diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker-githubaction.yml b/.github/workflows/docker-githubaction.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1f0a3140
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-githubaction.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+name: Release Docker GitHub Action
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      image_version:
+        description: 'yq version to tag the github-action image with (e.g. 4.53.3)'
+        required: true
+
+permissions: {}
+
+jobs:
+  publishGithubActionDocker:
+    environment: dockerhub
+    env:
+      IMAGE_NAME: mikefarah/yq
+      IMAGE_VERSION: ${{ inputs.image_version }}
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      packages: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
+
+      - name: Set up QEMU
+        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@06116385d9baf250c9f4dcb4858b16962ea869c3 # v4.1.0
+        with:
+          platforms: all
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        id: buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@d7f5e7f509e45cec5c76c4d5afdd7de93d0b3df5 # v4.1.0
+        with:
+          version: latest
+
+      - name: Login to Docker Hub
+        uses: docker/login-action@650006c6eb7dba73a995cc03b0b2d7f5ca915bee # v4.2.0
+        with:
+          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}
+
+      - name: Login to GitHub Container Registry
+        uses: docker/login-action@650006c6eb7dba73a995cc03b0b2d7f5ca915bee # v4.2.0
+        with:
+          registry: ghcr.io
+          username: ${{ github.actor }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Build and push github-action image
+        working-directory: github-action
+        run: |
+          PLATFORMS="linux/amd64,linux/ppc64le,linux/arm64,linux/arm/v7,linux/s390x"
+
+          echo "Building and pushing github-action image for version ${IMAGE_VERSION}"
+          docker buildx build \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.authors=https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/graphs/contributors" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.created=$(date --rfc-3339=seconds)" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.description=yq is a portable command-line data file processor" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.documentation=https://mikefarah.gitbook.io/yq/" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.licenses=MIT" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.revision=$(git rev-parse HEAD)" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/mikefarah/yq" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.title=yq" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.url=https://mikefarah.gitbook.io/yq/" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.version=${IMAGE_VERSION}" \
+            --platform "${PLATFORMS}" \
+            --pull \
+            --push \
+            -t "${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_VERSION}-githubaction" \
+            -t "${IMAGE_NAME}:4-githubaction" \
+            -t "${IMAGE_NAME}:latest-githubaction" \
+            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_VERSION}-githubaction" \
+            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:4-githubaction" \
+            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:latest-githubaction" \
+            .
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker-release.yml b/.github/workflows/docker-release.yml
index 00180443..17ac18fc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-release.yml
@@ -80,26 +80,3 @@ jobs:
             -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:4" \
             -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:latest" \
             .
-
-          cd github-action
-          docker buildx build \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.authors=https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/graphs/contributors" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.created=$(date --rfc-3339=seconds)" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.description=yq is a portable command-line data file processor" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.documentation=https://mikefarah.gitbook.io/yq/" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.licenses=MIT" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.revision=$(git rev-parse HEAD)" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/mikefarah/yq" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.title=yq" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.url=https://mikefarah.gitbook.io/yq/" \
-            --label "org.opencontainers.image.version=${IMAGE_VERSION}" \
-            --platform "${PLATFORMS}" \
-            --pull \
-            --push \
-            -t "${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_VERSION}-githubaction" \
-            -t "${IMAGE_NAME}:4-githubaction" \
-            -t "${IMAGE_NAME}:latest-githubaction" \
-            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_VERSION}-githubaction" \
-            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:4-githubaction" \
-            -t "ghcr.io/${IMAGE_NAME}:latest-githubaction" \
-            .
diff --git a/release_instructions.txt b/release_instructions.txt
index aeac43bd..06b4e9dd 100644
--- a/release_instructions.txt
+++ b/release_instructions.txt
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
     skopeo inspect docker://docker.io/mikefarah/yq:4  --override-arch amd64 --override-os linux | python3 -c "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d['Digest'])"
   then update the FROM line in github-action/Dockerfile with the new digest:
     FROM mikefarah/yq:4@sha256:<new-digest>
+- commit the Dockerfile change, then manually run the "Release Docker GitHub Action" workflow
+  (Actions -> Release Docker GitHub Action -> Run workflow) with the new version number
 
 // release artifacts are signed with cosign keyless signing (Sigstore)
 // users can verify with: