diff --git a/.docker/sphinx-latex/Dockerfile b/.docker/sphinx-latex/Dockerfile
index d4c28364b85..0ac6a4ca836 100644
--- a/.docker/sphinx-latex/Dockerfile
+++ b/.docker/sphinx-latex/Dockerfile
@@ -25,6 +25,6 @@ RUN apt-get update \
   && mktexlsr \
   && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-# Allow pip to install packages system-wide inside the container (used by
-# actions/setup-python and plain pip invocations running as root)
+# Allow pip to install packages system-wide inside the container when running
+# as root (avoids PEP 668 "externally managed environment" error)
 RUN printf '[global]\nbreak-system-packages = true\n' > /etc/pip.conf
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker-build.yml b/.github/workflows/docker-build.yml
index a6839cef93b..5a600952ba3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-build.yml
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ permissions:
   packages: write
 
 jobs:
-  build-and-push:
-    name: Build and push sphinx-latex image
+  build-and-publish:
+    name: Build and publish sphinx-latex Docker image
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
     steps:
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ jobs:
             type=raw,value=latest,enable={{is_default_branch}}
             type=sha,prefix=sha-
 
-      - name: Build and push Docker image
+      - name: Build and publish Docker image
         uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f # v7.1.0
         with:
           context: .docker/sphinx-latex
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sphinxbuild.yml b/.github/workflows/sphinxbuild.yml
index 13a837a93c6..f6426bd15a0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sphinxbuild.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sphinxbuild.yml
@@ -15,62 +15,15 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
-  setup-latex-cache:
-    name: Cache LaTeX packages
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Configure apt cache
-        run: |
-          mkdir -p ${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/archives
-          mkdir -p ${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/lists
-          echo 'Dir::Cache::archives "${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/archives";' | sudo tee /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/apt-cache-tmp
-
-      - name: Cache LaTeX apt packages
-        id: cache-latex-apt
-        uses: actions/cache@668228422ae6a00e4ad889ee87cd7109ec5666a7 # v5.0.4
-        with:
-          path: |
-            ${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/archives
-            ${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/lists
-          key: latex-apt-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-ubuntu-24.04-texlive-2023-v2
-          restore-keys: |
-            latex-apt-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-ubuntu-24.04-
-            latex-apt-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-
-          lookup-only: true
-
-      - name: Download LaTeX packages (cache miss only)
-        if: steps.cache-latex-apt.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
-        run: |
-          for i in 1 2 3; do
-            sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get update \
-              -o Dir::State::lists="${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/lists" \
-              -o Acquire::Retries=3 && break
-            echo "apt-get update failed (attempt $i), retrying in 15s..."
-            sleep 15
-          done
-          sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
-            --download-only \
-            -o Dir::State::lists="${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/lists" \
-            python3-pil python3-pip texlive-fonts-recommended latexmk \
-            texlive-latex-extra texlive-latex-recommended texlive-xetex \
-            texlive-fonts-extra-links texlive-fonts-extra xindy tex-gyre
-          # Ensure downloaded packages are owned by the current user so they can be cached
-          sudo chown -R $(id -u):$(id -g) ${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/
-
-      - name: Save LaTeX apt cache (cache miss only)
-        if: steps.cache-latex-apt.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
-        uses: actions/cache/save@668228422ae6a00e4ad889ee87cd7109ec5666a7 # v5.0.4
-        with:
-          path: |
-            ${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/archives
-            ${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/lists
-          key: latex-apt-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-ubuntu-24.04-texlive-2023-v2
-
-  build:
-    name: Build ${{ matrix.manual.name }}
+  # ============================================================================
+  # BUILD HTML
+  # ============================================================================
+  # Builds the HTML documentation for all manuals. No LaTeX required.
+  # Starts immediately without waiting for any setup job.
+  # ============================================================================
+  build-html:
+    name: Building ${{ matrix.manual.name }} HTML
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: setup-latex-cache
 
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
@@ -80,7 +33,6 @@ jobs:
             directory: "user_manual"
             make_target: "html"
             build_path: "_build/html"
-            build_pdf_path: "_build/latex"
             publish: true
 
           - name: "user_manual-en"
@@ -99,68 +51,73 @@ jobs:
             directory: "admin_manual"
             make_target: "html"
             build_path: "_build/html/com"
-            build_pdf_path: "_build/latex"
             publish: true
 
     steps:
-      - name: Cache git metadata
-        uses: actions/cache@668228422ae6a00e4ad889ee87cd7109ec5666a7 # v5.0.4
-        with:
-          path: .git
-          key: git-metadata-${{ github.sha }}
-          restore-keys: |
-            git-metadata-${{ github.sha }}
-            git-metadata
-
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
 
-      - uses: actions/setup-python@a309ff8b426b58ec0e2a45f0f869d46889d02405 # v6.2.0
+      - name: Set up Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@a309ff8b426b58ec0e2a45f0f869d46889d02405 # v6.2.0
         with:
           python-version: "3.13"
           cache: "pip"
 
       - name: Install pip dependencies
-        run: pip install -r requirements.txt
+        run: python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
 
-      - name: Configure apt cache
-        if: ${{ matrix.manual.build_pdf_path }}
-        run: |
-          mkdir -p ${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/archives
-          mkdir -p ${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/lists
-          echo 'Dir::Cache::archives "${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/archives";' | sudo tee /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/apt-cache-tmp
+      - name: Build html documentation
+        run: cd ${{ matrix.manual.directory }} && make ${{ matrix.manual.make_target }}
 
-      - name: Restore LaTeX apt cache
-        if: ${{ matrix.manual.build_pdf_path }}
-        uses: actions/cache/restore@668228422ae6a00e4ad889ee87cd7109ec5666a7 # v5.0.4
+      - name: Upload static documentation
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
+        if: ${{ matrix.manual.publish }}
         with:
-          # Use relative path https://github.com/actions/cache/issues/1127
-          path: |
-            ${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/archives
-            ${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/lists
-          key: latex-apt-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-ubuntu-24.04-texlive-2023-v2
-          restore-keys: |
-            latex-apt-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-ubuntu-24.04-
-            latex-apt-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}-
-
-      - name: Install LaTeX from cache
-        if: ${{ matrix.manual.build_pdf_path }}
-        timeout-minutes: 5
-        run: |
-          debs=(${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/archives/*.deb)
-          if [ ! -e "${debs[0]}" ]; then
-            echo "No .deb files found in cache archives — cache may be empty or missing." >&2
-            exit 1
-          fi
-          sudo dpkg -i --force-depends "${debs[@]}"
-          sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -f -y --no-install-recommends \
-            -o Dir::State::lists="${{ runner.temp }}/.cache/lists"
+          name: ${{ matrix.manual.name }}
+          path: ${{ matrix.manual.directory }}/${{ matrix.manual.build_path }}
 
-      - name: Build html documentation
-        run: cd ${{ matrix.manual.directory }} && make ${{ matrix.manual.make_target }}
+  # ============================================================================
+  # BUILD PDF
+  # ============================================================================
+  # Builds the PDF documentation using the pre-built sphinx-latex Docker image.
+  # The image already contains all LaTeX packages, so no apt install is needed.
+  # Starts immediately without waiting for any setup job.
+  # ============================================================================
+  build-pdf:
+    name: Building ${{ matrix.manual.name }} PDF
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    # Use the pre-built sphinx-latex image which has all LaTeX packages pre-installed.
+    # The image is built from .docker/sphinx-latex/Dockerfile by the docker-build.yml workflow
+    # and published to GHCR. Using latest ensures we always use the current image for this repo.
+    container: ghcr.io/nextcloud/documentation/sphinx-latex:latest
+
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        manual:
+          - name: "user_manual"
+            directory: "user_manual"
+            build_pdf_path: "_build/latex/Nextcloud_User_Manual.pdf"
+
+          - name: "admin_manual"
+            directory: "admin_manual"
+            build_pdf_path: "_build/latex/Nextcloud_Server_Administration_Manual.pdf"
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
+
+      - name: Set up Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@a309ff8b426b58ec0e2a45f0f869d46889d02405 # v6.2.0
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.13"
+          # pip cache is not compatible with the Docker container
+          # cache: "pip"
+
+      - name: Install pip dependencies
+        run: python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
 
       - name: Compute PDF release version
-        if: ${{ matrix.manual.build_pdf_path }}
         id: pdf_version
         run: |
           branch="${GITHUB_REF#refs/heads/}"
@@ -171,7 +128,6 @@ jobs:
           fi
 
       - name: Build pdf documentation
-        if: ${{ matrix.manual.build_pdf_path }}
         env:
           DOCS_RELEASE: ${{ steps.pdf_version.outputs.release }}
         run: |
@@ -179,14 +135,12 @@ jobs:
           cd ${{ matrix.manual.directory }}
           make latexpdf
           ls -la ${{ matrix.manual.build_pdf_path }}
-          cp ${{ matrix.manual.build_pdf_path }}/*.pdf ${{ matrix.manual.build_path }}/
 
-      - name: Upload static documentation
+      - name: Upload PDF documentation
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
-        if: ${{ matrix.manual.publish }}
         with:
-          name: ${{ matrix.manual.name }}
-          path: ${{ matrix.manual.directory }}/${{ matrix.manual.build_path }}
+          name: ${{ matrix.manual.name }}-pdf
+          path: ${{ matrix.manual.directory }}/${{ matrix.manual.build_pdf_path }}
 
   # ============================================================================
   # STAGE AND VALIDATE
@@ -203,7 +157,7 @@ jobs:
   # ============================================================================
   stage-and-check:
     name: Stage and check documentation
-    needs: build
+    needs: [build-html, build-pdf]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
     outputs:
@@ -223,15 +177,6 @@ jobs:
       additional_deployment: ${{ steps.branch.outputs.additional_deployment }}
 
     steps:
-      - name: Cache git metadata
-        uses: actions/cache@668228422ae6a00e4ad889ee87cd7109ec5666a7 # v5.0.4
-        with:
-          path: .git
-          key: git-metadata-${{ github.sha }}
-          restore-keys: |
-            git-metadata-${{ github.sha }}
-            git-metadata
-
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
 
@@ -249,22 +194,6 @@ jobs:
       # 2. Merge in the new artifacts (what we're about to deploy)
       # 3. Run link checks only on the NEW content, but with full context
       # ========================================================================
-      # ========================================================================
-      # FETCH GH-PAGES FOR LINK VALIDATION CONTEXT
-      # ========================================================================
-      # We need the existing gh-pages content (old versions) so that link
-      # validation can resolve cross-version references. We use git cache
-      # to make this fast.
-      # ========================================================================
-      - name: Cache git metadata for gh-pages
-        uses: actions/cache@668228422ae6a00e4ad889ee87cd7109ec5666a7 # v5.0.4
-        with:
-          path: .git
-          key: git-metadata-${{ github.sha }}
-          restore-keys: |
-            git-metadata-${{ github.sha }}
-            git-metadata
-
       - name: Checkout gh-pages branch for validation context
         uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
         with:
@@ -402,15 +331,6 @@ jobs:
       pull-requests: write
 
     steps:
-      - name: Cache git metadata
-        uses: actions/cache@668228422ae6a00e4ad889ee87cd7109ec5666a7 # v5.0.4
-        with:
-          path: .git
-          key: git-metadata-${{ github.sha }}
-          restore-keys: |
-            git-metadata-${{ github.sha }}
-            git-metadata
-
       - name: Checkout gh-pages branch
         uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
         with:
@@ -526,7 +446,7 @@ jobs:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.COMMAND_BOT_PAT }}
 
   summary:
-    needs: [build, stage-and-check, deploy]
+    needs: [build-html, build-pdf, stage-and-check, deploy]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest-low
     if: always()
 
@@ -540,10 +460,10 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           if ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}
           then
-            echo "This workflow ran for a pull request. We need build and stage-and-check to succeed, but deploy will be skipped"
-            if ${{ needs.build.result != 'success' || needs.stage-and-check.result != 'success' || needs.deploy.result != 'skipped' }}; then exit 1; fi
+            echo "This workflow ran for a pull request. We need build-html, build-pdf and stage-and-check to succeed, but deploy will be skipped"
+            if ${{ needs.build-html.result != 'success' || needs.build-pdf.result != 'success' || needs.stage-and-check.result != 'success' || needs.deploy.result != 'skipped' }}; then exit 1; fi
           else
             echo "This workflow ran for a push. We need all jobs to succeed, including deploy"
-            if ${{ needs.build.result != 'success' || needs.stage-and-check.result != 'success' || needs.deploy.result != 'success' }}; then exit 1; fi
+            if ${{ needs.build-html.result != 'success' || needs.build-pdf.result != 'success' || needs.stage-and-check.result != 'success' || needs.deploy.result != 'success' }}; then exit 1; fi
           fi