diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_docker_layers.yaml b/.github/workflows/build_docker_layers.yaml
index 107a44e4..7560f8e9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_docker_layers.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_docker_layers.yaml
@@ -8,41 +8,12 @@ on:
   pull_request:
     branches:
       - develop
-    paths:
-      - 'dockerfiles/requirements.txt'
-      - 'dockerfiles/Dockerfile.dependencies'
-      - 'dockerfiles/Dockerfile'
-      - '.github/workflows/build_docker_layers.yaml'
-  workflow_dispatch:
-    inputs:
-      force_rebuild_dependencies:
-        description: 'Force rebuild of dependencies image'
-        required: false
-        type: boolean
-        default: false
 jobs:
   build-dependencies:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       contents: read
       packages: write
-    # Only build dependencies:
-    #   if manually triggered with force flag
-    #   on tag push
-    #   on push to default branch AND dependency files changed
-    if: |
-      (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && github.event.inputs.force_rebuild_dependencies == 'true') ||
-      github.ref_type == 'tag' ||
-      (github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == format('refs/heads/{0}', github.event.repository.default_branch) &&
-        github.event.head_commit != null &&
-        (
-          contains(github.event.head_commit.modified, 'dockerfiles/requirements.txt') ||
-          contains(github.event.head_commit.added, 'dockerfiles/requirements.txt') ||
-          contains(github.event.head_commit.modified, 'dockerfiles/Dockerfile.dependencies') ||
-          contains(github.event.head_commit.added, 'dockerfiles/Dockerfile.dependencies') ||
-          contains(github.event.head_commit.modified, 'dockerfiles/Dockerfile') ||
-          contains(github.event.head_commit.added, 'dockerfiles/Dockerfile')
-        ))
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
@@ -81,11 +52,8 @@ jobs:
     permissions:
       contents: read
       packages: write
-    # Always run, but depend on dependencies job if it ran
-    needs: [build-dependencies]
-    if: |
-      always() &&
-      (needs.build-dependencies.result == 'success' || needs.build-dependencies.result == 'skipped')
+    needs:
+      - build-dependencies
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
diff --git a/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.dependencies b/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.dependencies
index f5516bba..e9b42d0f 100644
--- a/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.dependencies
+++ b/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.dependencies
@@ -42,22 +42,26 @@ RUN echo "Installing https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DUNE-DAQ/ers/${ERSVERSION
     && touch ${VENV_PATH}/ers/__init__.py \
     && protoc --python_out=${VENV_PATH}/ers issue.proto \
     && rm -f issue.proto \
+    && mv ${VENV_PATH}/ers ${VENV_PATH}/lib/python*/site-packages \
     && echo "Installing https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DUNE-DAQ/opmonlib/${OPMONLIBVERSION}/schema/opmonlib/opmon_entry.proto" \
     && curl -fSL -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DUNE-DAQ/opmonlib/$OPMONLIBVERSION/schema/opmonlib/opmon_entry.proto \
     && mkdir -p ${VENV_PATH}/opmonlib \
     && touch ${VENV_PATH}/opmonlib/__init__.py \
     && protoc --python_out=${VENV_PATH}/opmonlib -I${APP_ROOT} opmon_entry.proto \
-    && rm -f opmon_entry.proto
+    && rm -f opmon_entry.proto \
+    && mv ${VENV_PATH}/opmonlib ${VENV_PATH}/lib/python*/site-packages
 
 # fetch ERS python bindings
 RUN mkdir -p ${VENV_PATH}/erskafka \
     && touch ${VENV_PATH}/erskafka/__init__.py \
     && echo "Installing https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DUNE-DAQ/erskafka/$ERSKAFKAVERSION/python/erskafka/ERSSubscriber.py" \
     && curl -fSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DUNE-DAQ/erskafka/$ERSKAFKAVERSION/python/erskafka/ERSSubscriber.py -o ${VENV_PATH}/erskafka/ERSSubscriber.py \
+    && mv ${VENV_PATH}/erskafka ${VENV_PATH}/lib/python*/site-packages \
     && mkdir -p ${VENV_PATH}/kafkaopmon \
     && touch ${VENV_PATH}/kafkaopmon/__init__.py \
     && echo "Installing https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DUNE-DAQ/kafkaopmon/${KAFKAOPMONVERSION}/python/kafkaopmon/OpMonSubscriber.py" \
-    && curl -fSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DUNE-DAQ/kafkaopmon/$KAFKAOPMONVERSION/python/kafkaopmon/OpMonSubscriber.py -o ${VENV_PATH}/kafkaopmon/OpMonSubscriber.py
+    && curl -fSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DUNE-DAQ/kafkaopmon/$KAFKAOPMONVERSION/python/kafkaopmon/OpMonSubscriber.py -o ${VENV_PATH}/kafkaopmon/OpMonSubscriber.py \
+    && mv ${VENV_PATH}/kafkaopmon ${VENV_PATH}/lib/python*/site-packages
 
 # elisa_client_api and CERN kerberos needed by the logbook microservice at NP04
 COPY cern.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/
diff --git a/elisa-logbook/elisa-logbook-deployment.yaml b/elisa-logbook/elisa-logbook-deployment.yaml
index c4437e9c..9dfacc5f 100644
--- a/elisa-logbook/elisa-logbook-deployment.yaml
+++ b/elisa-logbook/elisa-logbook-deployment.yaml
@@ -66,8 +66,6 @@ spec:
                 secretKeyRef:
                   key: password
                   name: elisa-logbook-secret
-            - name: APP_DATA
-              value: /opt/data
           ports:
             - containerPort: 5005
               name: http
diff --git a/opmon-protobuf-dbwriter/opmon-dbwriter-deployment.yaml b/opmon-protobuf-dbwriter/opmon-dbwriter-deployment.yaml
index cee632c7..c09c4431 100644
--- a/opmon-protobuf-dbwriter/opmon-dbwriter-deployment.yaml
+++ b/opmon-protobuf-dbwriter/opmon-dbwriter-deployment.yaml
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ spec:
               value: opmon-protobuf-dbwriter
             - name: OPMON_DBWRITER_SUBSCRIBER_TIMEOUT_MS
               value: "5000"
+            - name: OPMON_DBWRITER_BATCH_SIZE_MS
+              value: "800"
             - name: OPMON_DBWRITER_TOPIC
               value: opmon_stream
             - name: DATABASE_URI
@@ -64,8 +66,6 @@ spec:
                 secretKeyRef:
                   key: uri
                   name: influxdbv1-readwrite-password
-            - name: OPMON_DBWRITER_BATCH_SIZE_MS
-              value: "800"
           resources:
             limits:
               memory: 1Gi
diff --git a/runregistry-rest/runregistry-rest-deployment.yaml b/runregistry-rest/runregistry-rest-deployment.yaml
index e3fe8c03..a6dea226 100644
--- a/runregistry-rest/runregistry-rest-deployment.yaml
+++ b/runregistry-rest/runregistry-rest-deployment.yaml
@@ -52,8 +52,6 @@ spec:
           env:
             - name: MICROSERVICE
               value: runregistry-rest
-            - name: APP_DATA
-              value: /opt/data
             - name: DATABASE_URI
               valueFrom:
                 secretKeyRef: