diff --git a/.github/scripts/optimize-apt.sh b/.github/scripts/optimize-apt.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..b5d43d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/optimize-apt.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+# Skip installing package docs (makes the man-db trigger much faster)
+# (I disabled `/doc` and `/info` too, just in case.)
+sudo tee /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg.d/01_nodoc > /dev/null << 'EOF'
+path-exclude /usr/share/doc/*
+path-exclude /usr/share/man/*
+path-exclude /usr/share/info/*
+EOF
+
+echo "APT optimization configured - documentation installation disabled"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/go_test.yml b/.github/workflows/go_test.yml
index 454ab69..e10dbb3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/go_test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/go_test.yml
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@
           restore-keys: |
             ${{ runner.os }}-go1.24.4-
 
+      - name: Optimize APT
+        run: ./.github/scripts/optimize-apt.sh
+
       - name: Install tools
         run: |
           go install golang.org/x/tools/gopls@latest
diff --git a/.github/workflows/webui_test.yml b/.github/workflows/webui_test.yml
index f1e0779..2fc312f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/webui_test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/webui_test.yml
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@
           cache: "npm"
           cache-dependency-path: webui/package-lock.json
 
+      - name: Optimize APT
+        run: ./.github/scripts/optimize-apt.sh
+
       - name: Install dependencies
         working-directory: ./webui
         run: npm ci