diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.generate.ts b/.github/workflows/ci.generate.ts
index d43db76414..5c2de96006 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.generate.ts
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.generate.ts
@@ -59,6 +59,15 @@ const Runners = {
 
 const prCacheKeyPrefix =
   `${cacheVersion}-cargo-target-\${{ matrix.os }}-\${{ matrix.arch }}-\${{ matrix.profile }}-\${{ matrix.job }}-`;
+const prCacheKey = `${prCacheKeyPrefix}\${{ github.sha }}`;
+const prCachePath = [
+  // this must match for save and restore (https://github.com/actions/cache/issues/1444)
+  "./target",
+  "!./target/*/gn_out",
+  "!./target/*/gn_root",
+  "!./target/*/*.zip",
+  "!./target/*/*.tar.gz",
+].join("\n");
 
 // Note that you may need to add more version to the `apt-get remove` line below if you change this
 const llvmVersion = 19;
@@ -612,7 +621,7 @@ const ci = {
               `${cacheVersion}-cargo-home-\${{ matrix.os }}-\${{ matrix.arch }}-\${{ hashFiles('Cargo.lock') }}`,
             // We will try to restore from the closest cargo-home we can find
             "restore-keys":
-              `${cacheVersion}-cargo-home-\${{ matrix.os }}-\${{ matrix.arch }}`,
+              `${cacheVersion}-cargo-home-\${{ matrix.os }}-\${{ matrix.arch }}-`,
           },
         },
         {
@@ -622,13 +631,7 @@ const ci = {
           if:
             "github.ref != 'refs/heads/main' && !startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')",
           with: {
-            path: [
-              "./target",
-              "!./target/*/gn_out",
-              "!./target/*/gn_root",
-              "!./target/*/*.zip",
-              "!./target/*/*.tar.gz",
-            ].join("\n"),
+            path: prCachePath,
             key: "never_saved",
             "restore-keys": prCacheKeyPrefix,
           },
@@ -1080,14 +1083,8 @@ const ci = {
           if:
             "(matrix.job == 'test' || matrix.job == 'lint') && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'",
           with: {
-            path: [
-              "./target",
-              "!./target/*/gn_out",
-              "!./target/*/*.zip",
-              "!./target/*/*.sha256sum",
-              "!./target/*/*.tar.gz",
-            ].join("\n"),
-            key: prCacheKeyPrefix + "${{ github.sha }}",
+            path: prCachePath,
+            key: prCacheKey,
           },
         },
       ]),
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 29dd694c6c..44eb15cb95 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ jobs:
             ~/.cargo/registry/index
             ~/.cargo/registry/cache
           key: '30-cargo-home-${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.arch }}-${{ hashFiles(''Cargo.lock'') }}'
-          restore-keys: '30-cargo-home-${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.arch }}'
+          restore-keys: '30-cargo-home-${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.arch }}-'
         if: '!(matrix.skip)'
       - name: Restore cache build output (PR)
         uses: actions/cache/restore@v4
@@ -682,8 +682,8 @@ jobs:
           path: |-
             ./target
             !./target/*/gn_out
+            !./target/*/gn_root
             !./target/*/*.zip
-            !./target/*/*.sha256sum
             !./target/*/*.tar.gz
           key: '30-cargo-target-${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.arch }}-${{ matrix.profile }}-${{ matrix.job }}-${{ github.sha }}'
   publish-canary: