diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-deploy.yml
index 658a881fc8a..f41e9eb8b93 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-deploy.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     # NOTE (DP): Publish on develop and master, test on PRs against these
     # TODO(DP) Reinstate CRONed release builds to update stock apps regularly
-    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/develop' || github.ref == 'refs/heads/master' || github.base_ref ==  'develop' || github.base_ref ==  'master'
+    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/develop' || github.ref == 'refs/heads/develop-6.x.x' || github.base_ref ==  'develop' || github.base_ref ==  'develop-6.x.x'
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ jobs:
         run: mvn -q -Ddocker.tag=latest -Ddocker.username=$DOCKER_USERNAME -Ddocker.password=$DOCKER_PASSWORD docker:build docker:push
         working-directory: ./exist-docker
       - name: Publish release images
-        if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/master'
+        if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/develop-6.x.x'
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           DOCKER_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
diff --git a/exist-docker/pom.xml b/exist-docker/pom.xml
index cf4cecd9283..ef890769434 100644
--- a/exist-docker/pom.xml
+++ b/exist-docker/pom.xml
@@ -220,13 +220,14 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>io.fabric8</groupId>
                 <artifactId>docker-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>0.40.3</version>
+                <version>0.45.1</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <verbose>true</verbose>
                     <pushRegistry>registry.hub.docker.com</pushRegistry>
                     <images>
                         <image>
                             <name>existdb/existdb:%v</name>
+                            <registry>registry.hub.docker.com</registry>
                             <alias>exist</alias>
                             <build>
                                 <buildx>
@@ -243,6 +244,7 @@
                         </image>
                         <image>
                             <name>existdb/existdb:%v-DEBUG</name>
+                            <registry>registry.hub.docker.com</registry>
                             <alias>exist-debug</alias>
                             <build>
                                 <buildx>
diff --git a/exist-docker/src/main/resources-filtered/Dockerfile b/exist-docker/src/main/resources-filtered/Dockerfile
index d4e5550daea..b0eefa05441 100644
--- a/exist-docker/src/main/resources-filtered/Dockerfile
+++ b/exist-docker/src/main/resources-filtered/Dockerfile
@@ -20,32 +20,20 @@
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
 #
 
-# Install latest JRE 8 in Debian Stretch (which is the base of gcr.io/distroless/java:8)
-FROM debian:stretch-slim as updated-jre
-RUN echo "deb http://archive.debian.org/debian stretch main" > /etc/apt/sources.list
-RUN echo "deb http://archive.debian.org/debian stretch-backports main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get -y dist-upgrade
-RUN apt-get install -y openjdk-8-jre-headless
-RUN apt-get install -y expat fontconfig     # Install tools required by FOP
+# Install latest JRE 8 in Debian bookworm (which is the base of gcr.io/distroless/java)
+FROM maven:3-eclipse-temurin-8 as updated-jre
 
-FROM gcr.io/distroless/java:8
+# RUN apt-get update && apt-get -y dist-upgrade
+# RUN apt install -y wget apt-transport-https gpg
+# RUN wget -qO - https://packages.adoptium.net/artifactory/api/gpg/key/public | gpg --dearmor | tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/adoptium.gpg > /dev/null
+# RUN echo "deb https://packages.adoptium.net/artifactory/deb $(awk -F= '/^VERSION_CODENAME/{print$2}' /etc/os-release) main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/adoptium.list
+# RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y temurin-8-jre
 
-# Copy over updated JRE from Debian Stretch
-COPY --from=updated-jre /etc/java-8-openjdk /etc/java-8-openjdk
-COPY --from=updated-jre /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64 /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64
-COPY --from=updated-jre /usr/share/gdb/auto-load/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64 /usr/share/gdb/auto-load/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64
+FROM gcr.io/distroless/java-base-debian12:latest
 
-# Copy over dependencies for Apache FOP, missing from GCR's JRE
-COPY --from=updated-jre /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfreetype.so.6 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfreetype.so.6
-COPY --from=updated-jre /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/liblcms2.so.2 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/liblcms2.so.2
-COPY --from=updated-jre /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng16.so.16 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng16.so.16
-COPY --from=updated-jre /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfontconfig.so.1 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfontconfig.so.1
-
-# Copy dependencies for Apache Batik (used by Apache FOP to handle SVG rendering)
-COPY --from=updated-jre /etc/fonts /etc/fonts
-COPY --from=updated-jre /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libexpat.so.1 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libexpat.so.1
-COPY --from=updated-jre /usr/share/fontconfig /usr/share/fontconfig
-COPY --from=updated-jre /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu
+ENV JAVA_HOME=/opt/java/openjdk
+COPY --from=updated-jre $JAVA_HOME $JAVA_HOME
+ENV PATH="${JAVA_HOME}/bin:${PATH}"
 
 # Copy eXist-db
 COPY LICENSE /exist/LICENSE
@@ -73,10 +61,10 @@ ARG CACHE_MEM
 ARG MAX_BROKER
 ARG JVM_MAX_RAM_PERCENTAGE
 
-ENV EXIST_HOME "/exist"
+ENV EXIST_HOME=/exist
 ENV CLASSPATH=/exist/lib/${exist.uber.jar.filename}
 
-ENV JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS \
+ENV JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="\
   -Dfile.encoding=UTF8 \
   -Dsun.jnu.encoding=UTF-8 \
   -Djava.awt.headless=true \
@@ -91,7 +79,7 @@ ENV JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS \
   -XX:+UseStringDeduplication \
   -XX:+UseContainerSupport \
   -XX:MaxRAMPercentage=${JVM_MAX_RAM_PERCENTAGE:-75.0} \
-  -XX:+ExitOnOutOfMemoryError
+  -XX:+ExitOnOutOfMemoryError"
 
 HEALTHCHECK CMD [ "java", \
     "org.exist.start.Main", "client", \
diff --git a/exist-docker/src/main/resources-filtered/Dockerfile-DEBUG b/exist-docker/src/main/resources-filtered/Dockerfile-DEBUG
index 4752eb6205d..f10f4f6281f 100644
--- a/exist-docker/src/main/resources-filtered/Dockerfile-DEBUG
+++ b/exist-docker/src/main/resources-filtered/Dockerfile-DEBUG
@@ -20,13 +20,14 @@
 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
 #
 
-# Use JDK 8 in Debian Stretch (as our production image gcr.io/distroless/java:8 is based on Debian Stretch with just a JRE)
-FROM debian:stretch-slim
-RUN echo "deb http://archive.debian.org/debian stretch main" > /etc/apt/sources.list
-RUN echo "deb http://archive.debian.org/debian stretch-backports main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
+# Use JDK 8 in Debian bookworm (as our production image gcr.io/distroless/ is based on Debian 12 with just a JRE)
+FROM debian:bookworm-slim as updated-jre
+
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get -y dist-upgrade
-RUN apt-get install -y openjdk-8-jdk-headless
-RUN apt-get install -y expat fontconfig     # Install tools required by FOP
+RUN apt install -y wget apt-transport-https gpg
+RUN wget -qO - https://packages.adoptium.net/artifactory/api/gpg/key/public | gpg --dearmor | tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/adoptium.gpg > /dev/null
+RUN echo "deb https://packages.adoptium.net/artifactory/deb $(awk -F= '/^VERSION_CODENAME/{print$2}' /etc/os-release) main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/adoptium.list
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y temurin-8-jdk
 
 # Copy eXist-db
 COPY LICENSE /exist/LICENSE
@@ -54,10 +55,10 @@ ARG MAX_BROKER
 ARG JVM_MAX_RAM_PERCENTAGE
 ARG JVM_JDWP_SUSPEND
 
-ENV EXIST_HOME "/exist"
+ENV EXIST_HOME=/exist
 ENV CLASSPATH=/exist/lib/${exist.uber.jar.filename}
 
-ENV JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS \
+ENV JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="\
   -Dfile.encoding=UTF8 \
   -Dsun.jnu.encoding=UTF-8 \
   -Djava.awt.headless=true \
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ ENV JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS \
   -XX:+UseContainerSupport \
   -XX:MaxRAMPercentage=${JVM_MAX_RAM_PERCENTAGE:-75.0} \
   -XX:+ExitOnOutOfMemoryError \
-  -agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=${JVM_JDWP_SUSPEND:-n},address=5005
+  -agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=${JVM_JDWP_SUSPEND:-n},address=5005"
 
 HEALTHCHECK CMD [ "java", \
     "org.exist.start.Main", "client", \