diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index c5683569..d1c326c6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ jobs:
                 -p 8001:8080 \
                 --name nominatim \
                 nominatim &
-              sleep 120
+
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8001/search.php?q=avenue%20pasteur"
               docker exec -i nominatim sudo -u nominatim nominatim replication --project-dir /nominatim --once
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8001/search.php?q=avenue%20pasteur"
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ jobs:
               -v nominatim-data:/var/lib/postgresql/14/main \
               -p 8002:8080 \
               nominatim &
-              sleep 120
+
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8002/search.php?q=avenue%20pasteur"
           
           - name: Import with bind-mount, container restart & update
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ jobs:
                 -p 8003:8080 \
                 --name nominatim \
                 nominatim &
-              sleep 120
+
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8003/search.php?q=avenue%20pasteur"
               
               # Stop container
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ jobs:
                 -p 8004:8080 \
                 --name nominatim \
                 nominatim &
-              sleep 25
+
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8004/search.php?q=avenue%20pasteur"
               docker exec -i nominatim sudo -u nominatim nominatim replication --project-dir /nominatim --once
               
@@ -116,10 +116,10 @@ jobs:
                 -p 8004:8080 \
                 --name nominatim \
                 nominatim &
-              sleep 120
+
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8004/search.php?q=avenue%20pasteur"
               echo -n "check replication log for Update completed. Count:"
-              docker exec -i nominatim grep -c 'Update completed.' /var/log/replication.log
+              docker exec nominatim /bin/bash -c 'tail -f /var/log/replication.log | grep -m 1 -c "Update completed."'
 
           - name: UPDATE_MODE=continuous with bind-mount
             commands: |-
@@ -133,10 +133,10 @@ jobs:
                 -p 8004:8080 \
                 --name nominatim \
                 nominatim &
-              sleep 120
+
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8004/search.php?q=avenue%20pasteur"
               echo -n "check replication log for Update completed. Count:"
-              docker exec -i nominatim grep -c 'Update completed.' /var/log/replication.log
+              docker exec nominatim /bin/bash -c 'tail -f /var/log/replication.log | grep -m 1 -c "Update completed."'
           
           - name: Import full style
             commands: |-
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ jobs:
                 -e IMPORT_STYLE=full \
                 -p 8005:8080 \
                 nominatim &
-              sleep 120
+
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8005/search.php?q=hotel%20de%20paris"
           
           - name: Import admin style
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ jobs:
                 -e IMPORT_STYLE=admin \
                 -p 8006:8080 \
                 nominatim &
-              sleep 120
+
               ./assert-empty-json "http://localhost:8006/search.php?q=hotel%20de%20paris"
 
           - name: Import with PBF_PATH
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ jobs:
                 -p 8007:8080 \
                 --name nominatim \
                 nominatim &
-              sleep 120
+
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8007/search.php?q=avenue%20pasteur"
 
           - name: REPLICATION_URL is blank
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ jobs:
                 -e PBF_URL=http://download.geofabrik.de/europe/monaco-latest.osm.pbf \
                 -p 8008:8080 \
                 nominatim &
-              sleep 120
+
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8008/search.php?q=avenue%20pasteur"
 
           - name: FREEZE
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ jobs:
                 -e FREEZE="true" \
                 -p 8009:8080 \
                 nominatim &
-              sleep 120
+
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8009/search.php?q=avenue%20pasteur"
 
           - name: GB postcode import
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ jobs:
                 -e IMPORT_GB_POSTCODES="true" \
                 -p 8010:8080 \
                 nominatim &
-              sleep 600
+
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8010/search.php?postalcode=LE15+8TX"
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8010/search.php?postalcode=PE9+3SY"
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8010/search.php?postalcode=PE9+4ES"
@@ -212,10 +212,25 @@ jobs:
                 -e REVERSE_ONLY="true" \
                 -p 8011:8080 \
                 nominatim &
-              sleep 120
+
               ./assert-reverse-only "http://localhost:8011/search.php?q=avenue%20pasteur"
               ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8011/reverse.php?lat=43.734&lon=7.42&format=jsonv2"
-
+          
+          - name: Check for clean shutdown
+            commands: |-
+              docker run --detach --rm \
+              -e PBF_URL=http://download.geofabrik.de/europe/monaco-latest.osm.pbf \
+              -p 8009:8080 \
+              --name nominatim \
+              nominatim
+            
+              ./assert-non-empty-json "http://localhost:8009/search.php?q=avenue%20pasteur"
+              # Shutdown the container
+              docker stop -t 60 nominatim
+              # Verify that the exit code is zero
+              CONTAINER_EXIT_CODE=$(docker inspect nominatim --format='{{.State.ExitCode}}')
+              test "$CONTAINER_EXIT_CODE" -eq 0
+    
     steps:
       - name: Download artifact
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
diff --git a/4.3/start.sh b/4.3/start.sh
index c59a4c85..0fdd86cf 100755
--- a/4.3/start.sh
+++ b/4.3/start.sh
@@ -6,8 +6,14 @@ replicationpid=0
 stopServices() {
   service apache2 stop
   service postgresql stop
-  kill $replicationpid
+  # Check if the replication process is active
+  if [ $replicationpid -ne 0 ]; then
+    echo "Shutting down replication process"
+    kill $replicationpid
+  fi
   kill $tailpid
+  # Force exit code 0 to signal a succesfull shutdown to Docker
+  exit 0
 }
 trap stopServices SIGTERM TERM INT
 
diff --git a/4.4/Dockerfile b/4.4/Dockerfile
index fc11891f..80494fe1 100644
--- a/4.4/Dockerfile
+++ b/4.4/Dockerfile
@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@ ENV LANG=C.UTF-8
 
 WORKDIR /app
 
-RUN true \
+RUN \
+    --mount=type=cache,target=/var/cache/apt \
     # Do not start daemons after installation.
-    && echo '#!/bin/sh\nexit 101' > /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d \
+    echo '#!/bin/sh\nexit 101' > /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d \
     && chmod +x /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d \
     # Install all required packages.
     && apt-get -y update -qq \
@@ -75,7 +76,8 @@ RUN true \
     && echo "listen_addresses='*'" >> /etc/postgresql/14/main/postgresql.conf
 
 # Osmium install to run continuous updates.
-RUN pip3 install osmium
+RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/pip \
+    pip3 install osmium
 
 # Nominatim install.
 ARG NOMINATIM_VERSION
@@ -107,12 +109,10 @@ RUN true \
         liblua*-dev \
         postgresql-server-dev-14 \
         nlohmann-json3-dev \
-    && apt-get clean \
     # Clear temporary files and directories.
     && rm -rf \
         /tmp/* \
         /var/tmp/* \
-        /root/.cache \
         /app/src/.git \
         /var/lib/apt/lists/* \
     # Remove nominatim source and build directories
diff --git a/4.4/start.sh b/4.4/start.sh
index c59a4c85..0fdd86cf 100755
--- a/4.4/start.sh
+++ b/4.4/start.sh
@@ -6,8 +6,14 @@ replicationpid=0
 stopServices() {
   service apache2 stop
   service postgresql stop
-  kill $replicationpid
+  # Check if the replication process is active
+  if [ $replicationpid -ne 0 ]; then
+    echo "Shutting down replication process"
+    kill $replicationpid
+  fi
   kill $tailpid
+  # Force exit code 0 to signal a succesfull shutdown to Docker
+  exit 0
 }
 trap stopServices SIGTERM TERM INT