diff --git a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/release-checklist.md b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/release-checklist.md
index 774eda60df1..1f010c13a07 100644
--- a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/release-checklist.md
+++ b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/release-checklist.md
@@ -158,10 +158,7 @@ The end of support height is calculated from the current blockchain height:
       and put the output in a comment on the PR.
 
 ## Publish Docker Images
-- [ ] Wait until [the Docker images have been published](https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/zebra/actions/workflows/release-binaries.yml)
-- [ ] Test the Docker image using `docker run --tty --interactive zfnd/zebra:v1.0.0`,
-      and put the output in a comment on the PR.
-      (You can use [gcloud cloud shell](https://console.cloud.google.com/home/dashboard?cloudshell=true))
+- [ ] Wait for the [the Docker images to be published successfully](https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/zebra/actions/workflows/release-binaries.yml).
 - [ ] Un-freeze the [`batched` queue](https://dashboard.mergify.com/github/ZcashFoundation/repo/zebra/queues) using Mergify.
 
 ## Release Failures
diff --git a/.github/workflows/continous-delivery.patch.yml b/.github/workflows/continous-delivery.patch.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4dbc98652a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/continous-delivery.patch.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+name: CD
+
+on:
+  # Only patch the Docker image test jobs
+  pull_request:
+    paths-ignore:
+      # code and tests
+      - '**/*.rs'
+      # hard-coded checkpoints and proptest regressions
+      - '**/*.txt'
+      # dependencies
+      - '**/Cargo.toml'
+      - '**/Cargo.lock'
+      # configuration files
+      - '.cargo/config.toml'
+      - '**/clippy.toml'
+      # workflow definitions
+      - 'docker/**'
+      - '.dockerignore'
+      - '.github/workflows/continous-delivery.yml'
+      - '.github/workflows/find-cached-disks.yml'
+
+
+jobs:
+  # Also patched by continous-integration-docker.patch.yml, which has a different paths-ignore
+  build:
+    name: Build CI Docker / Build images
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: 'echo "No build required"'
+
+  test-configuration-file:
+    name: Test Zebra default Docker config file
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - run: 'echo "No build required"'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/continous-delivery.yml b/.github/workflows/continous-delivery.yml
index 15c8c08a615..aee4e80e8b2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/continous-delivery.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/continous-delivery.yml
@@ -6,9 +6,12 @@ name: CD
 #
 # Since the different event types each use a different Managed Instance Group or instance,
 # we can run different event types concurrently.
+#
+# For pull requests, we only run the tests from this workflow, and don't do any deployments.
+# So an in-progress pull request gets cancelled, just like other tests.
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.event_name }}-${{ github.ref }}
-  cancel-in-progress: false
+  cancel-in-progress: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}
 
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
@@ -25,14 +28,52 @@ on:
         required: false
         type: boolean
         default: false
+
   # Temporarily disabled to reduce network load, see #6894.
   #push:
   #  branches:
   #    - main
+  #  paths:
+  #    # code and tests
+  #    - '**/*.rs'
+  #    # hard-coded checkpoints and proptest regressions
+  #    - '**/*.txt'
+  #    # dependencies
+  #    - '**/Cargo.toml'
+  #    - '**/Cargo.lock'
+  #    # configuration files
+  #    - '.cargo/config.toml'
+  #    - '**/clippy.toml'
+  #    # workflow definitions
+  #    - 'docker/**'
+  #    - '.dockerignore'
+  #    - '.github/workflows/continous-delivery.yml'
+  #    - '.github/workflows/build-docker-image.yml'
+
+  # Only runs the Docker image tests, doesn't deploy any instances
+  pull_request:
+    paths:
+      # code and tests
+      - '**/*.rs'
+      # hard-coded checkpoints and proptest regressions
+      - '**/*.txt'
+      # dependencies
+      - '**/Cargo.toml'
+      - '**/Cargo.lock'
+      # configuration files
+      - '.cargo/config.toml'
+      - '**/clippy.toml'
+      # workflow definitions
+      - 'docker/**'
+      - '.dockerignore'
+      - '.github/workflows/continous-delivery.yml'
+      - '.github/workflows/find-cached-disks.yml'
+
   release:
     types:
       - published
 
+
 jobs:
   # If a release was made we want to extract the first part of the semver from the
   # tag_name
diff --git a/.github/workflows/continous-integration-docker.patch.yml b/.github/workflows/continous-integration-docker.patch.yml
index b3cf3a8b537..489d75b01b3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/continous-integration-docker.patch.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/continous-integration-docker.patch.yml
@@ -19,8 +19,10 @@ on:
       - '**/clippy.toml'
       # workflow definitions
       - 'docker/**'
+      - '.dockerignore'
       - '.github/workflows/continous-integration-docker.yml'
       - '.github/workflows/deploy-gcp-tests.yml'
+      - '.github/workflows/find-cached-disks.yml'
       - '.github/workflows/build-docker-image.yml'
 
 jobs:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/continous-integration-docker.yml b/.github/workflows/continous-integration-docker.yml
index 40d2313a894..902218ef266 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/continous-integration-docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/continous-integration-docker.yml
@@ -80,10 +80,11 @@ on:
       - '**/clippy.toml'
       # workflow definitions
       - 'docker/**'
+      - '.dockerignore'
       - '.github/workflows/continous-integration-docker.yml'
       - '.github/workflows/deploy-gcp-tests.yml'
-      - '.github/workflows/build-docker-image.yml'
       - '.github/workflows/find-cached-disks.yml'
+      - '.github/workflows/build-docker-image.yml'
 
 jobs:
   # to also run a job on Mergify head branches,