diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker.yml b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
index 3d35d2f204..86d6ae80ef 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker.yml
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ on:
       - "dev/docker/**"
       - "dev/build-ballista-docker.sh"
       - ".github/workflows/docker.yml"
+      # docs-only changes cannot affect this job; exclusions are applied last
+      - "!**/*.md"
   push:
     branches: [ "main" ]
     paths:
@@ -40,6 +42,8 @@ on:
       - "dev/docker/**"
       - "dev/build-ballista-docker.sh"
       - ".github/workflows/docker.yml"
+      # docs-only changes cannot affect this job; exclusions are applied last
+      - "!**/*.md"
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.repository }}-${{ github.head_ref || github.sha }}-${{ github.workflow }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/rust.yml b/.github/workflows/rust.yml
index 47ced05470..5ea9f334b9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/rust.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/rust.yml
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ on:
       - ".github/actions/setup-windows-builder/**"
       - ".github/actions/setup-rust-runtime/**"
       - ".github/workflows/rust.yml"
+      # docs-only changes cannot affect this job; exclusions are applied last
+      - "!**/*.md"
   pull_request:
     paths:
       - "ballista/**"
@@ -53,6 +55,8 @@ on:
       - ".github/actions/setup-windows-builder/**"
       - ".github/actions/setup-rust-runtime/**"
       - ".github/workflows/rust.yml"
+      # docs-only changes cannot affect this job; exclusions are applied last
+      - "!**/*.md"
   # manual trigger
   # https://docs.github.com/en/actions/managing-workflow-runs/manually-running-a-workflow
   workflow_dispatch:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tpcds.yml b/.github/workflows/tpcds.yml
index bc1ceb52fe..ddfa4c802b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tpcds.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tpcds.yml
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ on:
       - "rust-toolchain.toml"
       - ".github/workflows/tpcds.yml"
       - ".github/actions/setup-builder/**"
+      # docs-only changes cannot affect this job; exclusions are applied last
+      - "!**/*.md"
   pull_request:
     paths:
       - "ballista/**"
@@ -44,6 +46,8 @@ on:
       - "rust-toolchain.toml"
       - ".github/workflows/tpcds.yml"
       - ".github/actions/setup-builder/**"
+      # docs-only changes cannot affect this job; exclusions are applied last
+      - "!**/*.md"
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 jobs:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tpch.yml b/.github/workflows/tpch.yml
index ee819a1088..0c03869040 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tpch.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tpch.yml
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ on:
       - "rust-toolchain.toml"
       - ".github/workflows/tpch.yml"
       - ".github/actions/setup-builder/**"
+      # docs-only changes cannot affect this job; exclusions are applied last
+      - "!**/*.md"
   pull_request:
     paths:
       - "ballista/**"
@@ -44,6 +46,8 @@ on:
       - "rust-toolchain.toml"
       - ".github/workflows/tpch.yml"
       - ".github/actions/setup-builder/**"
+      # docs-only changes cannot affect this job; exclusions are applied last
+      - "!**/*.md"
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 jobs:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/web-tui.yml b/.github/workflows/web-tui.yml
index 00da126c79..a3d6113cc7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/web-tui.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/web-tui.yml
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ on:
       - "rust-toolchain.toml"
       - ".github/workflows/web-tui.yml"
       - ".github/actions/setup-builder/**"
+      # docs-only changes cannot affect this job; exclusions are applied last
+      - "!**/*.md"
   pull_request:
     paths:
       - "ballista/**"
@@ -44,6 +46,8 @@ on:
       - "rust-toolchain.toml"
       - ".github/workflows/web-tui.yml"
       - ".github/actions/setup-builder/**"
+      # docs-only changes cannot affect this job; exclusions are applied last
+      - "!**/*.md"
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 jobs: