diff --git a/ci-automation/image.sh b/ci-automation/image.sh
index f45b78eaac..92e9a22cd5 100644
--- a/ci-automation/image.sh
+++ b/ci-automation/image.sh
@@ -84,11 +84,17 @@ function _image_build_impl() {
             official_arg="--noofficial"
     fi
 
+    local torcx_root_tar="torcx_root.tar.zst"
     apply_local_patches
+    copy_from_buildcache "images/${arch}/${vernum}/torcx/${torcx_root_tar}" .
+
     # build image and related artifacts
     ./run_sdk_container -x ./ci-cleanup.sh -n "${image_container}" -C "${packages_image}" \
             -v "${vernum}" \
-            mkdir -p "${CONTAINER_IMAGE_ROOT}"
+            mkdir -p "${CONTAINER_IMAGE_ROOT}" "${CONTAINER_TORCX_ROOT}"
+    ./run_sdk_container -n "${image_container}" -C "${packages_image}" \
+            -v "${vernum}" \
+            tar --zstd -xf "${torcx_root_tar}" -C "${CONTAINER_TORCX_ROOT}"
     ./run_sdk_container -n "${image_container}" -C "${packages_image}" \
             -v "${vernum}" \
             ./set_official --board="${arch}-usr" "${official_arg}"
diff --git a/ci-automation/packages.sh b/ci-automation/packages.sh
index add6fc3c61..1d4faf42c8 100644
--- a/ci-automation/packages.sh
+++ b/ci-automation/packages.sh
@@ -123,6 +123,11 @@ function _packages_build_impl() {
     # generate image + push to build cache
     docker_commit_to_buildcache "${packages_container}" "${packages_image}" "${docker_vernum}"
 
+    # publish torcx output root for consumption by build_image
+    local torcx_root_tar="torcx_root.tar.zst"
+    tar --zstd -cpf "${torcx_root_tar}" -C "${torcx_tmp}/torcx" .
+    copy_to_buildcache "images/${arch}/${vernum}/torcx" "${torcx_root_tar}"
+
     # Publish torcx manifest and docker tarball to "images" cache so tests can pull it later.
     create_digests "${SIGNER}" \
         "${torcx_tmp}/torcx/${arch}-usr/latest/torcx_manifest.json" \