diff --git a/images/Dockerfile.bread-24.04 b/images/Dockerfile.bread-24.04
index 84ec11b..b9b1804 100644
--- a/images/Dockerfile.bread-24.04
+++ b/images/Dockerfile.bread-24.04
@@ -2,8 +2,13 @@
 
 FROM docker.io/library/ubuntu:24.04@sha256:4fbb8e6a8395de5a7550b33509421a2bafbc0aab6c06ba2cef9ebffbc7092d90
 
-RUN apt-get update && \
-    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y openssh-server && \
+# Skip man/doc/info install for every subsequent package -- dpkg's man-db
+# trigger is a major cost under qemu emulation (s390x / ppc64le). Persists in
+# the image fs, so the bread-chisel-releases install inherits the exclusion.
+RUN printf 'path-exclude /usr/share/man/*\npath-exclude /usr/share/doc/*\npath-exclude /usr/share/info/*\n' \
+        > /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/01-nodoc && \
+    apt-get update && \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends openssh-server && \
     mkdir /var/run/sshd || true && \
     echo 'root:bread' | chpasswd && \
     echo "PermitRootLogin yes" >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config && \
diff --git a/images/Dockerfile.bread-25.10 b/images/Dockerfile.bread-25.10
index 2f5bfb3..767eb82 100644
--- a/images/Dockerfile.bread-25.10
+++ b/images/Dockerfile.bread-25.10
@@ -2,8 +2,13 @@
 
 FROM docker.io/library/ubuntu:25.10@sha256:7cc5e35f6567ee8c66d2abb4aab0fd866669e6207c237c3a8f0947a5c7f17092
 
-RUN apt-get update && \
-    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y openssh-server && \
+# Skip man/doc/info install for every subsequent package -- dpkg's man-db
+# trigger is a major cost under qemu emulation (s390x / ppc64le). Persists in
+# the image fs, so the bread-chisel-releases install inherits the exclusion.
+RUN printf 'path-exclude /usr/share/man/*\npath-exclude /usr/share/doc/*\npath-exclude /usr/share/info/*\n' \
+        > /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/01-nodoc && \
+    apt-get update && \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends openssh-server && \
     mkdir /var/run/sshd || true && \
     echo 'root:bread' | chpasswd && \
     echo "PermitRootLogin yes" >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config && \
diff --git a/images/Dockerfile.bread-26.04 b/images/Dockerfile.bread-26.04
index dddd174..588c628 100644
--- a/images/Dockerfile.bread-26.04
+++ b/images/Dockerfile.bread-26.04
@@ -2,8 +2,13 @@
 
 FROM docker.io/library/ubuntu:26.04@sha256:651ba3fe3a830441e3deaf70fafac40d808a6bd2800a6f2c43130055159f23e6
 
-RUN apt-get update && \
-    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y openssh-server && \
+# Skip man/doc/info install for every subsequent package -- dpkg's man-db
+# trigger is a major cost under qemu emulation (s390x / ppc64le). Persists in
+# the image fs, so the bread-chisel-releases install inherits the exclusion.
+RUN printf 'path-exclude /usr/share/man/*\npath-exclude /usr/share/doc/*\npath-exclude /usr/share/info/*\n' \
+        > /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/01-nodoc && \
+    apt-get update && \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends openssh-server && \
     mkdir /var/run/sshd || true && \
     echo 'root:bread' | chpasswd && \
     echo "PermitRootLogin yes" >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config && \
diff --git a/images/Dockerfile.bread-26.10 b/images/Dockerfile.bread-26.10
index 394ccdf..13d7acf 100644
--- a/images/Dockerfile.bread-26.10
+++ b/images/Dockerfile.bread-26.10
@@ -2,8 +2,13 @@
 
 FROM docker.io/library/ubuntu:26.10@sha256:a7e5c4bad66bf263642da9a16207ed0fb80668a1f17d2e44c8c5e2cc0ce59346
 
-RUN apt-get update && \
-    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y openssh-server && \
+# Skip man/doc/info install for every subsequent package -- dpkg's man-db
+# trigger is a major cost under qemu emulation (s390x / ppc64le). Persists in
+# the image fs, so the bread-chisel-releases install inherits the exclusion.
+RUN printf 'path-exclude /usr/share/man/*\npath-exclude /usr/share/doc/*\npath-exclude /usr/share/info/*\n' \
+        > /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/01-nodoc && \
+    apt-get update && \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends openssh-server && \
     mkdir /var/run/sshd || true && \
     echo 'root:bread' | chpasswd && \
     echo "PermitRootLogin yes" >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config && \
diff --git a/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-24.04 b/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-24.04
index 9eff644..5a0b848 100644
--- a/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-24.04
+++ b/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-24.04
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ FROM bread:${BASE_TAG}
 ARG BUILD_ARCH
 
 RUN apt-get update && \
-    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
         curl wget git jq file sudo tree \
         skopeo iproute2 && \
     apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
diff --git a/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-25.10 b/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-25.10
index 024a02f..cda0585 100644
--- a/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-25.10
+++ b/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-25.10
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ FROM bread:${BASE_TAG}
 ARG BUILD_ARCH
 
 RUN apt-get update && \
-    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
         curl wget git jq file sudo tree \
         skopeo iproute2 && \
     apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
diff --git a/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-26.04 b/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-26.04
index 9512caf..8fc1544 100644
--- a/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-26.04
+++ b/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-26.04
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ FROM bread:${BASE_TAG}
 ARG BUILD_ARCH
 
 RUN apt-get update && \
-    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
         curl wget git jq file sudo tree \
         skopeo iproute2 && \
     apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
diff --git a/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-26.10 b/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-26.10
index 4e5bb81..541c279 100644
--- a/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-26.10
+++ b/images/Dockerfile.bread-chisel-releases-26.10
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ FROM bread:${BASE_TAG}
 ARG BUILD_ARCH
 
 RUN apt-get update && \
-    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
         curl wget git jq file sudo tree \
         skopeo iproute2 && \
     apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*