diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index 1679ae433f..39ecdcd68e 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -568,6 +568,7 @@ RUN dnf install -y numactl-devel \
 ARG PYTORCH_NIGHTLY
 
 # Install development dependencies
+COPY requirements/common.txt requirements/common.txt
 COPY requirements/lint.txt requirements/lint.txt
 COPY requirements/test/cuda.in requirements/test/cuda.in
 COPY requirements/test/cuda.txt requirements/test/cuda.txt
@@ -593,7 +594,7 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/opt/uv/cache \
 #################### DEV IMAGE ####################
 #################### vLLM installation IMAGE ####################
 # image with vLLM installed
-FROM ${FINAL_BASE_IMAGE} AS vllm-base
+FROM ${FINAL_BASE_IMAGE} AS vllm-runtime-base
 
 ARG CUDA_VERSION
 ARG PYTHON_VERSION
@@ -790,6 +791,8 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/opt/uv/cache \
 # VLLM INSTALLATION (depends on build stage)
 # ============================================================
 
+FROM vllm-runtime-base AS vllm-base
+
 ARG PIP_INDEX_URL UV_INDEX_URL
 ARG PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL UV_EXTRA_INDEX_URL
 ARG PYTORCH_CUDA_INDEX_BASE_URL
@@ -849,11 +852,8 @@ COPY benchmarks benchmarks
 COPY ./vllm/collect_env.py .
 #################### vLLM installation IMAGE ####################
 #################### TEST IMAGE ####################
-# image to run unit testing suite
-# note that this uses vllm installed by `pip`
-FROM vllm-base AS test
-
-ADD . /vllm-workspace/
+# Stable dependencies for the unit testing image
+FROM vllm-runtime-base AS test-deps
 
 ARG PYTHON_VERSION
 ARG TARGETPLATFORM
@@ -861,6 +861,7 @@ ARG TARGETPLATFORM
 ARG PIP_INDEX_URL UV_INDEX_URL
 ARG PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL UV_EXTRA_INDEX_URL
 ARG PYTORCH_CUDA_INDEX_BASE_URL
+ARG PIP_KEYRING_PROVIDER UV_KEYRING_PROVIDER
 
 # This timeout (in seconds) is necessary when installing some dependencies via uv since it's likely to time out
 # Reference: https://github.com/astral-sh/uv/pull/1694
@@ -876,6 +877,7 @@ RUN apt-get update -y \
 ARG PYTORCH_NIGHTLY
 
 # Install development dependencies (for testing)
+COPY requirements/common.txt requirements/common.txt
 COPY requirements/lint.txt requirements/lint.txt
 COPY requirements/test/cuda.in requirements/test/cuda.in
 COPY requirements/test/cuda.txt requirements/test/cuda.txt
@@ -906,6 +908,53 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/opt/uv/cache \
         fi \
     fi
 
+# image to run unit testing suite
+# note that this uses vllm installed by `pip`
+FROM test-deps AS test
+
+ARG PYTHON_VERSION
+
+ARG PIP_INDEX_URL UV_INDEX_URL
+ARG PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL UV_EXTRA_INDEX_URL
+ARG PYTORCH_CUDA_INDEX_BASE_URL
+ARG PIP_KEYRING_PROVIDER UV_KEYRING_PROVIDER
+
+# We can specify the standard or nightly build of PyTorch
+ARG PYTORCH_NIGHTLY
+
+# Install vLLM and EP kernel wheels after the stable test dependencies so
+# source-only changes do not invalidate the dependency layers above.
+COPY --from=base /workspace/torch_lib_versions.txt torch_lib_versions.txt
+COPY --from=build /workspace/dist/wheel.sha256 /tmp/vllm-wheel.sha256
+RUN --mount=type=bind,from=build,src=/workspace/dist,target=/vllm-workspace/dist \
+    --mount=type=cache,target=/opt/uv/cache \
+    if [ "${PYTORCH_NIGHTLY}" = "1" ]; then \
+        echo "Installing torch nightly..." \
+        && uv pip install --system $(cat torch_lib_versions.txt | xargs) --pre \
+        --index-url ${PYTORCH_CUDA_INDEX_BASE_URL}/nightly/cu$(echo $CUDA_VERSION | cut -d. -f1,2 | tr -d '.') \
+        && echo "Installing vLLM..." \
+        && uv pip install --system dist/*.whl --verbose \
+        --extra-index-url ${PYTORCH_CUDA_INDEX_BASE_URL}/nightly/cu$(echo $CUDA_VERSION | cut -d. -f1,2 | tr -d '.'); \
+    else \
+        echo "Installing vLLM..." \
+        && uv pip install --system dist/*.whl --verbose \
+        --extra-index-url ${PYTORCH_CUDA_INDEX_BASE_URL}/cu$(echo $CUDA_VERSION | cut -d. -f1,2 | tr -d '.'); \
+    fi
+
+# Pytorch now installs NVSHMEM, setting LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/cuda/lib64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+
+COPY --from=build /tmp/ep_kernels_workspace/dist/wheels.sha256 /tmp/ep-kernels-wheels.sha256
+RUN --mount=type=bind,from=build,src=/tmp/ep_kernels_workspace/dist,target=/vllm-workspace/ep_kernels/dist \
+    --mount=type=cache,target=/opt/uv/cache \
+    uv pip install --system ep_kernels/dist/*.whl --verbose \
+        --extra-index-url ${PYTORCH_CUDA_INDEX_BASE_URL}/cu$(echo $CUDA_VERSION | cut -d. -f1,2 | tr -d '.')
+
+# See the matching comment in the vllm-base stage.
+ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/nvidia/lib64:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
+
+ADD . /vllm-workspace/
+
 # install development dependencies (for testing)
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/opt/uv/cache \
     uv pip install --system -e tests/vllm_test_utils
diff --git a/docs/assets/contributing/dockerfile-stages-dependency.png b/docs/assets/contributing/dockerfile-stages-dependency.png
index 46da6142a7..510bf7e2b1 100644
Binary files a/docs/assets/contributing/dockerfile-stages-dependency.png and b/docs/assets/contributing/dockerfile-stages-dependency.png differ
diff --git a/docs/contributing/dockerfile/dockerfile.md b/docs/contributing/dockerfile/dockerfile.md
index 14184b9693..38e5c9a17b 100644
--- a/docs/contributing/dockerfile/dockerfile.md
+++ b/docs/contributing/dockerfile/dockerfile.md
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ The edges of the build graph represent:
 
 - `RUN --mount=(.\*)from=...` dependencies (with a dotted line and an empty diamond arrow head)
 
+The `test-deps` stage branches from `vllm-runtime-base` so Git and the test
+requirements remain cached independently of per-commit vLLM wheels and source.
+
   > <figure markdown="span">
   >   ![](../../assets/contributing/dockerfile-stages-dependency.png){ align="center" alt="query" width="100%" }
   > </figure>
@@ -28,6 +31,7 @@ The edges of the build graph represent:
   > ```bash
   > dockerfilegraph \
   >   -o png \
+  >   --concentrate \
   >   --legend \
   >   --dpi 200 \
   >   --max-label-length 50 \
@@ -47,6 +51,7 @@ The edges of the build graph represent:
   >    --dpi 200 \
   >    --max-label-length 50 \
   >    --filename docker/Dockerfile \
+  >    --concentrate \
   >    --legend
   > ```
   >
diff --git a/tools/pre_commit/update-dockerfile-graph.sh b/tools/pre_commit/update-dockerfile-graph.sh
index dc2b263014..3ed546db51 100755
--- a/tools/pre_commit/update-dockerfile-graph.sh
+++ b/tools/pre_commit/update-dockerfile-graph.sh
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ if printf '%s\n' "${FILES[@]}" | grep -q "^docker/Dockerfile$"; then
     --dpi 200 \
     --max-label-length 50 \
     --filename docker/Dockerfile \
+    --concentrate \
     --legend
   
   echo "Finding generated PNG file..."