diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/build-image.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/build-image.yaml
index f718323..5ad4be2 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/build-image.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/build-image.yaml
@@ -13,35 +13,21 @@ on:
         default: minimal
         options: [minimal, workstation, both]
 
-jobs:
-  # Which variants to build. Pushes and PRs build minimal only — it is the fast
-  # one and it exercises the entire pipeline. Tags build everything.
-  prepare:
-    runs-on: metal
-    outputs:
-      variants: ${{ steps.pick.outputs.variants }}
-    steps:
-      - id: pick
-        run: |
-          if [ "${{ startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/') }}" = "true" ]; then
-            variants='["minimal","workstation"]'
-          else
-            case "${{ inputs.variant }}" in
-              both)        variants='["minimal","workstation"]' ;;
-              workstation) variants='["workstation"]' ;;
-              *)           variants='["minimal"]' ;;
-            esac
-          fi
-          echo "variants=$variants" | tee -a "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+# Deliberately no strategy.matrix here.
+#
+# The obvious shape for this is a `prepare` job emitting a JSON list and a
+# matrix built from `fromJSON(needs.prepare.outputs.variants)`. Gitea's runner
+# evaluates strategy.matrix when it plans the workflow — before `needs` has run
+# — so that expression resolves to an empty string and you get exactly one job
+# leg with an empty variant. The prepare job succeeds and sets its output
+# correctly; the matrix simply never sees it.
+#
+# Looping in shell is less elegant and entirely reliable.
 
+jobs:
   build:
-    needs: prepare
     runs-on: metal
     timeout-minutes: 600
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        variant: ${{ fromJSON(needs.prepare.outputs.variants) }}
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -79,39 +65,65 @@ jobs:
       # that has not built before starts cold.
       - name: Prepare persistent build state
         run: |
-          echo "CACHE_DIR=/var/tmp/c630-build/dnf"   >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-          echo "WORK_DIR=/var/tmp/c630-build/work"   >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-          mkdir -p /var/tmp/c630-build/{dnf,work}
+          echo "CACHE_DIR=/var/tmp/c630-build/dnf" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          echo "WORK_DIR=/var/tmp/c630-build/work" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          mkdir -p /var/tmp/c630-build/dnf /var/tmp/c630-build/work
           # Keep it bounded: drop cached rpms nothing has touched in a month.
           find /var/tmp/c630-build/dnf -type f -atime +30 -delete 2>/dev/null || true
           du -sh /var/tmp/c630-build/* 2>/dev/null || true
 
+      - name: Select variants
+        run: |
+          if [ "${{ startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/') }}" = "true" ]; then
+            variants="minimal workstation"
+          else
+            case "${{ inputs.variant }}" in
+              both)        variants="minimal workstation" ;;
+              workstation) variants="workstation" ;;
+              *)           variants="minimal" ;;
+            esac
+          fi
+          echo "VARIANTS=$variants" | tee -a "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
       - name: Build
         run: |
-          case "${{ matrix.variant }}" in
-            workstation) size=16384 ;;
-            *)           size=8192  ;;
-          esac
-          # No --fresh: the stamp in stage2.sh hashes the package lists, so a
-          # change there invalidates the staged base on its own. Checkout is
-          # shallow here anyway, so diffing against HEAD~1 would not be reliable.
-          ./build/build-image.sh \
-            --variant "${{ matrix.variant }}" \
-            --size "$size" \
-            --cache "$CACHE_DIR" \
-            --work "$WORK_DIR"
+          rc=0
+          for variant in $VARIANTS; do
+            case "$variant" in
+              workstation) size=16384 ;;
+              *)           size=8192  ;;
+            esac
+            echo "::group::build $variant (${size} MiB)"
+            # No --fresh: the stamp in stage2.sh hashes the package lists, so a
+            # change there invalidates the staged base on its own.
+            if ./build/build-image.sh \
+                 --variant "$variant" \
+                 --size "$size" \
+                 --cache "$CACHE_DIR" \
+                 --work "$WORK_DIR"; then
+              echo "$variant ok"
+            else
+              echo "::error::build failed for $variant"
+              rc=1
+            fi
+            echo "::endgroup::"
+          done
+          exit $rc
 
       - name: Checksums
-        run: cat output/*.sha256
+        if: always()
+        run: cat output/*.sha256 2>/dev/null || echo "no images produced"
 
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        if: always()
         with:
-          name: fedora-${{ matrix.variant }}-lenovo-yoga-c630
+          name: fedora-lenovo-yoga-c630
           path: |
             output/*.img.zst
             output/*.sha256
           retention-days: 14
           compression-level: 0   # already zstd
+          if-no-files-found: warn
 
       - name: Attach to release
         if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')