              has_previous=1
+            done
+            echo '}'
+            echo "${DELIMITER}"
+          } | tee -a "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+
+          {
+            DELIMITER="END_PUSH_$(uuidgen)"
+            has_previous=
+            echo "push<<${DELIMITER}"
+            printf '{'
+            for version in "${!push_hash[@]}"; do
+              [[ -n "${has_previous:-}" ]] && printf ','
+              printf '"%s": "%s"' "${version}" "${push_hash[$version]}"
+              has_previous=1
+            done
+            echo '}'
+            echo "${DELIMITER}"
+          } | tee -a "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+
+  build:
+    needs: generate-tags
+    if: github.repository_owner == 'Homebrew'
+    name: docker (${{ matrix.arch }} Ubuntu ${{ matrix.version }})
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.arch == 'arm64' && 'ubuntu-24.04-arm' || 'ubuntu-latest' }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        version: ["18.04", "20.04", "22.04", "24.04"]
+        arch: ["x86_64", "arm64"]
+        exclude:
+          - version: "18.04"
+            arch: "arm64"
+          - arch: ${{ github.event_name == 'release' && 'arm64' }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          persist-credentials: false
+
+      - name: Fetch origin/master from Git
+        run: git fetch origin master
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@b5ca514318bd6ebac0fb2aedd5d36ec1b5c232a2 # v3.10.0
+        with:
+          cache-binary: false
+
+      - name: Retrieve build attributes
+        id: attributes
+        env:
+          VERSION: ${{ matrix.version }}
+          PUSH: ${{ needs.generate-tags.outputs.push }}
+        run: |
+          if [[ "${VERSION}" == "18.04" ]]; then
             # odeprecated: remove this in Homebrew >=4.5
             echo "The homebrew/ubuntu18.04 image is deprecated and will soon be retired. Use homebrew/ubuntu22.04 or homebrew/ubuntu24.04 or homebrew/ubuntu20.04 or homebrew/brew." > .docker-deprecate
           fi
 
-          {
-            if [[ "${#tags[@]}" -ne 0 ]]; then
-              DELIMITER="END_TAGS_$(uuidgen)"
-              echo "tags<<${DELIMITER}"
-              printf "%s\n" "${tags[@]}"
-              echo "${DELIMITER}"
-              echo "push=true"
-            else
-              echo "push=false"
-            fi
-          } | tee -a "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+          filter="$(printf '.["%s"]' "${VERSION}")"
+          echo "push=$(jq --raw-output "${filter}" <<<"${PUSH}")" >>"${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
 
       - name: Log in to GitHub Packages (github-actions[bot])
         uses: docker/login-action@9780b0c442fbb1117ed29e0efdff1e18412f7567 # v3.3.0
@@ -127,7 +188,7 @@ jobs:
           tags: brew
           cache-from: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${{ matrix.version }}:cache
           build-args: version=${{ matrix.version }}
-          labels: ${{ steps.attributes.outputs.labels }}
+          labels: ${{ needs.generate-tags.outputs.labels }}
 
       - name: Run brew test-bot --only-setup
         # TODO: Remove this conditional when `brew doctor` no longer throws an error on ARM64 Linux.
@@ -135,7 +196,7 @@ jobs:
         run: docker run --rm brew brew test-bot --only-setup
 
       - name: Log in to GitHub Packages (BrewTestBot)
-        if: steps.attributes.outputs.push == 'true'
+        if: fromJSON(steps.attributes.outputs.push)
         uses: docker/login-action@9780b0c442fbb1117ed29e0efdff1e18412f7567 # v3.3.0
         with:
           registry: ghcr.io
@@ -144,18 +205,18 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Deploy the Docker image by digest
         id: digest
-        if: steps.attributes.outputs.push == 'true'
+        if: fromJSON(steps.attributes.outputs.push)
         uses: docker/build-push-action@471d1dc4e07e5cdedd4c2171150001c434f0b7a4 # v6.15.0
         with:
           context: .
           cache-from: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${{ matrix.version }}:cache
           cache-to: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${{ matrix.version }}:cache,mode=max
           build-args: version=${{ matrix.version }}
-          labels: ${{ steps.attributes.outputs.labels }}
+          labels: ${{ needs.generate-tags.outputs.labels }}
           outputs: type=image,name=ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${{ matrix.version }},name-canonical=true,push=true,push-by-digest=true
 
       - name: Export the Docker image digest
-        if: steps.attributes.outputs.push == 'true'
+        if: fromJSON(steps.attributes.outputs.push)
         run: |
           mkdir -p "${RUNNER_TEMP}"/digests
           echo "${DIGEST#sha256:}" >"${RUNNER_TEMP}/digests/${VERSION}-${ARCH}"
@@ -165,20 +226,20 @@ jobs:
           ARCH: ${{ matrix.arch }}
 
       - name: Upload the Docker image digest
-        if: steps.attributes.outputs.push == 'true'
+        if: fromJSON(steps.attributes.outputs.push)
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@65c4c4a1ddee5b72f698fdd19549f0f0fb45cf08 # v4.6.0
         with:
           name: digest-${{ matrix.version }}-${{ matrix.arch }}
           path: ${{ runner.temp }}/digests/*
 
   merge:
-    needs: build
-    if: github.repository_owner == 'Homebrew' && needs.build.outputs.push == 'true'
+    needs: [generate-tags, build]
+    if: github.repository_owner == 'Homebrew'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        version: ["18.04", "20.04", "22.04", "24.04"]
+        version: ${{ fromJSON(needs.generate-tags.outputs.matrix) }}
     steps:
       - name: Set up Docker Buildx
         uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@6524bf65af31da8d45b59e8c27de4bd072b392f5 # v3.8.0
@@ -205,6 +266,15 @@ jobs:
           username: BrewTestBot
           password: ${{ secrets.HOMEBREW_BREW_GITHUB_PACKAGES_TOKEN }}
 
+      - name: Export TAGS and VERSION to environment
+        env:
+          TAGS: ${{ needs.generate-tags.outputs.tags }}
+          VERSION: ${{ matrix.version }}
+        run: |
+          filter="$(printf '.["%s"]' "${VERSION}")"
+          echo "TAGS=$(jq --raw-output "${filter}" <<<"${TAGS}")" >>"${GITHUB_ENV}"
+          echo "VERSION=${VERSION}" >>"${GITHUB_ENV}"
+
       - name: Merge and push Docker image
         run: |
           tag_args=()
@@ -213,10 +283,9 @@ jobs:
             tag_args+=("--tag=${tag}")
           done <<<"${TAGS}"
 
-          docker buildx imagetools create \
-            "${tag_args[@]}" \
-            "ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${VERSION}@sha256:$(cat "${RUNNER_TEMP}/digests/${VERSION}-x86_64")" \
-            "ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${VERSION}@sha256:$(cat "${RUNNER_TEMP}/digests/${VERSION}-arm64")"
-        env:
-          TAGS: ${{ needs.build.outputs.tags }}
-          VERSION: ${{ matrix.version }}
+          image_args=("ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${VERSION}@sha256:$(<"${RUNNER_TEMP}/digests/${VERSION}-x86_64")")
+          if [[ "${VERSION}" != 18.04 ]]; then
+            image_args+=("ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu${VERSION}@sha256:$(<"${RUNNER_TEMP}/digests/${VERSION}-arm64")")
+          fi
+
+          docker buildx imagetools create "${tag_args[@]}" "${image_args[@]}"