diff --git a/docker-publish/action.yml b/docker-publish/action.yml
index 793fc92..0de4a96 100644
--- a/docker-publish/action.yml
+++ b/docker-publish/action.yml
@@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
 name: Build & publish Docker image
 description: >-
-  Build a Docker image and push it to this Forgejo instance's container
-  registry. Reimplements docker/login-action + docker/metadata-action +
-  docker/build-push-action in plain shell using the docker CLI — no
-  marketplace actions are fetched or run.
+  Build a Docker image with BuildKit (buildx) and push it to this Forgejo
+  instance's container registry. Reimplements docker/login-action +
+  docker/metadata-action + docker/setup-buildx-action + docker/build-push-action
+  in plain shell using the docker CLI and a statically-installed buildx plugin —
+  no marketplace actions are fetched or run.
+
+  BuildKit (not the legacy builder) is required: the runners share one host
+  Docker daemon across replicas, and the legacy builder corrupts layers under
+  that concurrency ("failed to get layer ... layer does not exist"). buildx
+  builds in an isolated buildkitd container, which is robust against it.
 
 inputs:
   context:
@@ -61,6 +67,30 @@ runs:
         fi
         docker --version
 
+        # --- Ensure the buildx plugin exists (static binary, not a marketplace action) ---
+        if ! docker buildx version >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+          case "$(uname -m)" in
+            x86_64) BX_ARCH=amd64 ;;
+            aarch64|arm64) BX_ARCH=arm64 ;;
+            *) BX_ARCH="$(uname -m)" ;;
+          esac
+          mkdir -p /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins
+          curl -fsSL --retry 3 --retry-connrefused \
+            "https://github.com/docker/buildx/releases/download/v0.19.3/buildx-v0.19.3.linux-${BX_ARCH}" \
+            -o /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-buildx
+          chmod +x /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-buildx
+        fi
+        docker buildx version
+
+        # A host-networked buildkit builder so it can reach the registry on 127.0.0.1
+        # (buildkit treats loopback registries as insecure/HTTP automatically). A fixed
+        # name lets concurrent jobs share one builder and its cache; the inspect||create
+        # guard tolerates the create race between simultaneous jobs.
+        docker buildx inspect ci >/dev/null 2>&1 \
+          || docker buildx create --name ci --driver docker-container --driver-opt network=host >/dev/null 2>&1 \
+          || true
+        docker buildx use ci
+
         # --- Resolve the registry host (canonical form of the block copy-pasted across repos) ---
         host="${INPUT_REGISTRY_HOST:-${CONTAINER_REGISTRY_HOST:-$SERVER_URL}}"
         host="${host#https://}"; host="${host#http://}"; host="${host%/}"
@@ -91,16 +121,19 @@ runs:
           [ -n "$a" ] && extra+=( --build-arg "$a" )
         done <<< "${INPUT_BUILD_ARGS}"
 
-        # --- Build ---
-        docker build "${extra[@]}" \
+        # --- Log in before building so buildx can push directly (skipped on PRs) ---
+        if [ "${INPUT_PUSH}" = "true" ]; then
+          printf '%s' "${INPUT_TOKEN}" | docker login "$host" -u "$OWNER" --password-stdin
+          output=( --push )
+        else
+          # Pull-request builds validate the Dockerfile without producing/pushing an image.
+          output=()
+        fi
+
+        # --- Build (and push when requested) with BuildKit ---
+        docker buildx build "${extra[@]}" "${output[@]}" \
           --label "org.opencontainers.image.source=${SERVER_URL}/${REPO}" \
           --label "org.opencontainers.image.revision=${SHA}" \
           --label "org.opencontainers.image.created=$(date -u +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')" \
           "${tags[@]}" \
           "${INPUT_CONTEXT}"
-
-        # --- Push (skipped on pull requests by passing push: false) ---
-        if [ "${INPUT_PUSH}" = "true" ]; then
-          printf '%s' "${INPUT_TOKEN}" | docker login "$host" -u "$OWNER" --password-stdin
-          docker push --all-tags "$image"
-        fi