diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-policy.yml b/.github/workflows/build-policy.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b0279f045
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-policy.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+name: Build refpolicy
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      version:
+        description: "Refpolicy version (a git commit ID, tag, or branch)"
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: ""
+      path:
+        description: "Path to store the refpolicy sources"
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: "refpolicy-src"
+      python-version:
+        description: "Python version to use"
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      artifact-name:
+        description: "Artifact name to use; suffixed with policy build options (distro, mls/mcs, etc.)"
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: "refpolicy"
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        # matrix updates must also be duplicated to validate-policy.yml and diff-policy.yml
+        distro: ["redhat", "debian", "gentoo"]
+        type: ["standard", "mcs", "mls"]
+        monolithic: ["y", "n"]
+        systemd: ["y", "n"]
+        direct_initrc: ["y", "n"]
+        apps-off: ["unconfined", ""]
+        exclude:
+          - { distro: "redhat", systemd: "n" }
+          - { distro: "redhat", direct_initrc: "y" }
+          - { distro: "debian", systemd: "n" }
+          - { distro: "debian", direct_initrc: "y" }
+          - { type: "mls", apps-off: "" }
+          - { systemd: "y", direct_initrc: "y" }
+
+    steps:
+    - name: Checkout refpolicy sources
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        ref: "${{ inputs.version }}"
+        path: "${{ inputs.path }}"
+
+    - name: Download userspace binary artifact
+      uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+      id: dl-userspace
+      with:
+        name: selinux-bin
+
+      # actions/upload-artifact does not preserve permissions.
+    - name: Fix userspace file permissions
+      shell: bash
+      working-directory: "${{ steps.dl-userspace.outputs.download-path }}"
+      run: chmod +x usr/bin/* lib/*.so* usr/lib/*.so* usr/libexec/selinux/hll/pp sbin/* usr/sbin/*
+
+    # This should be the minimum required Python version to build refpolicy.
+    # or the standard Python version on Ubuntu.
+    - name: Set up Python
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+      with:
+        python-version: "${{ inputs.python-version }}"
+
+    - name: Configure environment
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        echo "DESTDIR=/tmp/refpolicy" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "PYTHON=python${{ inputs.python-version }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "TYPE=${{ matrix.type }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "DISTRO=${{ matrix.distro }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "MONOLITHIC=${{ matrix.monolithic }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "SYSTEMD=${{ matrix.systemd }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "APPS_OFF=${{ matrix.apps-off }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "DIRECT_INITRC=${{ matrix.direct_initrc }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "WERROR=y" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "TEST_TOOLCHAIN=\"${{ steps.dl-userspace.outputs.download-path }}\"" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+    - name: Build refpolicy
+      shell: bash
+      working-directory: "${{ inputs.path }}"
+      run: |
+        # Drop build.conf settings to listen to env vars
+        sed -r -i -e '/(MONOLITHIC|TYPE|DISTRO|SYSTEMD|DIRECT_INITRC|WERROR)/d' build.conf
+
+        make bare
+        make conf
+        make
+
+    - name: Validate output policy
+      working-directory: ${{ inputs.path }}
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        make validate
+
+    - name: Build docs
+      working-directory: ${{ inputs.path }}
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        make xml
+        make html
+
+    - name: Test installation
+      working-directory: ${{ inputs.path }}
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        make install
+        make install-headers
+        make install-src
+        make install-docs
+        make install-udica-templates
+        make install-appconfig
+      env:
+        DESTDIR: /tmp/refpolicy-install
+
+    # normalize to "sepolicy" and "file_contexts"
+    - name: Normalize artifacts
+      working-directory: ${{ inputs.path }}
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        if [[ $MONOLITHIC == "y" ]]; then
+          policy_file=$(make MONOLITHIC=y --eval='output_filename: ; @echo $(polver)' output_filename)
+          mv "${policy_file}" sepolicy
+        else
+          mv tmp/policy.bin sepolicy
+          mv tmp/all_mods.fc file_contexts
+        fi
+
+    - name: Upload artifact
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+      with:
+        name: ${{ inputs.artifact-name }}-${{ matrix.distro }}-${{ matrix.type }}-${{ matrix.monolithic }}-${{ matrix.systemd }}-${{ matrix.direct_initrc }}-${{ matrix.apps-off }}
+        path: |
+          ${{ inputs.path }}/sepolicy
+          ${{ inputs.path }}/file_contexts
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-setools.yml b/.github/workflows/build-setools.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3f9262ef3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-setools.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+name: Build SETools
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      version:
+        description: "SETools version (a git commit ID, tag, or branch)"
+        type: string
+        required: true
+      python-version:
+        description: "Python version to use"
+        type: string
+        required: true
+    outputs:
+      artifact-id:
+        description: "SETools wheel artifact ID"
+        value: ${{ jobs.build.outputs.artifact-id }}
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    outputs:
+      artifact-id: ${{ steps.upload-artifact.outputs.artifact-id }}
+
+    steps:
+    - name: Checkout setools
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        repository: SELinuxProject/setools
+        ref: "${{ inputs.version }}"
+
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        sudo apt-get update -q
+
+    - name: Download userspace source artifact
+      uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+      id: dl-userspace
+      with:
+        name: selinux-src
+
+    - name: Set up Python
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+      with:
+        python-version: "${{ inputs.python-version }}"
+
+    - name: Build setools
+      shell: bash
+      run: pip wheel --no-deps .
+      env:
+        CFLAGS: "-O2"
+        USERSPACE_SRC: "${{ steps.dl-userspace.outputs.download-path }}"
+
+    - name: Upload wheel
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+      id: upload-artifact
+      with:
+        name: setools
+        path: "setools-*.whl"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-userspace.yml b/.github/workflows/build-userspace.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..786c25b66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-userspace.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+name: "Build SELinux userspace"
+
+env:
+  SELINUX_SRC: "${{ github.workspace }}/selinux-src"
+  SELINUX_BIN: "${{ github.workspace }}/selinux-bin"
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      version:
+        description: "Userspace version (a git commit ID, tag, or branch)"
+        required: false
+        type: string
+    outputs:
+      source-id:
+        description: "Userspace source artifact ID"
+        value: ${{ jobs.build.outputs.source-id }}
+      binary-id:
+        description: "Userspace binary artifact ID"
+        value: ${{ jobs.build.outputs.binary-id }}
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    outputs:
+      source-id: ${{ steps.upload-src-artifact.outputs.artifact-id }}
+      binary-id: ${{ steps.upload-bin-artifact.outputs.artifact-id }}
+
+    steps:
+    - name: Checkout SELinux userspace tools and libs
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        repository: SELinuxProject/selinux
+        ref: "${{ inputs.version }}"
+        path: "${{ env.SELINUX_SRC }}"
+
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        sudo apt-get update -q
+        sudo apt-get install -qy \
+            bison \
+            flex \
+            gettext \
+            libaudit-dev \
+            libbz2-dev \
+            libpcre3-dev \
+            libxml2-utils \
+            swig
+
+    - name: Compile
+      shell: bash
+      id: compile
+      working-directory: "${{ env.SELINUX_SRC }}"
+      run: |
+        # Drop secilc to break xmlto dependence (secilc isn't used here anyway)
+        sed -i -e 's/secilc//' Makefile
+        # Drop sepolicy to break setools dependence (sepolicy isn't used anyway)
+        sed -i -e 's/sepolicy//' policycoreutils/Makefile
+        # Drop restorecond to break glib dependence
+        sed -i -e 's/ restorecond//' policycoreutils/Makefile
+        # Drop sandbox to break libcap-ng dependence
+        sed -i -e 's/ sandbox//' policycoreutils/Makefile
+        # Compile and install SELinux toolchain
+        make OPT_SUBDIRS=semodule-utils install
+        # set output directory on successful/pre-existing compile
+        echo "DESTDIR=\"${DESTDIR}\"" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+      env:
+        DESTDIR: "${{ env.SELINUX_BIN }}"
+        CFLAGS: "-O2"
+
+    - name: Upload source artifact
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+      id: upload-src-artifact
+      with:
+        name: selinux-src
+        path: "${{ env.SELINUX_SRC }}/"
+
+    - name: Upload binary artifact
+      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+      id: upload-bin-artifact
+      with:
+        name: selinux-bin
+        path: "${{ env.SELINUX_BIN }}/"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint-policy.yml b/.github/workflows/lint-policy.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f7004ce63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint-policy.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+name: Policy linting
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      python-version:
+        description: "Python version to use"
+        required: true
+        type: string
+      selint-version:
+        description: "SELint version (a git commit ID, tag, or branch)"
+        required: true
+        type: string
+
+jobs:
+  selint:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+    - name: Install dependencies
+      run: |
+        sudo apt-get update -q
+        sudo apt-get install -qy autoconf-archive bison flex libconfuse-dev uthash-dev
+
+    - name: Checkout SELint
+      uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        repository: SELinuxProject/selint
+        ref: "${{ inputs.selint-version }}"
+        path: selint
+
+    - name: Build SELint
+      working-directory: selint
+      run: |
+        ./autogen.sh
+        ./configure --without-check
+        make -j$(nproc)
+        sudo make install
+
+    - name: Create generated policy files
+      run: |
+        make conf
+        make generate
+
+    - name: Run SELint
+      run: |
+        # disable C-005 (Permissions in av rule or class declaration not ordered) for now: needs fixing
+        # disable C-008 (Conditional expression identifier from foreign module) for now: needs fixing
+        # disable W-005 (Interface call from module not in optional_policy block): refpolicy does not follow this rule
+        selint --source --recursive --summary --fail --disable C-005 --disable C-008 --disable W-005 policy
+
+  check_fc_files:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+    # This version should be the minimum required to run the fc checker
+    # or the standard Python version on Ubuntu.
+    - name: Set up Python
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+      with:
+        python-version: "${{ inputs.python-version }}"
+
+    - name: Create generated policy files
+      run: |
+        make conf
+        make generate
+
+    - name: Run file context checker
+      run: python${{ inputs.python-version }} -t -t -E -W error testing/check_fc_files.py
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index c864b17b2..5192a396c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -5,225 +5,43 @@ on: [push, pull_request]
 env:
   # Minimum versions to build refpolicy.
   PYTHON_VERSION: "3.10"
-  SELINUX_USERSPACE_VERSION: checkpolicy-3.2
-  USERSPACE_SRC: "selinux-src"
+  SELINUX_USERSPACE_VERSION: "3.2"
   # branch for sechecker
   SECHECKER_VERSION: "4.4"
-  SETOOLS_SRC: "setools-src"
+  # branch for selint
+  SELINT_VERSION: "v1.5.0"
 
 jobs:
-  lint:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+  lint_branch_policy:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/lint-policy.yml
+    with:
+      python-version: "3.10"
+      selint-version: "v1.5.0"
 
-    steps:
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+  build_userspace:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/build-userspace.yml
+    # depend on lint so expensive operations don't run if lint fails
+    needs: lint_branch_policy
+    with:
+      version: "3.2"
 
-    # This version should be the minimum required to run the fc checker
-    # or the standard Python version on Ubuntu.
-    - name: Set up Python
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-      with:
-        python-version: "${{env.PYTHON_VERSION}}"
+  build_setools:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/build-setools.yml
+    needs: build_userspace
+    with:
+      version: "4.4"
+      python-version: "3.10"
 
-    - name: Install dependencies
-      run: |
-        sudo apt-get update -q
-        sudo apt-get install -qy autoconf-archive bison flex libconfuse-dev uthash-dev
+  build_branch_policy:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/build-policy.yml
+    needs: build_userspace
+    with:
+      # Minimum versions to build refpolicy.
+      python-version: "3.10"
 
-    - name: Checkout SELint
-      uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      with:
-        repository: SELinuxProject/selint
-        ref: 'v1.5.0'
-        path: selint
+  validate_branch_policy:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/validate-policy.yml
+    needs: [build_branch_policy, build_setools, build_userspace]
+    with:
+      python-version: "3.10"
 
-    - name: Build SELint
-      run: |
-        cd selint/
-        ./autogen.sh
-        ./configure --without-check
-        make -j$(nproc)
-        sudo make install
-
-    - name: Create generated policy files
-      run: |
-        make conf
-        make generate
-
-    - name: Run file context checker
-      run: python3 -t -t -E -W error testing/check_fc_files.py
-
-    - name: Run SELint
-      run: |
-        # disable C-005 (Permissions in av rule or class declaration not ordered) for now: needs fixing
-        # disable C-008 (Conditional expression identifier from foreign module) for now: needs fixing
-        # disable W-005 (Interface call from module not in optional_policy block): refpolicy does not follow this rule
-        selint --source --recursive --summary --fail --disable C-005 --disable C-008 --disable W-005 policy
-
-  build:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-
-      matrix:
-        build-opts:
-          - {type: standard, distro: redhat, monolithic: y, systemd: y, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: standard, distro: redhat, monolithic: n, systemd: y, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: standard, distro: debian, monolithic: y, systemd: y, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: standard, distro: debian, monolithic: n, systemd: y, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: standard, distro: gentoo, monolithic: y, systemd: n, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: standard, distro: gentoo, monolithic: n, systemd: n, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: redhat, monolithic: y, systemd: y, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: redhat, monolithic: n, systemd: y, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: debian, monolithic: y, systemd: y, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: debian, monolithic: n, systemd: y, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: gentoo, monolithic: y, systemd: n, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: gentoo, monolithic: n, systemd: n, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mls, distro: redhat, monolithic: y, systemd: y, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mls, distro: redhat, monolithic: n, systemd: y, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mls, distro: debian, monolithic: y, systemd: y, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mls, distro: debian, monolithic: n, systemd: y, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mls, distro: gentoo, monolithic: y, systemd: n, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mls, distro: gentoo, monolithic: n, systemd: n, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: standard, distro: redhat, monolithic: y, systemd: y, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: standard, distro: debian, monolithic: y, systemd: y, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: standard, distro: gentoo, monolithic: y, systemd: n, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: redhat, monolithic: y, systemd: y, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: debian, monolithic: y, systemd: y, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: gentoo, monolithic: y, systemd: n, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mls, distro: redhat, monolithic: y, systemd: y, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mls, distro: debian, monolithic: y, systemd: y, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: mls, distro: gentoo, monolithic: y, systemd: n, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: n}
-          - {type: standard, distro: redhat, monolithic: y, systemd: y, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: standard, distro: redhat, monolithic: n, systemd: y, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: standard, distro: debian, monolithic: y, systemd: y, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: standard, distro: debian, monolithic: n, systemd: y, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: standard, distro: gentoo, monolithic: y, systemd: n, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: standard, distro: gentoo, monolithic: n, systemd: n, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: redhat, monolithic: y, systemd: y, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: redhat, monolithic: n, systemd: y, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: debian, monolithic: y, systemd: y, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: debian, monolithic: n, systemd: y, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: gentoo, monolithic: y, systemd: n, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: gentoo, monolithic: n, systemd: n, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mls, distro: redhat, monolithic: y, systemd: y, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mls, distro: redhat, monolithic: n, systemd: y, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mls, distro: debian, monolithic: y, systemd: y, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mls, distro: debian, monolithic: n, systemd: y, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mls, distro: gentoo, monolithic: y, systemd: n, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mls, distro: gentoo, monolithic: n, systemd: n, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: standard, distro: redhat, monolithic: y, systemd: y, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: standard, distro: debian, monolithic: y, systemd: y, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: standard, distro: gentoo, monolithic: y, systemd: n, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: redhat, monolithic: y, systemd: y, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: debian, monolithic: y, systemd: y, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mcs, distro: gentoo, monolithic: y, systemd: n, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mls, distro: redhat, monolithic: y, systemd: y, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mls, distro: debian, monolithic: y, systemd: y, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: y}
-          - {type: mls, distro: gentoo, monolithic: y, systemd: n, apps-off: unconfined, direct_initrc: y}
-
-    steps:
-    - name: Checkout Reference Policy
-      uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-    - name: Checkout SELinux userspace tools and libs
-      uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      with:
-        repository: SELinuxProject/selinux
-        ref: "${{env.SELINUX_USERSPACE_VERSION}}"
-        path: "${{env.USERSPACE_SRC}}"
-
-    - name: Checkout setools
-      uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      with:
-        repository: SELinuxProject/setools
-        ref: "${{env.SECHECKER_VERSION}}"
-        path: "${{env.SETOOLS_SRC}}"
-
-    # This should be the minimum required Python version to build refpolicy.
-    # or the standard Python version on Ubuntu.
-    - name: Set up Python
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-      with:
-        python-version: "${{env.PYTHON_VERSION}}"
-
-    - name: Install dependencies
-      run: |
-        sudo apt-get update -q
-        sudo apt-get install -qy \
-            bison \
-            flex \
-            gettext \
-            libaudit-dev \
-            libbz2-dev \
-            libpcre3-dev \
-            libxml2-utils \
-            swig
-
-    - name: Configure environment
-      run: |
-        echo "DESTDIR=/tmp/refpolicy" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "PYTHON=python" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "TEST_TOOLCHAIN=/tmp/selinux" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "TYPE=${{matrix.build-opts.type}}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "DISTRO=${{matrix.build-opts.distro}}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "MONOLITHIC=${{matrix.build-opts.monolithic}}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "SYSTEMD=${{matrix.build-opts.systemd}}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "APPS_OFF=${{matrix.build-opts.apps-off}}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "DIRECT_INITRC=${{matrix.build-opts.direct_initrc}}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "WERROR=y" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "CFLAGS=\"-O2\"" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-
-    - name: Build toolchain
-      run: |
-        # Drop secilc to break xmlto dependence (secilc isn't used here anyway)
-        sed -i -e 's/secilc//' ${USERSPACE_SRC}/Makefile
-        # Drop sepolicy to break setools dependence (sepolicy isn't used anyway)
-        sed -i -e 's/sepolicy//' ${USERSPACE_SRC}/policycoreutils/Makefile
-        # Drop restorecond to break glib dependence
-        sed -i -e 's/ restorecond//' ${USERSPACE_SRC}/policycoreutils/Makefile
-        # Drop sandbox to break libcap-ng dependence
-        sed -i -e 's/ sandbox//' ${USERSPACE_SRC}/policycoreutils/Makefile
-        # Compile and install SELinux toolchain
-        make OPT_SUBDIRS=semodule-utils DESTDIR=${TEST_TOOLCHAIN} -C ${USERSPACE_SRC} install
-
-    - name: Build setools
-      run: |
-        cd ${SETOOLS_SRC}
-        pip install .
-
-    - name: Build refpolicy
-      run: |
-        # Drop build.conf settings to listen to env vars
-        sed -r -i -e '/(MONOLITHIC|TYPE|DISTRO|SYSTEMD|DIRECT_INITRC|WERROR)/d' build.conf
-
-        make bare
-        make conf
-        make
-        make validate
-
-    - name: Build docs
-      run: |
-        make xml
-        make html
-
-    - name: Test installation
-      run: |
-        make install
-        make install-headers
-        make install-src
-        make install-docs
-        make install-udica-templates
-        make install-appconfig
-
-    # This skips some combinations to keep GitHub actions runtime lower by
-    # eliminating duplicate analyses.
-    - name: Validate security goals
-      run: |
-        if [[ $MONOLITHIC == "y" ]] && [[ $TYPE != "standard" ]] && [[ $APPS_OFF ]] && [[ $SYSTEMD == "y" ]]; then
-            policy_file=$(make MONOLITHIC=y --eval='output_filename: ; @echo $(polver)' output_filename)
-            sechecker testing/sechecker.ini "${policy_file}"
-        else
-            echo "Skipped"
-        fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/validate-policy.yml b/.github/workflows/validate-policy.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..31e0969fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/validate-policy.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+name: Validate policy
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      python-version:
+        description: "Python version to use"
+        required: true
+        type: string
+
+jobs:
+  sechecker:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        distro: ["redhat", "debian", "gentoo"]
+        type: ["standard", "mcs", "mls"]
+        monolithic: ["y", "n"]
+        systemd: ["y", "n"]
+        direct_initrc: ["y", "n"]
+        apps-off: ["unconfined", ""]
+        exclude:
+          - { distro: "redhat", systemd: "n" }
+          - { distro: "redhat", direct_initrc: "y" }
+          - { distro: "debian", systemd: "n" }
+          - { distro: "debian", direct_initrc: "y" }
+          - { type: "mls", apps-off: "" }
+          - { systemd: "y", direct_initrc: "y" }
+          # above here, the matrix must be the same as in build-policy.yml.
+          # below here, remove duplicate analyses
+          - { monolithic: "n" }
+          - { type: "standard" }
+          - { apps-off: "" }
+          - { systemd: "n" }
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout testing dir of repo
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          sparse-checkout: testing
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update -q
+
+      - name: Set up Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "${{ inputs.python-version }}"
+
+      - name: Download userspace binary artifact
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        id: dl-userspace
+        with:
+          name: selinux-bin
+
+        # actions/upload-artifact does not preserve permissions.
+      - name: Fix userspace file permissions
+        shell: bash
+        working-directory: "${{ steps.dl-userspace.outputs.download-path }}"
+        run: chmod +x usr/bin/* lib/*.so* usr/lib/*.so* usr/libexec/selinux/hll/pp sbin/* usr/sbin/*
+
+      - name: Download policy artifact
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        id: dl-refpolicy
+        with:
+          name: refpolicy-${{ matrix.distro }}-${{ matrix.type }}-${{ matrix.monolithic }}-${{ matrix.systemd }}-${{ matrix.direct_initrc }}-${{ matrix.apps-off }}
+
+      - name: Download setools artifact
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
+        id: dl-setools
+        with:
+          name: setools
+
+      - name: Install setools
+        shell: bash
+        working-directory: ${{ steps.dl-setools.outputs.download-path }}
+        run: sudo pip install setools*.whl
+
+      - name: Validate security goals with sechecker
+        shell: bash
+        id: sechecker
+        run: sechecker testing/sechecker.ini ${{ steps.dl-refpolicy.outputs.download-path }}/sepolicy -o sechecker.log
+        env:
+          LD_LIBRARY_PATH: "${{ steps.dl-userspace.outputs.download-path }}/lib:${{ steps.dl-userspace.outputs.download-path }}/usr/lib"
+
+      - name: Upload artifact
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        if: ${{ always() }}
+        with:
+          name: validation-${{ matrix.distro }}-${{ matrix.type }}-${{ matrix.monolithic }}-${{ matrix.systemd }}-${{ matrix.direct_initrc }}-${{ matrix.apps-off }}
+          path: |
+            sechecker.log