diff --git a/.buildkite/release-pipeline.yaml b/.buildkite/release-pipeline.yaml
index a543c5966..a052bf5af 100644
--- a/.buildkite/release-pipeline.yaml
+++ b/.buildkite/release-pipeline.yaml
@@ -192,6 +192,7 @@ steps:
         depends_on:
           - block-cpu-release-image-build
           - input-release-version
+        id: build-release-image-x86-cpu
         agents:
           queue: cpu_queue_release
         commands:
@@ -207,9 +208,10 @@ steps:
         depends_on: ~
 
       - label: "Build release image - arm64 - CPU"
-        depends_on: 
+        depends_on:
           - block-arm64-cpu-release-image-build
           - input-release-version
+        id: build-release-image-arm64-cpu
         agents:
           queue: arm64_cpu_queue_release
         commands:
@@ -280,6 +282,31 @@ steps:
           - "docker manifest create public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-x86_64-cu130-ubuntu2404 public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-aarch64-cu130-ubuntu2404 --amend"
           - "docker manifest push public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:$BUILDKITE_COMMIT-cu130-ubuntu2404"
 
+      - block: "Confirm publishing release images to DockerHub"
+        key: block-publish-release-images-dockerhub
+        depends_on:
+          - create-multi-arch-manifest
+          - create-multi-arch-manifest-cuda-13-0
+          - build-release-image-x86-cpu
+          - build-release-image-arm64-cpu
+          - build-rocm-release-image
+
+      - label: "Publish release images to DockerHub"
+        key: publish-release-images-dockerhub
+        depends_on:
+          - block-publish-release-images-dockerhub
+        agents:
+          queue: small_cpu_queue_release
+        commands:
+          - "bash .buildkite/scripts/push-release-builds.sh"
+        plugins:
+          - docker-login#v3.0.0:
+              username: vllmbot
+              password-env: DOCKERHUB_TOKEN
+        env:
+          DOCKER_BUILDKIT: "1"
+          DOCKERHUB_USERNAME: "vllmbot"
+
       - label: "Publish nightly multi-arch image to DockerHub"
         depends_on:
           - create-multi-arch-manifest
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/push-release-builds.sh b/.buildkite/scripts/push-release-builds.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..91f12af55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/push-release-builds.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Ensure git tags are up-to-date (Buildkite's default fetch doesn't always include tags)
+echo "Fetching latest tags from origin..."
+git fetch --tags --force origin
+
+# Derive release version from the git tag on the current commit.
+# The pipeline must be triggered on a tagged commit (e.g. v0.18.1).
+RELEASE_VERSION=$(git describe --exact-match --tags "${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}" 2>/dev/null || true)
+if [ -z "${RELEASE_VERSION}" ]; then
+    echo "[FATAL] Commit ${BUILDKITE_COMMIT} has no exact git tag. " \
+         "Release images must be published from a tagged commit."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Strip leading 'v' for use in Docker tags (e.g. v0.18.1 -> 0.18.1)
+PURE_VERSION="${RELEASE_VERSION#v}"
+
+echo "========================================"
+echo "Publishing release images"
+echo "  Commit:          ${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}"
+echo "  Release version: ${RELEASE_VERSION}"
+echo "========================================"
+
+set -x
+
+# ---- CUDA (default, CUDA 12.9) ----
+docker pull "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-x86_64"
+docker pull "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-aarch64"
+
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-x86_64" "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-x86_64"
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-x86_64" "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-x86_64"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-x86_64"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-x86_64"
+
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-aarch64" "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-aarch64"
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-aarch64" "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-aarch64"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-aarch64"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-aarch64"
+
+docker manifest rm "vllm/vllm-openai:latest" || true
+docker manifest create "vllm/vllm-openai:latest" "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-x86_64" "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-aarch64"
+docker manifest push "vllm/vllm-openai:latest"
+
+docker manifest rm "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}" || true
+docker manifest create "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}" "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-x86_64" "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-aarch64"
+docker manifest push "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}"
+
+# ---- CUDA 13.0 ----
+docker pull "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-x86_64-cu130"
+docker pull "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-aarch64-cu130"
+
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-x86_64-cu130" "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-x86_64-cu130"
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-x86_64-cu130" "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-x86_64-cu130"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-x86_64-cu130"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-x86_64-cu130"
+
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-aarch64-cu130" "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-aarch64-cu130"
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-aarch64-cu130" "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-aarch64-cu130"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-aarch64-cu130"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-aarch64-cu130"
+
+docker manifest rm "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-cu130" || true
+docker manifest create "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-cu130" "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-x86_64-cu130" "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-aarch64-cu130"
+docker manifest push "vllm/vllm-openai:latest-cu130"
+
+docker manifest rm "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-cu130" || true
+docker manifest create "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-cu130" "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-x86_64-cu130" "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-aarch64-cu130"
+docker manifest push "vllm/vllm-openai:v${PURE_VERSION}-cu130"
+
+# ---- ROCm ----
+docker pull "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-rocm"
+docker pull "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-rocm-base"
+
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-rocm" "vllm/vllm-openai-rocm:latest"
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-rocm" "vllm/vllm-openai-rocm:v${PURE_VERSION}"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai-rocm:latest"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai-rocm:v${PURE_VERSION}"
+
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-rocm-base" "vllm/vllm-openai-rocm:latest-base"
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-release-repo:${BUILDKITE_COMMIT}-rocm-base" "vllm/vllm-openai-rocm:v${PURE_VERSION}-base"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai-rocm:latest-base"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai-rocm:v${PURE_VERSION}-base"
+
+# ---- CPU ----
+# CPU images in ECR are tagged with the full version including 'v' (e.g. v0.18.1),
+# matching the value from the Buildkite release-version metadata input.
+docker pull "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:${RELEASE_VERSION}"
+docker pull "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-arm64-cpu-release-repo:${RELEASE_VERSION}"
+
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:${RELEASE_VERSION}" "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:latest-x86_64"
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-cpu-release-repo:${RELEASE_VERSION}" "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:v${PURE_VERSION}-x86_64"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:latest-x86_64"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:v${PURE_VERSION}-x86_64"
+
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-arm64-cpu-release-repo:${RELEASE_VERSION}" "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:latest-arm64"
+docker tag "public.ecr.aws/q9t5s3a7/vllm-arm64-cpu-release-repo:${RELEASE_VERSION}" "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:v${PURE_VERSION}-arm64"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:latest-arm64"
+docker push "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:v${PURE_VERSION}-arm64"
+
+docker manifest rm "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:latest" || true
+docker manifest create "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:latest" "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:latest-x86_64" "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:latest-arm64"
+docker manifest push "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:latest"
+
+docker manifest rm "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:v${PURE_VERSION}" || true
+docker manifest create "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:v${PURE_VERSION}" "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:v${PURE_VERSION}-x86_64" "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:v${PURE_VERSION}-arm64"
+docker manifest push "vllm/vllm-openai-cpu:v${PURE_VERSION}"
+
+echo "========================================"
+echo "Successfully published release images for ${RELEASE_VERSION}"
+echo "========================================"