diff --git a/.github/actions/base_images/action.yml b/.github/actions/base_images/action.yml
index 0a90d2cd..96b65ce5 100644
--- a/.github/actions/base_images/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/base_images/action.yml
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
 ---
 name: Build Base Images
-description: Build the base images (pulp/base & pulp/pulp-ci-centos9)
+description: Build the base images (pulp/base & pulp/pulp-ci-centos9) if needed
 # Both ARM64 & x86-64 versions of each are built
-# Save the images to a tar and upload to a cache using output 'pulp_ci_centos_id' as the key
+# Use hashFiles(base_image_files, pulp-ci_image_files) + python_version as the key to the cache
 inputs:
   python_version:
     required: true
     description: "Python Version to use to build, e.g '3.9'"
 outputs:
-  pulp_ci_centos_id:
-    value: ${{ steps.pulp_ci_centos_id.outputs.pulp_ci_centos_id }}
+  base_cache_key:
+    value: ${{ steps.hash_key.outputs.base_cache_key }}
     description: "The cache key the built images were uploaded to."
 
 runs:
@@ -17,24 +17,76 @@ runs:
   steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-    - name: Set the temporary image tag
+    - name: Calculate base images hash
+      id: hash_key
       run: |
-        temp_base_tag="${GITHUB_REF_NAME%/*}"
-        python_version="${{ inputs.python_version }}"
-        echo "Building $temp_base_tag with python $python_version"
-        echo "TEMP_BASE_TAG=${temp_base_tag}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "PYTHON_VERSION=${python_version}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        hash=${{ hashFiles('images/Containerfile.core.base', 'images/pulp_ci_centos/Containerfile', 'images/assets/**', 'images/s6_assets/**') }}
+        echo "base image hash is ${hash}, python version is ${{ inputs.python_version }}"
+        echo "base_cache_key=${hash}-${{ inputs.python_version }}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+      shell: bash
+
+    - name: Restore previously cached images
+      id: cache
+      uses: actions/cache/restore@v3
+      with:
+        key: base-images=${{ steps.hash_key.outputs.base_cache_key }}
+        path: base-images.tar.gz
+
+    - name: Extract images if cached
+      if: steps.cache.outputs.cache-hit == 'true'
+      run: |
+        echo "Base Images were in cache"
+        podman load -i base-images.tar.gz
+      shell: bash
+
+    - name: Check for updates on cached images
+      if: steps.cache.outputs.cache-hit == 'true'
+      run: |
+        # Enable running/building ARM64 images: https://github.com/multiarch/qemu-user-static
+        sudo podman run --rm --privileged multiarch/qemu-user-static --reset -p yes
+        IMAGES=()
+        for IMAGE in base pulp-ci-centos9; do
+          for ARCH in arm64 amd64; do
+            echo "Checking if rebuild needed for ${IMAGE}:${ARCH}"
+            podman run --pull=never pulp/${IMAGE}:ci-${ARCH} bash -c "dnf check-upgrade"
+            if [ $? -gt 0 ]; then
+              echo "Rebuild needed for ${IMAGE}:${ARCH}"
+              IMAGES+=('${IMAGE}:${ARCH}')
+            fi
+          done
+        done
+        if [ ${#IMAGES[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
+          echo "No rebuilds needed :)"
+        else
+          echo "BUILD_IMAGES=[$(echo ${IMAGES[@]} | sed 's/ /, /g')]" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        fi
+      shell: bash
+
+    - name: Set images to build on cache miss
+      if: steps.cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+      run: |
+        echo "BUILD_IMAGES=['base:arm64', 'base:amd64', 'pulp-ci-centos9:arm64', 'pulp-ci-centos9:amd64']" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        sudo podman run --rm --privileged multiarch/qemu-user-static --reset -p yes
       shell: bash
 
     - name: Build images
+      if: env.BUILD_IMAGES
       run: |
+        IMAGES=(${{ join(fromJSON(env.BUILD_IMAGES), ' ') }})
+        echo "Going to build images: ${IMAGES[@]}"
         podman version
         buildah version
-        sudo podman run --rm --privileged multiarch/qemu-user-static --reset -p yes
-        for ARCH in arm64 amd64
-        do
-          podman build --platform linux/$ARCH --format docker --file images/Containerfile.core.base --tag pulp/base:${TEMP_BASE_TAG}-${ARCH} --build-arg PYTHON_VERSION=${PYTHON_VERSION} .
-          podman build --platform linux/$ARCH --format docker --file images/pulp_ci_centos/Containerfile --tag pulp/pulp-ci-centos9:${TEMP_BASE_TAG}-${ARCH} --build-arg FROM_TAG=${TEMP_BASE_TAG}-${ARCH} .
+        for IMAGE in "${IMAGES[@]}"; do
+          echo "Building image ${IMAGE}"
+          ARCH=${IMAGE##*:}
+          case $IMAGE in
+            base:*)
+              podman build --platform "linux/${ARCH}" --format docker --file images/Containerfile.core.base --tag "pulp/base:ci-${ARCH}" --build-arg PYTHON_VERSION=${{ inputs.python_version }} .
+              ;;
+            pulp-ci-centos9:*)
+              podman build --platform "linux/${ARCH}" --format docker --file images/pulp_ci_centos/Containerfile --tag "pulp/pulp-ci-centos9:ci-${ARCH}" --build-arg FROM_TAG="ci-${ARCH}" .
+              ;;
+          esac
         done
       shell: bash
     # we use the docker format (default), even though it may not be the fastest,
@@ -43,20 +95,16 @@ runs:
     # We should look into whether its possible to export just pulp-ci-centos,
     # and tag the base image manually.
     - name: Save podman images to tarball
-      id: pulp_ci_centos_id
+      if: env.BUILD_IMAGES
       run: |
-        podman save -m -o base-images.tar pulp/base:${TEMP_BASE_TAG}-arm64 pulp/base:${TEMP_BASE_TAG}-amd64 pulp/pulp-ci-centos9:${TEMP_BASE_TAG}-arm64 pulp/pulp-ci-centos9:${TEMP_BASE_TAG}-amd64
-        # The id is unique to the image build (not the Containerfile) and will be used in the cache key
-        # If a workflow completes successfully, every workflow will generate a new cache.
-        # And if we re-run the entire workflow ("Re-run all jobs"), it will generate a new cache too.
-        # If we re-run a failed app-images job, it will use the existing cache from base-images
-        id=$(podman image inspect --format '{{ .Id }}' pulp/pulp-ci-centos9:${TEMP_BASE_TAG}-amd64)
-        echo "pulp_ci_centos_id=${id}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-        echo "pulp_ci_centos_id=${id}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+        rm -f base-images.tar.gz
+        podman save -m -o base-images.tar pulp/base:ci-arm64 pulp/base:ci-amd64 pulp/pulp-ci-centos9:ci-arm64 pulp/pulp-ci-centos9:ci-amd64
+        gzip base-images.tar
       shell: bash
 
     - name: Cache podman images
+      if: env.BUILD_IMAGES
       uses: actions/cache/save@v3
       with:
-        key: base-images=${{ env.pulp_ci_centos_id }}
-        path: base-images.tar
+        key: base-images=${{ steps.hash_key.outputs.base_cache_key }}
+        path: base-images.tar.gz
diff --git a/.github/actions/build_image/action.yml b/.github/actions/build_image/action.yml
index efb3d4c5..cfbda5b5 100644
--- a/.github/actions/build_image/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/build_image/action.yml
@@ -19,30 +19,12 @@ outputs:
   app_branch:
     value: ${{ steps.image_version_branch.outputs.app_branch }}
     description: 'The pulpcore version branch that the built image matches'
-  app_arch_tag:
-    value: ${{ steps.image_tags.outputs.app_arch_tag }}
-    description: 'The temporary amd64 arch tag of the app image'
 
 runs:
   using: "composite"
   steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-    - name: Set the temporary image tags
-      id: image_tags
-      run: |
-        if [ "${{ inputs.image_variant }}" == "nightly" ]; then
-          temp_app_tag="nightly"
-        else
-          temp_app_tag="${GITHUB_REF_NAME%/*}"
-        fi
-        temp_base_tag="${GITHUB_REF_NAME%/*}"
-        echo "Building $temp_app_tag from base $temp_base_tag"
-        echo "TEMP_APP_TAG=${temp_app_tag}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "TEMP_BASE_TAG=${temp_base_tag}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "app_arch_tag=${temp_app_tag}-amd64" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-      shell: bash
-
     - name: Set up Python
       uses: actions/setup-python@v4
 
@@ -50,23 +32,11 @@ runs:
       uses: actions/cache/restore@v3
       with:
         key: base-images=${{ inputs.image_cache_key }}
-        path: base-images.tar
+        path: base-images.tar.gz
 
     - name: Load podman images from tarball
       run: |
-        podman load -i base-images.tar
-      shell: bash
-
-    - name: Install httpie and podman-compose
-      run: |
-        echo "HTTPIE_CONFIG_DIR=$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/.ci/assets/httpie/" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "Working around https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libpod/+bug/2024394"
-        curl -O http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/golang-github-containernetworking-plugins/containernetworking-plugins_1.1.1+ds1-3_amd64.deb
-        sudo dpkg -i containernetworking-plugins_1.1.1+ds1-3_amd64.deb
-        # Ubuntu 22.04 has old podman 3.4.4, we need podman-compose==1.0.3 to avoid an
-        # error with dependency contianers not being detected as running.
-        # "error generating dependency graph for container"
-        pip install httpie podman-compose==1.0.3
+        podman load -i base-images.tar.gz
       shell: bash
 
     - name: Build images
@@ -78,10 +48,10 @@ runs:
         do
           if [[ "${{ inputs.image_name }}" == "pulp-minimal" || "${{ inputs.image_name }}" == "galaxy-minimal" ]]; then
             base_image=$(echo ${{ inputs.image_name }} | cut -d '-' -f1)
-            podman build --platform linux/${ARCH} --format docker --pull=false --file images/${{ inputs.image_name }}/${{ inputs.image_variant }}/Containerfile.core --tag pulp/${{ inputs.image_name }}:${TEMP_APP_TAG}-${ARCH} --build-arg FROM_TAG=${TEMP_BASE_TAG}-${ARCH} .
-            podman build --platform linux/${ARCH} --format docker --pull=false --file images/${{ inputs.image_name }}/${{ inputs.image_variant }}/Containerfile.webserver --tag pulp/${base_image}-web:${TEMP_APP_TAG}-${ARCH} --build-arg FROM_TAG=${TEMP_APP_TAG}-${ARCH} .
+            podman build --platform linux/${ARCH} --format docker --pull=false --file images/${{ inputs.image_name }}/${{ inputs.image_variant }}/Containerfile.core --tag pulp/${{ inputs.image_name }}:ci-${ARCH} --build-arg FROM_TAG=ci-${ARCH} .
+            podman build --platform linux/${ARCH} --format docker --pull=false --file images/${{ inputs.image_name }}/${{ inputs.image_variant }}/Containerfile.webserver --tag pulp/${base_image}-web:ci-${ARCH} --build-arg FROM_TAG=ci-${ARCH} .
           else
-            podman build --platform linux/${ARCH} --format docker --pull=false --file images/${{ inputs.image_name }}/${{ inputs.image_variant }}/Containerfile --tag pulp/${{ inputs.image_name }}:${TEMP_APP_TAG}-${ARCH} --build-arg FROM_TAG=${TEMP_BASE_TAG}-${ARCH} .
+            podman build --platform linux/${ARCH} --format docker --pull=false --file images/${{ inputs.image_name }}/${{ inputs.image_variant }}/Containerfile --tag pulp/${{ inputs.image_name }}:ci-${ARCH} --build-arg FROM_TAG=ci-${ARCH} .
           fi
         done
         podman images -a
@@ -96,7 +66,7 @@ runs:
         else
           pip_name="galaxy-ng"
         fi
-        app_version=$(podman run --pull=never pulp/${{ inputs.image_name }}:${TEMP_APP_TAG}-amd64 bash -c "pip3 show ${pip_name} | sed -n -e 's/Version: //p'")
+        app_version=$(podman run --pull=never pulp/${{ inputs.image_name }}:ci-amd64 bash -c "pip3 show ${pip_name} | sed -n -e 's/Version: //p'")
         app_branch=$(echo ${app_version} | grep -oP '\d+\.\d+')
 
         echo "APP_VERSION: ${app_version}"
diff --git a/.github/actions/publish_images/action.yml b/.github/actions/publish_images/action.yml
index 9cd9fd00..c09ab46c 100644
--- a/.github/actions/publish_images/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/publish_images/action.yml
@@ -5,9 +5,6 @@ inputs:
   image_names:
     description: 'Names of the images to be published'
     required: true
-  build_tag:
-    description: 'Current tag of the local built container'
-    required: true
   tags:
     description: 'List of tags the images are to be published under'
     required: true
@@ -56,7 +53,7 @@ runs:
         for registry in ghcr.io docker.io quay.io; do
           for image in ${{ inputs.image_names }}; do
             for tag in ${{ inputs.tags }}; do
-              podman manifest create ${registry}/pulp/${image}:${tag} containers-storage:localhost/pulp/${image}:${{ inputs.build_tag }}-amd64 containers-storage:localhost/pulp/${image}:${{ inputs.build_tag }}-arm64
+              podman manifest create ${registry}/pulp/${image}:${tag} containers-storage:localhost/pulp/${image}:ci-amd64 containers-storage:localhost/pulp/${image}:ci-arm64
               podman manifest push --all ${registry}/pulp/${image}:${tag} ${registry}/pulp/${image}:${tag}
             done
           done
diff --git a/.github/actions/test_image/action.yml b/.github/actions/test_image/action.yml
index 2e24f264..365dce96 100644
--- a/.github/actions/test_image/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/test_image/action.yml
@@ -12,18 +12,27 @@ inputs:
   app_branch:
     description: 'The branch the app was built on'
     required: true
-  app_arch_tag:
-    description: 'The temporary amd64 arch tag of the built app image'
-    required: true
 
 runs:
   using: "composite"
   steps:
+    - name: Install httpie and podman-compose
+      run: |
+        echo "HTTPIE_CONFIG_DIR=$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/.ci/assets/httpie/" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "Working around https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libpod/+bug/2024394"
+        curl -O http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/golang-github-containernetworking-plugins/containernetworking-plugins_1.1.1+ds1-3_amd64.deb
+        sudo dpkg -i containernetworking-plugins_1.1.1+ds1-3_amd64.deb
+        # Ubuntu 22.04 has old podman 3.4.4, we need podman-compose==1.0.3 to avoid an
+        # error with dependency contianers not being detected as running.
+        # "error generating dependency graph for container"
+        pip install httpie podman-compose==1.0.3
+      shell: bash
+
     - name: Test image with upgrade in s6 mode (pulp)
       if: inputs.image_name == 'pulp'
       run: |
         # 3.20 has postgres 12 rather than 13
-        images/s6_assets/test.sh "pulp/${{ inputs.image_name }}:${{ inputs.app_arch_tag }}" http "quay.io/pulp/all-in-one-pulp:3.20"
+        images/s6_assets/test.sh "pulp/${{ inputs.image_name }}:ci-amd64" http "quay.io/pulp/all-in-one-pulp:3.20"
         podman stop pulp
         podman rm pulp
       shell: bash
@@ -31,7 +40,7 @@ runs:
     - name: Test the image in s6 mode (galaxy)
       if: inputs.image_name == 'galaxy'
       run: |
-        images/s6_assets/test.sh "pulp/${{ inputs.image_name }}:${{ inputs.app_arch_tag }}" https
+        images/s6_assets/test.sh "pulp/${{ inputs.image_name }}:ci-amd64" https
         podman stop pulp
         podman rm pulp
       shell: bash
@@ -48,8 +57,8 @@ runs:
           fi
         else
           FILE="compose.yml"
-          WEB_TAG="${{ inputs.app_arch_tag }}"
+          WEB_TAG="ci-amd64"
         fi
         base_image=$(echo ${{ inputs.image_name }} | cut -d '-' -f1)
-        images/compose/test.sh "${{ inputs.image_name }}:${{ inputs.app_arch_tag }}" "${base_image}-web:${WEB_TAG}" $FILE
+        images/compose/test.sh "${{ inputs.image_name }}:ci-amd64" "${base_image}-web:${WEB_TAG}" $FILE
       shell: bash
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 45aeae7b..7daefa98 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     outputs:
       image_variants: "${{ steps.image_variants.outputs.image_variants }}"
-      pulp_ci_centos_id: "${{ steps.build_base_images.outputs.pulp_ci_centos_id }}"
+      base_cache_key: "${{ steps.build_base_images.outputs.base_cache_key }}"
     steps:
       # We do not want to build nightly images unless it's a PR to the latest branch,
       # or a branch/dispatch build on the latest branch.
@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@ jobs:
     outputs:
       app_version: ${{ steps.build_image.outputs.app_version }}
       app_branch: ${{ steps.build_image.outputs.app_branch }}
-      app_arch_tag: ${{ steps.build_image.outputs.app_arch_tag }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -95,7 +94,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           image_name: ${{ matrix.image_name }}
           image_variant: ${{ matrix.image_variant }}
-          image_cache_key: ${{ needs.base-images.outputs.pulp_ci_centos_id }}
+          image_cache_key: ${{ needs.base-images.outputs.base_cache_key }}
 
       - name: Test App Image
         uses: "./.github/actions/test_image"
@@ -103,7 +102,6 @@ jobs:
           image_name: ${{ matrix.image_name }}
           image_variant: ${{ matrix.image_variant }}
           app_branch: ${{ steps.build_image.outputs.app_branch }}
-          app_arch_tag: ${{ steps.build_image.outputs.app_arch_tag }}
 
       - name: Logs
         if: always()
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 7e6f715e..3751d51b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ jobs:
   base-images:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     outputs:
-      pulp_ci_centos_id: ${{ steps.build_base_images.outputs.pulp_ci_centos_id }}
+      base_cache_key: ${{ steps.build_base_images.outputs.base_cache_key }}
       image_variants: ${{ steps.image_variants.outputs.image_variants }}
 
     steps:
@@ -138,7 +138,6 @@ jobs:
         with:
           image_names: "base pulp-ci-centos9"
           tags: ${{ env.TAGS }}
-          build_tag: ${{ github.ref_name }}
           github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           docker_bot_username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_BOT_USERNAME }}
           docker_bot_password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_BOT_PASSWORD }}
@@ -151,7 +150,6 @@ jobs:
     outputs:
       app_version: ${{ steps.build_image.outputs.app_version }}
       app_branch: ${{ steps.build_image.outputs.app_branch }}
-      app_arch_tag: ${{ steps.build_image.outputs.app_arch_tag }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -170,7 +168,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           image_name: ${{ matrix.image_name }}
           image_variant: ${{ matrix.image_variant }}
-          image_cache_key: ${{ needs.base-images.outputs.pulp_ci_centos_id }}
+          image_cache_key: ${{ needs.base-images.outputs.base_cache_key }}
 
       - name: Test App Image
         uses: "./.github/actions/test_image"
@@ -178,7 +176,6 @@ jobs:
           image_name: ${{ matrix.image_name }}
           image_variant: ${{ matrix.image_variant }}
           app_branch: ${{ steps.build_image.outputs.app_branch }}
-          app_arch_tag: ${{ steps.build_image.outputs.app_arch_tag }}
 
       - name: Set tags
         run: |
@@ -211,7 +208,6 @@ jobs:
         with:
           image_names: ${{ env.IMAGES }}
           tags: ${{ env.TAGS }}
-          build_tag: ${{ matrix.image_variant == 'nightly' && 'nightly' || github.ref_name }}
           github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           docker_bot_username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_BOT_USERNAME }}
           docker_bot_password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_BOT_PASSWORD }}