diff --git a/.github/workflows/unified-docker.yml b/.github/workflows/unified-docker.yml
index c5fbf189..f7f36aea 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unified-docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unified-docker.yml
@@ -68,13 +68,6 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         backend: ${{ fromJSON(needs.setup.outputs.matrix) }}
-        variant:
-          - name: root
-            uid: "0"
-            suffix: ""
-          - name: rootless
-            uid: "10001"
-            suffix: "-rootless"
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -106,15 +99,14 @@ jobs:
           username: ${{ github.actor }}
           password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Build unified Docker image (${{ matrix.backend }}, ${{ matrix.variant.name }})
+      - name: Build unified Docker image (${{ matrix.backend }})
         env:
           LLAMA_REF: ${{ inputs.llama_cpp_ref || 'master' }}
           WHISPER_REF: ${{ inputs.whisper_ref || 'master' }}
           SD_REF: ${{ inputs.sd_ref || 'master' }}
           IK_LLAMA_REF: ${{ inputs.ik_llama_ref || 'main' }}
           LS_VERSION: ${{ inputs.llama_swap_version || 'main' }}
-          RUN_UID: ${{ matrix.variant.uid }}
-          DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG: ghcr.io/mostlygeek/llama-swap:unified-${{ matrix.backend }}${{ matrix.variant.suffix }}
+          DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG: ghcr.io/mostlygeek/llama-swap:unified-${{ matrix.backend }}
           # When running under act, use the local builder that has warm ccache.
           # On GitHub Actions, BUILDX_BUILDER is unset so docker uses the builder
           # created by setup-buildx-action above.
@@ -126,8 +118,14 @@ jobs:
       - name: Push to GitHub Container Registry
         if: ${{ !env.ACT }}
         run: |
-          TAG="ghcr.io/mostlygeek/llama-swap:unified-${{ matrix.backend }}${{ matrix.variant.suffix }}"
-          docker push "${TAG}"
+          BASE_TAG="ghcr.io/mostlygeek/llama-swap:unified-${{ matrix.backend }}"
           DATE_TAG=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%d)
-          docker tag "${TAG}" "${TAG}-${DATE_TAG}"
-          docker push "${TAG}-${DATE_TAG}"
+
+          docker push "${BASE_TAG}"
+          docker tag "${BASE_TAG}" "${BASE_TAG}-${DATE_TAG}"
+          docker push "${BASE_TAG}-${DATE_TAG}"
+
+          ROOTLESS_TAG="${BASE_TAG}-rootless"
+          docker push "${ROOTLESS_TAG}"
+          docker tag "${ROOTLESS_TAG}" "${ROOTLESS_TAG}-${DATE_TAG}"
+          docker push "${ROOTLESS_TAG}-${DATE_TAG}"
diff --git a/docker/unified/build-image.sh b/docker/unified/build-image.sh
index e03cbbe7..d24c6749 100755
--- a/docker/unified/build-image.sh
+++ b/docker/unified/build-image.sh
@@ -201,7 +201,6 @@ BUILD_ARGS=(
     --build-arg "SD_COMMIT_HASH=${SD_HASH}"
     --build-arg "IK_LLAMA_COMMIT_HASH=${IK_LLAMA_HASH}"
     --build-arg "LS_VERSION=${LS_HASH}"
-    --build-arg "RUN_UID=${RUN_UID:-0}"
     -t "${DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG}"
     -f "${SCRIPT_DIR}/Dockerfile"
 )
@@ -255,12 +254,33 @@ if [[ "$BACKEND" == "cuda" ]]; then
 fi
 echo "All expected binaries verified: ${VERIFIED_LIST}"
 
+echo ""
+echo "=========================================="
+echo "Building rootless image..."
+echo "=========================================="
+echo ""
+
+ROOTLESS_TAG="${DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG}-rootless"
+docker buildx build --load -t "${ROOTLESS_TAG}" - <<EOF
+FROM ${DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG}
+USER root
+RUN groupadd --system --gid 10001 llama-swap && \\
+    useradd --system --uid 10001 --gid 10001 \\
+      --home /app --shell /sbin/nologin llama-swap && \\
+    chown -R 10001:10001 /etc/llama-swap /models
+USER 10001
+EOF
+
+echo "Rootless image built: ${ROOTLESS_TAG}"
+
 echo ""
 echo "=========================================="
 echo "Build complete!"
 echo "=========================================="
 echo ""
-echo "Image tag: ${DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG}"
+echo "Image tags:"
+echo "  ${DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG}"
+echo "  ${ROOTLESS_TAG}"
 echo ""
 echo "Built with:"
 echo "  llama.cpp:            ${LLAMA_HASH}"