diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/rules.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/ci/rules.gitlab-ci.yml
index f3bd03f431c..d7b99eb3cb9 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/rules.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/rules.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -613,7 +613,10 @@
   - qa/gdk/**/*
   - Gemfile.lock
   - yarn.lock
+  - scripts/frontend/postinstall.js
   - workhorse/**/*
+  - vendor/gems/**/*
+  - gems/**/*
   - VERSION
   - GITLAB_WORKHORSE_VERSION
   - GITLAB_METRICS_EXPORTER_VERSION
@@ -914,14 +917,16 @@
     - !reference [".qa:rules:package-and-test-never-run", rules]
     - <<: *if-default-branch-schedule-nightly # already executed in the 2-hourly schedule
       when: never
-    - <<: *if-default-branch-refs # Includes scheduled pipelines
-      variables:
-        BUILD_GDK_BASE: "true"
-    # We want to also rebuild the base image if MRs change certain components.
-    - <<: *if-merge-request
-      variables:
-        BUILD_GDK_BASE: "true"
+    - <<: *if-default-branch-refs
+    # Rebuild base only when relevant components change
+    - <<: *if-default-branch-refs
       changes: *gdk-component-patterns
+      variables:
+        BUILD_GDK_BASE: "true"
+    - <<: *if-merge-request
+      changes: *gdk-component-patterns
+      variables:
+        BUILD_GDK_BASE: "true"
     # The rest are included to be consistent with .qa:rules:e2e:test-on-gdk
     - <<: *if-merge-request-targeting-stable-branch
       changes: *setup-test-env-patterns
diff --git a/app/services/merge_requests/merge_strategies/from_source_branch.rb b/app/services/merge_requests/merge_strategies/from_source_branch.rb
index 9fe5fc5160b..927ac613f35 100644
--- a/app/services/merge_requests/merge_strategies/from_source_branch.rb
+++ b/app/services/merge_requests/merge_strategies/from_source_branch.rb
@@ -110,3 +110,5 @@ module MergeRequests
     end
   end
 end
+
+::MergeRequests::MergeStrategies::FromSourceBranch.prepend_mod
diff --git a/config/gitlab.yml.example b/config/gitlab.yml.example
index bbdbd68a78b..07be2bbf57b 100644
--- a/config/gitlab.yml.example
+++ b/config/gitlab.yml.example
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ production: &base
 
   ## Sidekiq
   sidekiq:
-    log_format: json # (default is the original format)
+    log_format: json # (text is the original format)
     # An array of tuples indicating the rules for re-routing a worker to a
     # desirable queue before scheduling. For example:
     # routing_rules:
diff --git a/config/initializers/sidekiq.rb b/config/initializers/sidekiq.rb
index 9eb58ad01af..dea4ed6b160 100644
--- a/config/initializers/sidekiq.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/sidekiq.rb
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ unless Gitlab::Utils.to_boolean(ENV['SIDEKIQ_ENQUEUE_NON_NAMESPACED'])
   queues_config_hash[:namespace] = Gitlab::Redis::Queues::SIDEKIQ_NAMESPACE
 end
 
-enable_json_logs = Gitlab.config.sidekiq.log_format == 'json'
+enable_json_logs = Gitlab.config.sidekiq.log_format != 'text'
 
 Sidekiq.configure_server do |config|
   config[:strict] = false
diff --git a/doc/administration/logs/index.md b/doc/administration/logs/index.md
index bfab17d37e8..e093c03a13e 100644
--- a/doc/administration/logs/index.md
+++ b/doc/administration/logs/index.md
@@ -505,22 +505,16 @@ and as follows.
 
 ### `sidekiq.log`
 
+> The default log format for Helm chart installations [changed from `text` to `json`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/charts/gitlab/-/merge_requests/3169) in GitLab 16.0 and later.
+
 This file is located at:
 
 - `/var/log/gitlab/sidekiq/current` on Linux package installations.
 - `/home/git/gitlab/log/sidekiq.log` on self-compiled installations.
 
 GitLab uses background jobs for processing tasks which can take a long
-time. All information about processing these jobs are written down to
-this file. For example:
-
-```plaintext
-2014-06-10T07:55:20Z 2037 TID-tm504 ERROR: /opt/bitnami/apps/discourse/htdocs/vendor/bundle/ruby/1.9.1/gems/redis-3.0.7/lib/redis/client.rb:228:in `read'
-2014-06-10T18:18:26Z 14299 TID-55uqo INFO: Booting Sidekiq 3.0.0 with redis options {:url=>"redis://localhost:6379/0", :namespace=>"sidekiq"}
-```
-
-Instead of the previous format, you can opt to generate JSON logs for
-Sidekiq. For example:
+time. All information about processing these jobs are written to this
+file. For example:
 
 ```json
 {
@@ -547,10 +541,25 @@ Sidekiq. For example:
 }
 ```
 
+Instead of JSON logs, you can opt to generate text logs for Sidekiq. For example:
+
+```plaintext
+2023-05-16T16:08:55.272Z pid=82525 tid=23rl INFO: Initializing websocket
+2023-05-16T16:08:55.279Z pid=82525 tid=23rl INFO: Booted Rails 6.1.7.2 application in production environment
+2023-05-16T16:08:55.279Z pid=82525 tid=23rl INFO: Running in ruby 3.0.5p211 (2022-11-24 revision ba5cf0f7c5) [arm64-darwin22]
+2023-05-16T16:08:55.279Z pid=82525 tid=23rl INFO: See LICENSE and the LGPL-3.0 for licensing details.
+2023-05-16T16:08:55.279Z pid=82525 tid=23rl INFO: Upgrade to Sidekiq Pro for more features and support: https://sidekiq.org
+2023-05-16T16:08:55.286Z pid=82525 tid=7p4t INFO: Cleaning working queues
+2023-05-16T16:09:06.043Z pid=82525 tid=7p7d class=ScheduleMergeRequestCleanupRefsWorker jid=efcc73f169c09a514b06da3f INFO: start
+2023-05-16T16:09:06.050Z pid=82525 tid=7p7d class=ScheduleMergeRequestCleanupRefsWorker jid=efcc73f169c09a514b06da3f INFO: arguments: []
+2023-05-16T16:09:06.065Z pid=82525 tid=7p81 class=UserStatusCleanup::BatchWorker jid=e279aa6409ac33031a314822 INFO: start
+2023-05-16T16:09:06.066Z pid=82525 tid=7p81 class=UserStatusCleanup::BatchWorker jid=e279aa6409ac33031a314822 INFO: arguments: []
+```
+
 For Linux package installations, add the configuration option:
 
 ```ruby
-sidekiq['log_format'] = 'json'
+sidekiq['log_format'] = 'text'
 ```
 
 For self-compiled installations, edit the `gitlab.yml` and set the Sidekiq
@@ -559,7 +568,7 @@ For self-compiled installations, edit the `gitlab.yml` and set the Sidekiq
 ```yaml
   ## Sidekiq
   sidekiq:
-    log_format: json
+    log_format: text
 ```
 
 ### `sidekiq_client.log`
diff --git a/qa/gdk/Dockerfile.gdk.dockerignore b/qa/gdk/Dockerfile.gdk.dockerignore
index ef1074ed833..d4b2ec7449a 100644
--- a/qa/gdk/Dockerfile.gdk.dockerignore
+++ b/qa/gdk/Dockerfile.gdk.dockerignore
@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
 .bundle/
+builds/
+changelogs/
 danger/
+data/
 doc/
+rubocop/
+storybook/
 log/*.log
 node_modules/
-rubocop/
 tmp/*
 
+*.md
+
 db/fixtures/
 !db/fixtures/development/01_admin.rb
 !db/fixtures/development/02_application_settings.rb
@@ -19,3 +25,13 @@ scripts/
 
 qa/
 !qa/gdk
+
+spec/
+!spec/contracts
+!spec/factories
+!spec/support
+
+ee/spec
+!ee/spec/contracts
+!ee/spec/factories
+!ee/spec/support