diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index ac19283be0..ba30f9e402 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -102,13 +102,13 @@ default:
       - runner_system_failure
 
 stages:
-  - precheck
+  - quick-checks
+  - other-checks
   - build
   - unit
   - system
   - performance
   - docs
-  - postcheck
   - postmerge
   - release
 
@@ -357,10 +357,19 @@ stages:
     - *rule_source_other_than_mr
     - *rule_mr_system_tests
 
-.precheck: &precheck_job
+.quick-check: &quick_checks_job
   <<: *default_triggering_rules
   <<: *base_image
-  stage: precheck
+  stage: quick-checks
+  needs: []
+  tags:
+    - smalljob
+
+.other-check: &other_checks_job
+  <<: *default_triggering_rules
+  <<: *base_image
+  stage: other-checks
+  needs: []
 
 .configure: &configure
     - meson setup
@@ -625,10 +634,10 @@ stages:
 
 ### Job Definitions
 
-# Jobs in the precheck stage
+# Jobs in the quick-checks stage
 
 misc:
-  <<: *precheck_job
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   script:
     - sh util/checklibs.sh > checklibs.out
     - sh util/check-categories.sh
@@ -638,16 +647,14 @@ misc:
     # Check dangling symlinks in the repository
     - if find . -xtype l | grep .; then exit 1; fi
     - muon-meson analyze -Werror
-  needs: []
   artifacts:
     paths:
       - checklibs.out
     when: on_failure
 
 black:
-  <<: *precheck_job
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   <<: *python_triggering_rules
-  needs: []
   script:
     - black $(git ls-files '*.py')
     - git diff > black.patch
@@ -659,14 +666,13 @@ black:
     when: on_failure
 
 vulture:
-  <<: *precheck_job
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   <<: *python_triggering_rules
-  needs: []
   script:
     - vulture --exclude "*ans.py,conftest.py,re_compile_checker.py,isctest" --ignore-names "after_servers_start,bootstrap,pytestmark,autouse_*" bin/tests/system/
 
 ci-variables:
-  <<: *precheck_job
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   script:
     # When testing a .0 release, compare it against the previous development
     # release (e.g., 9.19.0 and 9.18.0 should both be compared against 9.17.22).
@@ -678,18 +684,17 @@ ci-variables:
       dotenv: ci_vars.env
 
 ci-orphaned-anchors:
-  <<: *precheck_job
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   script:
     - *git_clone_bind9-qa
     - bind9-qa/ci-orphaned-anchors/check-orphaned-anchors-ci.py .gitlab-ci.yml
-  needs: []
   rules:
     - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"'
       changes:
         - .gitlab-ci.yml
 
 clang-format:
-  <<: *precheck_job
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   rules:
     - if: '$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_DIFF_BASE_SHA != null'
       changes:
@@ -700,7 +705,6 @@ clang-format:
     - *rule_mr_manual
     - *rule_tag
     - *rule_source_other_than_mr
-  needs: []
   script:
     - if [ -r .clang-format ]; then "${CLANG_FORMAT}" -i -style=file $(git ls-files '*.c' '*.h'); fi
     - git diff > clang-format.patch
@@ -711,25 +715,8 @@ clang-format:
     expire_in: "1 week"
     when: on_failure
 
-coccinelle:
-  <<: *precheck_job
-  rules:
-    - if: '$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_DIFF_BASE_SHA != null'
-      changes:
-        - '**/*.c'
-        - '**/*.h'
-        - 'cocci/**'
-        - 'util/check-cocci.sh'
-    - *rule_mr_manual
-    - *rule_tag
-    - *rule_source_other_than_mr
-  needs: []
-  script:
-    - util/check-cocci.sh
-    - if test "$(git status --porcelain | grep -Ev '\?\?' | wc -l)" -gt "0"; then git status --short; exit 1; fi
-
 meson-format:
-  <<: *precheck_job
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   rules:
     - if: '$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_DIFF_BASE_SHA != null'
       changes:
@@ -737,7 +724,6 @@ meson-format:
     - *rule_mr_manual
     - *rule_tag
     - *rule_source_other_than_mr
-  needs: []
   script:
     - git ls-files "*meson.build" | xargs muon-meson fmt -i
     - git diff > meson-format.patch
@@ -753,8 +739,7 @@ meson-format:
         - "**/meson.build"
 
 doctest:
-  <<: *precheck_job
-  needs: []
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   # This script needs to: 1) fail if the doctest fails, 2) fail if
   # the junit.xml file is broken, 3) produce the junit.xml file even if
   # the doctest fails.  Therefore, $RET is used to "cache" the
@@ -780,9 +765,8 @@ doctest:
         - junit.xml
 
 pylint:
-  <<: *precheck_job
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   <<: *python_triggering_rules
-  needs: []
   variables:
     PYTHONPATH: "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/bin/tests/system"
   script:
@@ -791,8 +775,7 @@ pylint:
     - pylint --rcfile $CI_PROJECT_DIR/.pylintrc --load-plugins re_compile_checker --disable=wrong-import-position $(git ls-files 'bin/tests/system/*.py' | grep -vE '(ans\.py|vulture_ignore_list\.py)')
 
 reuse:
-  <<: *precheck_job
-  needs: []
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   image:
     name: docker.io/fsfe/reuse:latest
     entrypoint: [""]
@@ -800,9 +783,8 @@ reuse:
     - reuse lint
 
 shfmt:
-  <<: *precheck_job
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   <<: *shell_triggering_rules
-  needs: []
   script:
     - shfmt -w -i 2 -ci -bn . $(find . -name "*.sh.in")
     - git diff > shfmt.patch
@@ -814,32 +796,187 @@ shfmt:
     when: on_failure
 
 danger:
-  <<: *precheck_job
-  needs: []
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   script:
     - pip install git+https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/hazard.git
     - hazard
   rules:
     - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"'
 
-checkbashisms:
-  <<: *precheck_job
-  <<: *shell_triggering_rules
-  needs: []
-  script:
-    - checkbashisms $(find . -path './.git' -prune -o -type f -exec sh -c 'head -n 1 "{}" | grep -qsF "#!/bin/sh"' \; -print)
-
 mypy:
-  <<: *precheck_job
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
   <<: *python_triggering_rules
-  stage: precheck
   script:
     - mypy "bin/tests/system/isctest/"
 
+linkcheck:
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
+  script:
+    # Some domains tested by linkchecker may think that we connect to them too
+    # often and will refuse connection or reply with and error code, which
+    # makes this job fail. Let's check links only on Wednesdays.
+    - if [ "$(date +%w)" != "3" ]; then exit 0; fi
+    - pushd doc/arm/ > /dev/null && sphinx-build -b linkcheck . linkcheck_output/
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - doc/arm/linkcheck_output/
+  rules:
+    - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"'
+
+generate-stress-test-configs:
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
+  script:
+    - *git_clone_bind9-qa
+    - bind9-qa/stress/generate-stress-test-configs.py > stress-test-configs.yml
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - stress-test-configs.yml
+
+generate-tsan-stress-test-configs:
+  <<: *quick_checks_job
+  script:
+    - util/generate-tsan-stress-jobs.py > tsan-stress-test-configs.yml
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - tsan-stress-test-configs.yml
+  when: manual
+
+# Jobs in the other-checks stage
+
+checkbashisms:
+  <<: *other_checks_job
+  <<: *shell_triggering_rules
+  script:
+    - checkbashisms $(find . -path './.git' -prune -o -type f -exec sh -c 'head -n 1 "{}" | grep -qsF "#!/bin/sh"' \; -print)
+
+coccinelle:
+  <<: *other_checks_job
+  rules:
+    - if: '$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_DIFF_BASE_SHA != null'
+      changes:
+        - '**/*.c'
+        - '**/*.h'
+        - 'cocci/**'
+        - 'util/check-cocci.sh'
+    - *rule_mr_manual
+    - *rule_tag
+    - *rule_source_other_than_mr
+  script:
+    - util/check-cocci.sh
+    - if test "$(git status --porcelain | grep -Ev '\?\?' | wc -l)" -gt "0"; then git status --short; exit 1; fi
+
+# Jobs for scan-build builds on Debian 13 "trixie" (amd64)
+
+.scan_build: &scan_build
+  - ${SCAN_BUILD} --html-title="BIND 9 ($CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA)"
+                  --keep-cc
+                  --status-bugs
+                  --keep-going
+                  -o scan-build.reports ninja -C build
+
+scan-build:
+  <<: *other_checks_job
+  variables:
+    CC: "${CLANG}"
+    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON}"
+    EXTRA_CONFIGURE: "-Didn=enabled --native-file ci/clang-trixie.ini"
+  before_script:
+    - *list_installed_package_versions
+  script:
+    - *configure
+    - *scan_build
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - scan-build.reports/
+    when: on_failure
+
+# Coverity Scan analysis upload
+
+.coverity_prep: &coverity_prep
+  - curl --output /tmp/cov-analysis-linux64.md5 https://scan.coverity.com/download/linux64
+         --form project=$COVERITY_SCAN_PROJECT_NAME
+         --form token=$COVERITY_SCAN_TOKEN
+         --form md5=1
+  - curl --output /tmp/cov-analysis-linux64.tgz https://scan.coverity.com/download/linux64
+         --form project=$COVERITY_SCAN_PROJECT_NAME
+         --form token=$COVERITY_SCAN_TOKEN
+  - test "$(md5sum /tmp/cov-analysis-linux64.tgz | awk '{ print $1 }')" = "$(cat /tmp/cov-analysis-linux64.md5)"
+  - tar --extract --gzip --file=/tmp/cov-analysis-linux64.tgz --directory=/tmp
+  - test -d /tmp/cov-analysis-linux64-*
+
+.coverity_build: &coverity_build
+  - /tmp/cov-analysis-linux64-*/bin/cov-build --dir /tmp/cov-int sh -c 'ninja -C ./build -v'
+  - tar --create --gzip --file=/tmp/cov-int.tar.gz --directory /tmp cov-int
+  - curl -v https://scan.coverity.com/builds?project=$COVERITY_SCAN_PROJECT_NAME
+        --form token=$COVERITY_SCAN_TOKEN
+        --form email=bind-changes@isc.org
+        --form file=@/tmp/cov-int.tar.gz
+        --form version="$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
+        --form description="$(git rev-parse --short HEAD) / $CI_COMMIT_TITLE / $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME:$CI_PIPELINE_ID" 2>&1
+        | tee curl-response.txt
+  - grep -q 'Build successfully submitted' curl-response.txt
+
+coverity:
+  <<: *other_checks_job
+  variables:
+    CC: gcc
+    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON}"
+    EXTRA_CONFIGURE: "-Doptimization=g -Ddoc=disabled -Didn=enabled"
+  script:
+    - *coverity_prep
+    - *configure
+    - *coverity_build
+  after_script:
+    - mv -v /tmp/cov-int.tar.gz ${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - curl-response.txt
+      - cov-int.tar.gz
+    expire_in: "1 week"
+    when: on_failure
+  rules:
+    - if: '$COVERITY_SCAN_PROJECT_NAME != null && $COVERITY_SCAN_TOKEN != null'
+
+# Simple reproductibilty test, needs an image with meson >=1.6.0
+reproducible-build:
+  <<: *other_checks_job
+  <<: *alpine_3_23_amd64_image
+  variables:
+    CC: gcc
+    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON}"
+  before_script:
+    - *list_installed_package_versions
+  script:
+    # dnstap produces an intermediate .a file, and meson considers all .a
+    # files to be final results independently of whether they are installed or
+    # not. But the content of the .a file might be unstable under LTO due to
+    # -ffat-lto-objects. Hence we disable dnstap for reproducibility tests.
+    - meson reprotest
+      --
+      -Ddnstap=disabled
+      -Ddoc=disabled
+      -Doptimization=1
+  artifacts:
+    untracked: true
+    when: on_failure
+
+# git fsck operates over the whole repository and is sufficient to schedule it
+# only in one branch, preferably "main". GitLab's clone strategy prevents us
+# from using the "bind9" repo clone; we need to clone it ourselves.
+fsck:
+  <<: *other_checks_job
+  variables:
+    GIT_STRATEGY: none
+  script:
+    - git clone https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/bind9.git bind9-full-clone
+    - cd bind9-full-clone/
+    - git fsck
+  rules:
+    - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"'
+
 tarball-create:
-  stage: precheck
+  <<: *build_job
   <<: *base_image
-  <<: *default_triggering_rules
   script:
     - *configure
     - meson dist -C build --no-tests
@@ -871,22 +1008,6 @@ changelog:
   artifacts:
     untracked: true
 
-linkcheck:
-  <<: *base_image
-  stage: docs
-  script:
-    # Some domains tested by linkchecker may think that we connect to them too
-    # often and will refuse connection or reply with and error code, which
-    # makes this job fail. Let's check links only on Wednesdays.
-    - if [ "$(date +%w)" != "3" ]; then exit 0; fi
-    - pushd doc/arm/ > /dev/null && sphinx-build -b linkcheck . linkcheck_output/
-  artifacts:
-    paths:
-      - doc/arm/linkcheck_output/
-  rules:
-    - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"'
-  needs: []
-
 docs:
   <<: *default_triggering_rules
   <<: *base_image
@@ -1268,34 +1389,6 @@ gcc:trixie:amd64cross32:
   <<: *debian_trixie_amd64cross32_image
   <<: *build_job
 
-# Jobs for scan-build builds on Debian 13 "trixie" (amd64)
-
-.scan_build: &scan_build
-  - ${SCAN_BUILD} --html-title="BIND 9 ($CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA)"
-                  --keep-cc
-                  --status-bugs
-                  --keep-going
-                  -o scan-build.reports ninja -C build
-
-scan-build:
-  <<: *default_triggering_rules
-  <<: *base_image
-  stage: postcheck
-  variables:
-    CC: "${CLANG}"
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON}"
-    EXTRA_CONFIGURE: "-Didn=enabled --native-file ci/clang-trixie.ini"
-  before_script:
-    - *list_installed_package_versions
-  script:
-    - *configure
-    - *scan_build
-  needs: []
-  artifacts:
-    paths:
-      - scan-build.reports/
-    when: on_failure
-
 # Jobs for strict OpenSSL 3.x (no deprecated) GCC builds on Debian "trixie" (amd64)
 # Run with pkcs11-provider tests
 
@@ -1577,21 +1670,9 @@ unit:clang:tsan:
     - job: clang:tsan
       artifacts: true
 
-generate-tsan-stress-test-configs:
-  <<: *base_image
-  <<: *default_triggering_rules
-  stage: system
-  script:
-    - util/generate-tsan-stress-jobs.py > tsan-stress-test-configs.yml
-  artifacts:
-    paths:
-      - tsan-stress-test-configs.yml
-  needs: []
-  when: manual
-
 tsan:stress:
   <<: *default_triggering_rules
-  stage: postcheck
+  stage: system
   variables:
     PARENT_PIPELINE_ID: $CI_PIPELINE_ID
   trigger:
@@ -1752,6 +1833,8 @@ release:
       artifacts: true
     - job: docs
       artifacts: true
+  tags:
+    - smalljob
   rules:
     - *rule_tag
   artifacts:
@@ -1882,6 +1965,8 @@ publish:
   needs:
     - job: staging
       artifacts: false
+  tags:
+    - smalljob
 
 # Setting the FORCE_CVE_IDS environment variable to a comma-separated
 # list of CVE IDs enables overriding the autodetected ones.
@@ -2017,55 +2102,6 @@ customer-git:tag:
   script:
     - bind9-qa/releng/push_to_customer_repository.py --tag "$CI_COMMIT_TAG" --entitlements isc-customer-settings/entitlements.yaml --force
 
-# Coverity Scan analysis upload
-
-.coverity_prep: &coverity_prep
-  - curl --output /tmp/cov-analysis-linux64.md5 https://scan.coverity.com/download/linux64
-         --form project=$COVERITY_SCAN_PROJECT_NAME
-         --form token=$COVERITY_SCAN_TOKEN
-         --form md5=1
-  - curl --output /tmp/cov-analysis-linux64.tgz https://scan.coverity.com/download/linux64
-         --form project=$COVERITY_SCAN_PROJECT_NAME
-         --form token=$COVERITY_SCAN_TOKEN
-  - test "$(md5sum /tmp/cov-analysis-linux64.tgz | awk '{ print $1 }')" = "$(cat /tmp/cov-analysis-linux64.md5)"
-  - tar --extract --gzip --file=/tmp/cov-analysis-linux64.tgz --directory=/tmp
-  - test -d /tmp/cov-analysis-linux64-*
-
-.coverity_build: &coverity_build
-  - /tmp/cov-analysis-linux64-*/bin/cov-build --dir /tmp/cov-int sh -c 'ninja -C ./build -v'
-  - tar --create --gzip --file=/tmp/cov-int.tar.gz --directory /tmp cov-int
-  - curl -v https://scan.coverity.com/builds?project=$COVERITY_SCAN_PROJECT_NAME
-        --form token=$COVERITY_SCAN_TOKEN
-        --form email=bind-changes@isc.org
-        --form file=@/tmp/cov-int.tar.gz
-        --form version="$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
-        --form description="$(git rev-parse --short HEAD) / $CI_COMMIT_TITLE / $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME:$CI_PIPELINE_ID" 2>&1
-        | tee curl-response.txt
-  - grep -q 'Build successfully submitted' curl-response.txt
-
-coverity:
-  <<: *base_image
-  stage: postcheck
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON}"
-    EXTRA_CONFIGURE: "-Doptimization=g -Ddoc=disabled -Didn=enabled"
-  script:
-    - *coverity_prep
-    - *configure
-    - *coverity_build
-  after_script:
-    - mv -v /tmp/cov-int.tar.gz ${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/
-  needs: []
-  artifacts:
-    paths:
-      - curl-response.txt
-      - cov-int.tar.gz
-    expire_in: "1 week"
-    when: on_failure
-  rules:
-    - if: '$COVERITY_SCAN_PROJECT_NAME != null && $COVERITY_SCAN_TOKEN != null'
-
 # Respdiff tests
 
 respdiff:
@@ -2181,18 +2217,6 @@ shotgun:doh-get:
   #   - *shotgun_rule_tag
   #   - *shotgun_rule_other
 
-generate-stress-test-configs:
-  <<: *base_image
-  <<: *default_triggering_rules
-  stage: precheck
-  script:
-    - *git_clone_bind9-qa
-    - bind9-qa/stress/generate-stress-test-configs.py > stress-test-configs.yml
-  artifacts:
-    paths:
-      - stress-test-configs.yml
-  needs: []
-
 stress-test-child-pipeline:
   <<: *default_triggering_rules
   stage: performance
@@ -2214,51 +2238,10 @@ stress-test-child-pipeline:
     - job: generate-stress-test-configs
       artifacts: true
 
-# Simple reproductibilty test, needs an image with meson >=1.6.0
-reproducible-build:
-  <<: *default_triggering_rules
-  <<: *alpine_3_23_amd64_image
-  stage: postcheck
-  needs: []
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON}"
-  before_script:
-    - *list_installed_package_versions
-  script:
-    # dnstap produces an intermediate .a file, and meson considers all .a
-    # files to be final results independently of whether they are installed or
-    # not. But the content of the .a file might be unstable under LTO due to
-    # -ffat-lto-objects. Hence we disable dnstap for reproducibility tests.
-    - meson reprotest
-      --
-      -Ddnstap=disabled
-      -Ddoc=disabled
-      -Doptimization=1
-  artifacts:
-    untracked: true
-    when: on_failure
-
-# git fsck operates over the whole repository and is sufficient to schedule it
-# only in one branch, preferably "main". GitLab's clone strategy prevents us
-# from using the "bind9" repo clone; we need to clone it ourselves.
-fsck:
-  <<: *base_image
-  stage: postcheck
-  variables:
-    GIT_STRATEGY: none
-  script:
-    - git clone https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/bind9.git bind9-full-clone
-    - cd bind9-full-clone/
-    - git fsck
-  rules:
-    - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"'
-  needs: []
-
 gcov:
-  <<: *base_image
   <<: *default_triggering_rules
-  stage: postcheck
+  <<: *base_image
+  stage: system
   needs:
     - job: system:gcc:trixie:amd64
       artifacts: true
@@ -2298,6 +2281,8 @@ pairwise:
   <<: *base_image
   stage: postmerge
   needs: []
+  tags:
+    - smalljob
   # post-merge processes should run even if another MR was merged while the job was running (or queued)
   interruptible: false
   variables: