diff --git a/.github/actions/next-stats-action/Dockerfile b/.github/actions/next-stats-action/Dockerfile
index 9eb8e8b16d11..bddae70bfd56 100644
--- a/.github/actions/next-stats-action/Dockerfile
+++ b/.github/actions/next-stats-action/Dockerfile
@@ -1,18 +1,19 @@
 # syntax=docker.io/docker/dockerfile:1
 
-FROM ubuntu:22.04
+FROM ubuntu:24.04
 
 LABEL com.github.actions.name="Next.js PR Stats"
 LABEL com.github.actions.description="Compares stats of a PR with the main branch"
 LABEL repository="https://github.com/vercel/next-stats-action"
 
-RUN apt update && apt upgrade -y
-RUN apt install unzip wget curl nano htop screen build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev git build-essential zlib1g-dev libncurses5-dev libgdbm-dev libnss3-dev libreadline-dev libffi-dev python3 moreutils jq iproute2 openssh-server sudo whois dnsutils apache2-utils -y
+# use apt-get instead of apt, because apt does not have a stable CLI interface
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y
+RUN apt-get install unzip wget curl nano htop screen build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev git build-essential zlib1g-dev libncurses5-dev libgdbm-dev libnss3-dev libreadline-dev libffi-dev python3 moreutils jq iproute2 openssh-server sudo whois dnsutils apache2-utils -y
 
 RUN ln $(which python3) /usr/bin/python
 
 RUN curl -sfLS https://install-node.vercel.app/v20.9.0 | bash -s -- -f
-RUN npm i -g corepack@0.31
+RUN npm i -g corepack@0.34.6
 RUN corepack enable
 
 WORKDIR /next-stats
@@ -21,8 +22,8 @@ WORKDIR /next-stats
 COPY package.json ./
 RUN pnpm install --production
 
-# caching optimization
-COPY . .
+# Do this copy after the pnpm install to optimize docker caching
+COPY --exclude=node_modules . .
 
 RUN git config --global user.email 'stats@localhost' && \
     git config --global user.name 'next stats'
diff --git a/.github/actions/next-stats-action/src/index.js b/.github/actions/next-stats-action/src/index.js
index 666bf561fa49..0f66b85c6cff 100644
--- a/.github/actions/next-stats-action/src/index.js
+++ b/.github/actions/next-stats-action/src/index.js
@@ -110,25 +110,36 @@ if (!allowedActions.has(actionInfo.actionName) && !actionInfo.isRelease) {
       logger(`Running initial build for ${dir}`)
       if (!actionInfo.skipClone) {
         const usePnpm = existsSync(path.join(dir, 'pnpm-lock.yaml'))
+        if (usePnpm) {
+          // TODO: we can remove this explicit `corepack use` once Next.js
+          // 16.3 is released, but we must override it for now because 16.2 uses
+          // pnpm 9.6.0, which supports different arguments. `diffRepoDir`
+          // points to the most recent stable tag.
+          await exec.spawnPromise('corepack use pnpm@10.33.0', {
+            cwd: dir,
+          })
+        }
 
         if (!statsConfig.skipInitialInstall) {
-          await exec.spawnPromise(
-            `cd ${dir}${
-              usePnpm
-                ? // --no-frozen-lockfile is used here to tolerate lockfile
-                  // changes from merging latest changes
-                  // --package-import-method=copy avoids hardlink issues on
-                  // self-hosted runners, and the store is colocated with the
-                  // workdir to avoid EXDEV copy failures on overlayfs runners.
-                  ` && pnpm install --no-frozen-lockfile --package-import-method=copy --store-dir=${pnpmStoreDir}`
-                : ' && yarn install --network-timeout 1000000'
-            }`,
-            { env: { PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD: '1' } }
-          )
+          const command = usePnpm
+            ? 'pnpm install ' +
+              // tolerate lockfile changes from merging latest changes
+              '--no-frozen-lockfile ' +
+              // avoid hardlink issues on self-hosted runners,
+              '--package-import-method=clone-or-copy ' +
+              // the store is colocated with the workdir to avoid EXDEV copy
+              // failures on overlayfs runners.
+              `--store-dir=${pnpmStoreDir}`
+            : 'yarn install --network-timeout=1000000'
+          await exec.spawnPromise(command, {
+            env: { PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD: '1' },
+            cwd: dir,
+          })
 
           await exec.spawnPromise(
             statsConfig.initialBuildCommand ||
-              `cd ${dir} && ${usePnpm ? 'pnpm build' : 'echo built'}`
+              (usePnpm ? 'pnpm build' : 'echo built'),
+            { cwd: dir }
           )
         }
       }