diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml
index c2c83a675bb..3c8093ed657 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/integration-tests.yml
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ jobs:
             tag-suffix: ""
             cache-scope: core
             # todo: optimize this conditional
-            should-build: >-
+            any-should-run: >-
               ${{
                 needs.run-core-e2e-tests-setup.outputs.should-run == 'true' ||
                 needs.run-ccip-e2e-tests-setup.outputs.should-run == 'true' ||
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ jobs:
             tag-suffix: -plugins
             cache-scope: plugins
             # todo: optimize this conditional
-            should-build: >-
+            any-should-run: >-
               ${{
                 needs.run-core-e2e-tests-setup.outputs.should-run == 'true' ||
                 needs.run-ccip-e2e-tests-setup.outputs.should-run == 'true' ||
@@ -257,24 +257,31 @@ jobs:
           tag: ${{ inputs.evm-ref || env.CHAINLINK_REF }}${{ matrix.image.tag-suffix }}
           aws-role-arn: ${{ secrets.QA_AWS_ROLE_TO_ASSUME }}
 
-      - name: Explain
+      - name: Explain build/no-build decision
+        id: explain
         env:
-          SHOULD_BUILD: ${{ matrix.image.should-build }}
+          EVENT_NAME: ${{ github.event_name }}
+          REF_NAME: ${{ github.ref_name }}
+          ANY_SHOULD_RUN: ${{ matrix.image.any-should-run }}
           IMAGE_EXISTS: ${{ steps.check-image-exists.outputs.exists }}
         run: |
-          if [[ "${SHOULD_BUILD}" == 'true' && "${IMAGE_EXISTS}" == 'false' ]]; then
-            echo "We will build the image because the matrix's should-build is true and the image does not already exist in ECR."
-            echo "Should build is true when:"
-              echo "- For the non-plugins image: the core tests, ccip tests, or solana tests will be run."
-              echo "- For the plugins image: the core cre e2e tests will be run."
+          if [[ "${EVENT_NAME}" == "push" && "${REF_NAME}" == "develop" ]]; then
+            echo "We force build on pushes to develop to populate the docker layer cache."
+            echo "build-image=true" | tee -a "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          elif [[ "${ANY_SHOULD_RUN}" == "true" && "${IMAGE_EXISTS}" != "true" ]]; then
+            echo "We will build the image because the matrix's any-should-run is true and the image does not already exist in ECR."
+            echo "any-should-run is true when:"
+            echo "  - For the non-plugins image: the core tests, ccip tests, or solana tests will be run."
+            echo "  - For the plugins image: the core cre e2e tests will be run."
+
+            echo "build-image=true" | tee -a "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           else
-            echo "We will not build the image because either the matrix's should-build is false or the image already exists in ECR."
-            echo "should-build: ${SHOULD_BUILD}"
-            echo "image-exists: ${IMAGE_EXISTS}"
+            echo "We will not build the image because either the matrix's any-should-run is false or the image already exists in ECR."
+            echo "build-image=false" | tee -a "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           fi
 
       - name: Checkout the repo
-        if: matrix.image.should-build && steps.check-image-exists.outputs.exists != 'true'
+        if: steps.explain.outputs.build-image == 'true'
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
@@ -282,7 +289,7 @@ jobs:
           ref: ${{ env.CHAINLINK_REF }}
 
       - name: Build Chainlink Image
-        if: matrix.image.should-build && steps.check-image-exists.outputs.exists != 'true'
+        if: steps.explain.outputs.build-image == 'true'
         uses: smartcontractkit/.github/actions/ctf-build-image@ctf-build-image/v1
         with:
           image-tag: ${{ inputs.evm-ref || env.CHAINLINK_REF }}${{ matrix.image.tag-suffix }}