diff --git a/scripts/ci/images/ci_prepare_ci_image_on_ci.sh b/scripts/ci/images/ci_prepare_ci_image_on_ci.sh
index d0d4aac38b36d..8fe92990e106c 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/images/ci_prepare_ci_image_on_ci.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/images/ci_prepare_ci_image_on_ci.sh
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ function build_ci_image_on_ci() {
         # Pretend that the image was build. We already have image with the right sources baked in!
         # so all the checksums are assumed to be correct
         md5sum::calculate_md5sum_for_all_files
-        build_images::wait_for_image_tag "${AIRFLOW_CI_IMAGE}" ":${GITHUB_REGISTRY_PULL_IMAGE_TAG}"
+        local image_name_with_tag="${AIRFLOW_CI_IMAGE}:${GITHUB_REGISTRY_PULL_IMAGE_TAG}"
+        push_pull_remove_images::wait_for_image "${image_name_with_tag}"
         md5sum::update_all_md5_with_group
     else
         build_images::rebuild_ci_image_if_needed
diff --git a/scripts/ci/images/ci_prepare_prod_image_on_ci.sh b/scripts/ci/images/ci_prepare_prod_image_on_ci.sh
index 8027d786786d4..0aea3c7fdfd7b 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/images/ci_prepare_prod_image_on_ci.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/images/ci_prepare_prod_image_on_ci.sh
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ function build_prod_images_on_ci() {
     build_images::prepare_prod_build
 
     if [[ ${GITHUB_REGISTRY_WAIT_FOR_IMAGE} == "true" ]]; then
-        build_images::wait_for_image_tag "${AIRFLOW_PROD_IMAGE}" ":${GITHUB_REGISTRY_PULL_IMAGE_TAG}"
+        local image_name_with_tag="${AIRFLOW_PROD_IMAGE}:${GITHUB_REGISTRY_PULL_IMAGE_TAG}"
+        push_pull_remove_images::wait_for_image "${image_name_with_tag}"
     else
         build_images::build_prod_images_from_locally_built_airflow_packages
     fi
diff --git a/scripts/ci/images/ci_push_ci_images.sh b/scripts/ci/images/ci_push_ci_images.sh
index 5bd5eb3c006f6..6e232fa7b8bf9 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/images/ci_push_ci_images.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/images/ci_push_ci_images.sh
@@ -20,4 +20,6 @@
 
 build_images::prepare_ci_build
 
+build_images::login_to_docker_registry
+
 push_pull_remove_images::push_ci_images_to_github
diff --git a/scripts/ci/images/ci_push_production_images.sh b/scripts/ci/images/ci_push_production_images.sh
index 43e14d3d927ab..7e0e0eae5f2a4 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/images/ci_push_production_images.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/images/ci_push_production_images.sh
@@ -20,4 +20,6 @@
 
 build_images::prepare_prod_build
 
+build_images::login_to_docker_registry
+
 push_pull_remove_images::push_prod_images_to_github
diff --git a/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_all_ci_images.sh b/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_all_ci_images.sh
index 39dfe8f5db72c..cb45c1ff3f5da 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_all_ci_images.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_all_ci_images.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ source "${LIBRARIES_DIR}/_all_libs.sh"
 
 initialization::set_output_color_variables
 
-PARALLEL_TAIL_LENGTH=5
+export PARALLEL_TAIL_LENGTH=5
 
 parallel::make_sure_gnu_parallel_is_installed
 
@@ -35,11 +35,12 @@ echo
 echo "${COLOR_BLUE}Waiting for all CI images to appear${COLOR_RESET}"
 echo
 
-
 parallel::initialize_monitoring
 
 parallel::monitor_progress
 
+build_images::login_to_docker_registry
+
 # shellcheck disable=SC2086
 parallel --results "${PARALLEL_MONITORED_DIR}" \
     "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )/ci_wait_for_and_verify_ci_image.sh" ::: \
diff --git a/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_all_prod_images.sh b/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_all_prod_images.sh
index 6786a3189b460..5df66a31ce81c 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_all_prod_images.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_all_prod_images.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ source "${LIBRARIES_DIR}/_all_libs.sh"
 
 initialization::set_output_color_variables
 
-PARALLEL_TAIL_LENGTH=5
+export PARALLEL_TAIL_LENGTH=5
 
 parallel::make_sure_gnu_parallel_is_installed
 
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ parallel::initialize_monitoring
 
 parallel::monitor_progress
 
+build_images::login_to_docker_registry
+
 # shellcheck disable=SC2086
 parallel --results "${PARALLEL_MONITORED_DIR}" \
     "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )/ci_wait_for_and_verify_prod_image.sh" ::: \
diff --git a/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_ci_image.sh b/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_ci_image.sh
index 1d52f69cab2de..bc5034a58fabd 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_ci_image.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_ci_image.sh
@@ -30,22 +30,9 @@ shift
 
 image_name_with_tag="${AIRFLOW_CI_IMAGE}:${GITHUB_REGISTRY_PULL_IMAGE_TAG}"
 
-function pull_ci_image() {
-    start_end::group_start "Pulling image: ${IMAGE_AVAILABLE}"
-    push_pull_remove_images::pull_image_if_not_present_or_forced "${IMAGE_AVAILABLE}"
-    start_end::group_end
-}
-
-start_end::group_start "Configure Docker Registry"
-build_images::configure_docker_registry
-start_end::group_end
-
-start_end::group_start "Waiting for ${image_name_with_tag}"
-push_pull_remove_images::wait_for_image "${image_name_with_tag}"
 build_images::prepare_ci_build
-start_end::group_end
 
-pull_ci_image
+push_pull_remove_images::wait_for_image "${image_name_with_tag}"
 
 if [[ ${VERIFY_IMAGE=} != "false" ]]; then
     verify_image::verify_ci_image "${image_name_with_tag}"
diff --git a/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_prod_image.sh b/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_prod_image.sh
index aae05ae3e68e0..bc2f80f25ce99 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_prod_image.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/images/ci_wait_for_and_verify_prod_image.sh
@@ -30,22 +30,8 @@ shift
 
 image_name_with_tag="${AIRFLOW_PROD_IMAGE}:${GITHUB_REGISTRY_PULL_IMAGE_TAG}"
 
-function pull_prod_image() {
-    start_end::group_start  "Pulling image: ${IMAGE_AVAILABLE}"
-    push_pull_remove_images::pull_image_if_not_present_or_forced "${IMAGE_AVAILABLE}"
-    start_end::group_end
-}
-
-start_end::group_start "Configure Docker Registry"
-build_images::configure_docker_registry
-start_end::group_end
-
-start_end::group_start "Waiting for ${image_name_with_tag}"
-push_pull_remove_images::wait_for_image "${image_name_with_tag}"
 build_images::prepare_prod_build
-start_end::group_end
-
-pull_prod_image
+push_pull_remove_images::wait_for_image "${image_name_with_tag}"
 
 if [[ ${VERIFY_IMAGE=} != "false" ]]; then
     verify_image::verify_prod_image "${image_name_with_tag}"
diff --git a/scripts/ci/libraries/_build_images.sh b/scripts/ci/libraries/_build_images.sh
index 270d71bc27196..4a7d49cdf1720 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/libraries/_build_images.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/libraries/_build_images.sh
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ function build_images::get_docker_cache_image_names() {
     export PYTHON_BASE_IMAGE="python:${PYTHON_MAJOR_MINOR_VERSION}-slim-buster"
 
     local image_name
-    image_name="${GITHUB_REGISTRY}/$(build_images::get_github_container_registry_image_prefix)"
+    image_name="ghcr.io/$(build_images::get_github_container_registry_image_prefix)"
 
     # Example:
     #  ghcr.io/apache/airflow/main/python:3.8-slim-buster
@@ -412,36 +412,33 @@ function build_images::get_docker_cache_image_names() {
 }
 
 # If GitHub Registry is used, login to the registry using GITHUB_USERNAME and
-# GITHUB_TOKEN. In case Personal Access token is not set, skip logging in
-# Also enable experimental features of docker (we need `docker manifest` command)
-function build_images::configure_docker_registry() {
-    local token="${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
-    if [[ -z "${token}" ]]; then
-        verbosity::print_info
-        verbosity::print_info "Skip logging in to GitHub Registry. No Token available!"
-        verbosity::print_info
-    elif [[ ${AIRFLOW_LOGIN_TO_GITHUB_REGISTRY=} != "true" ]]; then
-        verbosity::print_info
-        verbosity::print_info "Skip logging in to GitHub Registry. AIRFLOW_LOGIN_TO_GITHUB_REGISTRY != true"
-        verbosity::print_info
-    elif [[ -n "${token}" ]]; then
-        echo "${token}" | docker_v login \
-            --username "${GITHUB_USERNAME:-apache}" \
-            --password-stdin \
-            "${GITHUB_REGISTRY}"
-    else
-        verbosity::print_info "Skip Login to GitHub Registry ${GITHUB_REGISTRY} as token is missing"
-    fi
-    if [[ ${CI} == "true" ]]; then
-        # we only need that on CI in order to run "docker manifest" when we check if remote image exists
-        # See function push_pull_remove_images::check_image_manifest()
-        local new_config
-        new_config=$(jq '.experimental = "enabled"' "${HOME}/.docker/config.json" || true)
-        if [[ ${new_config} != "" ]]; then
-            echo "${new_config}" > "${HOME}/.docker/config.json"
+# GITHUB_TOKEN. We only need to login to docker registry on CI and only when we push
+# images. All other images we pull from docker registry are public and we do not need
+# to login there.
+function build_images::login_to_docker_registry() {
+    if [[ "${CI}" == "true" ]]; then
+        start_end::group_start "Configure Docker Registry"
+        local token="${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
+        if [[ -z "${token}" ]]; then
+            verbosity::print_info
+            verbosity::print_info "Skip logging in to GitHub Registry. No Token available!"
+            verbosity::print_info
+        elif [[ ${AIRFLOW_LOGIN_TO_GITHUB_REGISTRY=} != "true" ]]; then
+            verbosity::print_info
+            verbosity::print_info "Skip logging in to GitHub Registry. AIRFLOW_LOGIN_TO_GITHUB_REGISTRY != true"
+            verbosity::print_info
+        elif [[ -n "${token}" ]]; then
+            # logout from the repository first - so that we do not keep us logged in if the token
+            # already expired (which can happen if we have a long build running)
+            docker_v logout "ghcr.io"
+            # The login might succeed or not - in some cases, when we pull public images in forked
+            # repos it might fail, but the pulls will continue to work
+            echo "${token}" | docker_v login \
+                --username "${GITHUB_USERNAME:-apache}" \
+                --password-stdin \
+                "ghcr.io" || true
         else
-            echo "${COLOR_YELLOW}Could not set experimental flag in ${HOME}/.docker/config.json ${COLOR_RESET}"
-            echo "${COLOR_YELLOW}docker manifest command will likely not work${COLOR_RESET}"
+            verbosity::print_info "Skip Login to GitHub Container Registry as token is missing"
         fi
     fi
 }
@@ -457,7 +454,6 @@ function build_images::prepare_ci_build() {
     export AIRFLOW_EXTRAS="${AIRFLOW_EXTRAS:="${DEFAULT_CI_EXTRAS}"}"
     readonly AIRFLOW_EXTRAS
 
-    build_images::configure_docker_registry
     sanity_checks::go_to_airflow_sources
     permissions::fix_group_permissions
 }
@@ -754,7 +750,6 @@ function build_images::prepare_prod_build() {
     export AIRFLOW_EXTRAS="${AIRFLOW_EXTRAS:="${DEFAULT_PROD_EXTRAS}"}"
     readonly AIRFLOW_EXTRAS
 
-    build_images::configure_docker_registry
     AIRFLOW_BRANCH_FOR_PYPI_PRELOADING="${BRANCH_NAME}"
     sanity_checks::go_to_airflow_sources
 }
@@ -895,42 +890,6 @@ function build_images::tag_image() {
     done
 }
 
-# Waits for image tag to appear in GitHub Registry, pulls it and tags with the target tag
-# Parameters:
-#  $1 - image name to wait for
-#  $2 - fallback image to wait for
-#  $3, $4, ... - target tags to tag the image with
-function build_images::wait_for_image_tag() {
-
-    local image_name="${1}"
-    local image_suffix="${2}"
-    shift 2
-
-    local image_to_wait_for="${image_name}${image_suffix}"
-    start_end::group_start "Wait for image tag ${image_to_wait_for}"
-    while true; do
-        set +e
-        echo "${COLOR_BLUE}Docker pull ${image_to_wait_for} ${COLOR_RESET}" >"${OUTPUT_LOG}"
-        docker_v pull "${image_to_wait_for}" >>"${OUTPUT_LOG}" 2>&1
-        set -e
-        local image_hash
-        echo "${COLOR_BLUE} Docker images -q ${image_to_wait_for}${COLOR_RESET}" >>"${OUTPUT_LOG}"
-        image_hash="$(docker images -q "${image_to_wait_for}" 2>>"${OUTPUT_LOG}" || true)"
-        if [[ -z "${image_hash}" ]]; then
-            echo
-            echo "The image ${image_to_wait_for} is not yet available. No local hash for the image"
-            echo
-            echo "Last log:"
-            cat "${OUTPUT_LOG}" || true
-            echo
-        else
-            build_images::tag_image "${image_to_wait_for}" "${image_name}:latest" "${@}"
-            break
-        fi
-    done
-    start_end::group_end
-}
-
 # We use pulled docker image cache by default for CI images to speed up the builds
 # and local to speed up iteration on kerberos tests
 function build_images::determine_docker_cache_strategy() {
diff --git a/scripts/ci/libraries/_initialization.sh b/scripts/ci/libraries/_initialization.sh
index f9ad3c59569e1..114b25c9c5279 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/libraries/_initialization.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/libraries/_initialization.sh
@@ -556,8 +556,6 @@ function initialization::initialize_git_variables() {
 }
 
 function initialization::initialize_github_variables() {
-    # Defaults for interacting with GitHub
-    export GITHUB_REGISTRY="ghcr.io"
     export GITHUB_REGISTRY_WAIT_FOR_IMAGE=${GITHUB_REGISTRY_WAIT_FOR_IMAGE:="false"}
     export GITHUB_REGISTRY_PULL_IMAGE_TAG=${GITHUB_REGISTRY_PULL_IMAGE_TAG:="latest"}
     export GITHUB_REGISTRY_PUSH_IMAGE_TAG=${GITHUB_REGISTRY_PUSH_IMAGE_TAG:="latest"}
@@ -841,7 +839,6 @@ function initialization::make_constants_read_only() {
     readonly ADDITIONAL_RUNTIME_APT_DEPS
     readonly ADDITIONAL_RUNTIME_APT_ENV
 
-    readonly GITHUB_REGISTRY
     readonly GITHUB_REGISTRY_WAIT_FOR_IMAGE
     readonly GITHUB_REGISTRY_PULL_IMAGE_TAG
     readonly GITHUB_REGISTRY_PUSH_IMAGE_TAG
diff --git a/scripts/ci/libraries/_push_pull_remove_images.sh b/scripts/ci/libraries/_push_pull_remove_images.sh
index 750b2eb029e6a..51611ae235434 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/libraries/_push_pull_remove_images.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/libraries/_push_pull_remove_images.sh
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ function push_pull_remove_images::pull_image_if_not_present_or_forced() {
         echo
         echo "Pulling the image ${image_to_pull}"
         echo
-        docker_v pull "${image_to_pull}"
+        docker pull "${image_to_pull}"
     fi
 }
 
@@ -262,32 +262,34 @@ function push_pull_remove_images::push_prod_images_to_github () {
     fi
 }
 
-# waits for an image to be available in GitHub Container Registry. Should be run with `set +e`
-function push_pull_remove_images::check_image_manifest() {
-    local image_to_wait_for="${1}"
-    echo "GitHub Container Registry: checking for ${image_to_wait_for} via docker manifest inspect!"
-    docker_v manifest inspect "${image_to_wait_for}"
-    local res=$?
-    if [[ ${res} == "0" ]]; then
-        echo  "Image: ${image_to_wait_for} found in Container Registry: ${COLOR_GREEN}OK.${COLOR_RESET}"
-        return 0
-    else
-        echo "${COLOR_YELLOW}Still waiting. Not found!${COLOR_RESET}"
-        return 1
-    fi
-}
 
 # waits for an image to be available in the GitHub registry
 function push_pull_remove_images::wait_for_image() {
+    # Maximum number of tries 100 = we try for max. 100 minutes.
+    local MAX_TRIES=100
     set +e
     echo " Waiting for github registry image: $1"
+    local count=0
     while true
     do
-        if push_pull_remove_images::check_image_manifest "$1"; then
-            export IMAGE_AVAILABLE="$1"
+        if push_pull_remove_images::pull_image_if_not_present_or_forced "$1"; then
             break
         fi
-        sleep 30
+        if [[ ${count} == "${MAX_TRIES}" ]]; then
+            echo "${COLOR_RED}Giving up after ${MAX_TRIES}!${COLOR_RESET}"
+            echo "If there were delays with building the image, maintainers could potentially restart the build when the images are ready!"
+            echo "Or you can run 'git commit --amend' and then push the PR again with 'git push --force-with-lease' to re-trigger the build."
+            return 1
+        fi
+        echo "${COLOR_YELLOW}Failed to pull the image for ${count} time. Sleeping!${COLOR_RESET}"
+        sleep 60
+        count=$((count + 1))
     done
     set -e
 }
+
+function push_pull_remove_images::pull_image() {
+    start_end::group_start  "Pulling image: $1"
+    push_pull_remove_images::pull_image_if_not_present_or_forced "$1"
+    start_end::group_end
+}
diff --git a/scripts/ci/tools/free_space.sh b/scripts/ci/tools/free_space.sh
index d89172df0e5c9..4767d60643d3c 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/tools/free_space.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/tools/free_space.sh
@@ -30,3 +30,7 @@ docker_v system prune --all --force --volumes
 
 echo "${COLOR_BLUE}Free disk space  ${COLOR_RESET}"
 df -h
+
+# always logout from the docker registry - this is necessary as we can have an expired token from
+# previous job!.
+docker_v logout "ghcr.io"