diff --git a/compute/compute-node.Dockerfile b/compute/compute-node.Dockerfile
index a96d2aa70f..f74afcb559 100644
--- a/compute/compute-node.Dockerfile
+++ b/compute/compute-node.Dockerfile
@@ -395,15 +395,22 @@ RUN case "${PG_VERSION:?}" in \
     cd plv8-src && \
     if [[ "${PG_VERSION:?}" < "v17" ]]; then patch -p1 < /ext-src/plv8-3.1.10.patch; fi
 
-FROM pg-build AS plv8-build
+# Step 1: Build the vendored V8 engine. It doesn't depend on PostgreSQL, so use
+# 'build-deps' as the base. This enables caching and avoids unnecessary rebuilds.
+# (The V8 engine takes a very long time to build)
+FROM build-deps AS plv8-build
 ARG PG_VERSION
+WORKDIR /ext-src/plv8-src
 RUN apt update && \
     apt install --no-install-recommends --no-install-suggests -y \
     ninja-build python3-dev libncurses5 binutils clang \
     && apt clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
-
 COPY --from=plv8-src /ext-src/ /ext-src/
-WORKDIR /ext-src/plv8-src
+RUN make DOCKER=1 -j $(getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN) v8
+
+# Step 2: Build the PostgreSQL-dependent parts
+COPY --from=pg-build /usr/local/pgsql /usr/local/pgsql
+ENV PATH="/usr/local/pgsql/bin:$PATH"
 RUN \
     # generate and copy upgrade scripts
     make generate_upgrades && \