diff --git a/cmd/cmrel/cmd/makestage.go b/cmd/cmrel/cmd/makestage.go
index 11889bc..51302c4 100644
--- a/cmd/cmrel/cmd/makestage.go
+++ b/cmd/cmrel/cmd/makestage.go
@@ -144,7 +144,11 @@ func runMakeStage(rootOpts *rootOptions, o *makeStageOptions) error {
 	}
 
 	if build.Options == nil {
-		build.Options = &cloudbuild.BuildOptions{MachineType: "n1-highcpu-32"}
+		build.Options = &cloudbuild.BuildOptions{}
+	}
+
+	if build.Options.MachineType == "" {
+		build.Options.MachineType = "N1_HIGHCPU_32"
 	}
 
 	build.Substitutions["_CM_REF"] = o.Ref
diff --git a/cmd/cmrel/cmd/publish.go b/cmd/cmrel/cmd/publish.go
index 99bccd8..8ee99db 100644
--- a/cmd/cmrel/cmd/publish.go
+++ b/cmd/cmrel/cmd/publish.go
@@ -187,6 +187,14 @@ func runPublish(rootOpts *rootOptions, o *publishOptions) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error loading cloudbuild.yaml file: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	if build.Options == nil {
+		build.Options = &cloudbuild.BuildOptions{}
+	}
+
+	if build.Options.MachineType == "" {
+		build.Options.MachineType = "E2_HIGHCPU_32"
+	}
+
 	// make sure that publish-actions is valid
 	_, err = canonicalizeAndVerifyPublishActions(o.PublishActions)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/cmrel/cmd/stage.go b/cmd/cmrel/cmd/stage.go
index 864e187..08552c8 100644
--- a/cmd/cmrel/cmd/stage.go
+++ b/cmd/cmrel/cmd/stage.go
@@ -189,7 +189,11 @@ func runStage(rootOpts *rootOptions, o *stageOptions) error {
 	}
 
 	if build.Options == nil {
-		build.Options = &cloudbuild.BuildOptions{MachineType: "n1-highcpu-32"}
+		build.Options = &cloudbuild.BuildOptions{}
+	}
+
+	if build.Options.MachineType == "" {
+		build.Options.MachineType = "N1_HIGHCPU_32"
 	}
 
 	targetOSes, err := release.OSListFromString(o.TargetOSes)
diff --git a/gcb/publish/cloudbuild.yaml b/gcb/publish/cloudbuild.yaml
index 6c6b66e..ce3bbee 100644
--- a/gcb/publish/cloudbuild.yaml
+++ b/gcb/publish/cloudbuild.yaml
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ tags:
 - "name-${_TAG_RELEASE_NAME}"
 
 options:
+  machineType: E2_HIGHCPU_32
   volumes:
   - name: go-modules
     path: /go
diff --git a/gcb/stage/cloudbuild.yaml b/gcb/stage/cloudbuild.yaml
index c1d3fe8..89d712a 100644
--- a/gcb/stage/cloudbuild.yaml
+++ b/gcb/stage/cloudbuild.yaml
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ steps:
     set -e
     git clone "${_CM_REPO}" . && git checkout "${_CM_REF}"
 
-steps:
 - name: docker.io/library/golang:1.23-alpine
   entrypoint: go
   args:
@@ -42,6 +41,7 @@ tags:
 - "branch-${_TAG_RELEASE_BRANCH}"
 
 options:
+  machineType: N1_HIGHCPU_32
   volumes:
   - name: go-modules
     path: /go
@@ -70,5 +70,3 @@ substitutions:
   ## Used as a tag to identify the build more easily later
   _TAG_RELEASE_BRANCH: ""
 
-options:
-  machineType: n1-highcpu-32