diff --git a/__tests__/github-builder/bake-vars.test.ts b/__tests__/github-builder/bake-vars.test.ts
index ac32ebab..c0f5065e 100644
--- a/__tests__/github-builder/bake-vars.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/github-builder/bake-vars.test.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,63 @@ describe('BakeVars.resolve', () => {
     expect(BakeVars.resolve([], {BUILDX_VERSION: 'v0.37.2', PATH: '/usr/bin', GITHUB: 'github', RUNNER: 'runner', github_SHA: 'abc123', OTHER_GITHUB_SHA: 'abc123'})).toEqual([]);
   });
 
+  it('forwards metadata outputs in sorted order', () => {
+    const json = '{"tags":["example/app:latest","example/app:main"],"labels":{"version":"1.2.3"}}';
+    expect(
+      BakeVars.resolve([], {
+        DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION: '1.2.3',
+        DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_TAG_NAMES: 'latest',
+        DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_JSON: json,
+        DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_BAKE_FILE_TAGS: '/tmp/tags.json',
+        DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_BAKE_FILE_LABELS: '/tmp/labels.json',
+        DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_BAKE_FILE_ANNOTATIONS: '/tmp/annotations.json',
+        DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_BAKE_FILE: '/tmp/metadata.json'
+      })
+    ).toEqual([
+      'DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_BAKE_FILE=/tmp/metadata.json',
+      'DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_BAKE_FILE_ANNOTATIONS=/tmp/annotations.json',
+      'DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_BAKE_FILE_LABELS=/tmp/labels.json',
+      'DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_BAKE_FILE_TAGS=/tmp/tags.json',
+      `DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_JSON=${json}`,
+      'DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_TAG_NAMES=latest',
+      'DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION=1.2.3'
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('excludes metadata settings and requires the exact output prefix', () => {
+    expect(
+      BakeVars.resolve([], {
+        DOCKER_METADATA_SET_OUTPUT_ENV: 'true',
+        DOCKER_METADATA_ANNOTATIONS_LEVELS: 'manifest,index',
+        DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT: 'excluded',
+        DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUTVERSION: 'excluded',
+        docker_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION: 'excluded',
+        OTHER_DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION: 'excluded'
+      })
+    ).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('appends caller variables after metadata outputs', () => {
+    const vars = ['DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION=override', 'DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION=final'];
+    const env = {DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION: '1.2.3'};
+    expect(BakeVars.resolve(vars, env)).toEqual(['DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION=1.2.3', ...vars]);
+    expect(vars).toEqual(['DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION=override', 'DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION=final']);
+    expect(env).toEqual({DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION: '1.2.3'});
+  });
+
+  it('preserves multiline metadata outputs as single variable entries', () => {
+    const tags = 'example/app:latest\nexample/app:main\n';
+    const labels = 'org.opencontainers.image.version=1.2.3\r\norg.opencontainers.image.title=  "one,two"=three  \r\n';
+    const annotations = 'manifest:org.opencontainers.image.version=1.2.3\nindex:org.opencontainers.image.title=example';
+    expect(
+      BakeVars.resolve([], {
+        DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_TAGS: tags,
+        DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_LABELS: labels,
+        DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_ANNOTATIONS: annotations
+      })
+    ).toEqual([`DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_ANNOTATIONS=${annotations}`, `DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_LABELS=${labels}`, `DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_TAGS=${tags}`]);
+  });
+
   it('forwards only the exact CI name and preserves its value', () => {
     expect(BakeVars.resolve([], {CI: 'false', CI_CUSTOM: 'excluded', ci: 'excluded', ACTIONS_RUNTIME_TOKEN: 'excluded'})).toEqual(['CI=false']);
   });
@@ -53,7 +110,7 @@ describe('BakeVars.resolve', () => {
   });
 
   it('preserves empty values', () => {
-    expect(BakeVars.resolve(['EMPTY='], {GITHUB_EMPTY: '', RUNNER_UNDEFINED: undefined})).toEqual(['GITHUB_EMPTY=', 'RUNNER_UNDEFINED=', 'EMPTY=']);
+    expect(BakeVars.resolve(['EMPTY='], {DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION: '', GITHUB_EMPTY: '', RUNNER_UNDEFINED: undefined})).toEqual(['DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION=', 'GITHUB_EMPTY=', 'RUNNER_UNDEFINED=', 'EMPTY=']);
   });
 
   it('preserves commas, quotes, equals signs and whitespace in values', () => {
@@ -63,11 +120,13 @@ describe('BakeVars.resolve', () => {
 
   it('defaults to the process environment', () => {
     vi.stubEnv('CI', 'true');
+    vi.stubEnv('DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION', '1.2.3');
     vi.stubEnv('GITHUB_BAKE_VARS_TEST', 'github');
     vi.stubEnv('RUNNER_BAKE_VARS_TEST', 'runner');
     vi.stubEnv('BAKE_VARS_TEST', 'excluded');
     const vars = BakeVars.resolve([]);
     expect(vars).toContain('CI=true');
+    expect(vars).toContain('DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_VERSION=1.2.3');
     expect(vars).toContain('GITHUB_BAKE_VARS_TEST=github');
     expect(vars).toContain('RUNNER_BAKE_VARS_TEST=runner');
     expect(vars).not.toContain('BAKE_VARS_TEST=excluded');
diff --git a/src/github-builder/bake-vars.ts b/src/github-builder/bake-vars.ts
index b9f2cf8c..e6a3e2e8 100644
--- a/src/github-builder/bake-vars.ts
+++ b/src/github-builder/bake-vars.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ export class BakeVars {
   public static resolve(vars: Array<string>, env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): Array<string> {
     // Preserve GitHub workflow context without allowing arbitrary runner env lookup in Bake.
     const defaultVars = Object.keys(env)
-      .filter(key => key === 'CI' || key.startsWith('GITHUB_') || key.startsWith('RUNNER_'))
+      .filter(key => key === 'CI' || key.startsWith('DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_') || key.startsWith('GITHUB_') || key.startsWith('RUNNER_'))
       .sort()
       .map(key => `${key}=${env[key] || ''}`);
     return [...defaultVars, ...vars];