diff --git a/__tests__/buildx/bake.test.ts b/__tests__/buildx/bake.test.ts
index 3243a37c..2c8342f9 100644
--- a/__tests__/buildx/bake.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/buildx/bake.test.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@ import path from 'path';
 import * as rimraf from 'rimraf';
 
 import {Bake} from '../../src/buildx/bake.js';
+import {Buildx} from '../../src/buildx/buildx.js';
 import {Context} from '../../src/context.js';
+import {Exec} from '../../src/exec.js';
 
 import {ExecOptions} from '@actions/exec';
 import {BakeDefinition} from '../../src/types/buildx/bake.js';
@@ -72,6 +74,20 @@ describe('resolveWarnings', () => {
 });
 
 describe('getDefinition', () => {
+  it('reports the error summary before trailing help text', async () => {
+    const execSpy = vi.spyOn(Exec, 'getExecOutput').mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      exitCode: 1,
+      stdout: '',
+      stderr: 'ERROR: failed to parse definition\nLearn more at https://docs.docker.com/\n'
+    });
+    try {
+      const bake = new Bake({buildx: new Buildx({standalone: true})});
+      await expect(bake.getDefinition({})).rejects.toThrow('cannot parse bake definitions: failed to parse definition');
+    } finally {
+      execSpy.mockRestore();
+    }
+  });
+
   // prettier-ignore
   test.each([
     [
diff --git a/__tests__/cosign/cosign.test.ts b/__tests__/cosign/cosign.test.ts
index 9ffb059d..6dac7b0f 100644
--- a/__tests__/cosign/cosign.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/cosign/cosign.test.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,21 @@ describe('version', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('getErrorMessage', () => {
+  test.each([
+    {name: 'empty output', stderr: '', expected: 'unknown error'},
+    {name: 'whitespace-only output', stderr: ' \r\n\t\n', expected: 'unknown error'},
+    {name: 'trailing blank lines', stderr: 'warning\n  signing failed  \n \t\n', expected: 'signing failed'},
+    {name: 'CRLF output', stderr: 'warning\r\nverification failed\r\n', expected: 'verification failed'},
+    {name: 'carriage returns', stderr: 'progress\rverification failed\r', expected: 'verification failed'},
+    {name: 'terminal formatting', stderr: 'warning\n\u001b[31msigning failed\u001b[0m\n', expected: 'signing failed'},
+    {name: 'formatting-only output', stderr: '\u001b[0m\n', expected: 'unknown error'},
+    {name: 'execution error', stderr: 'Error: signing failed\n2026/09/11 12:00:00 error during command execution: signing failed\n', expected: '2026/09/11 12:00:00 error during command execution: signing failed'}
+  ])('$name', ({stderr, expected}) => {
+    expect(Cosign.getErrorMessage(stderr)).toBe(expected);
+  });
+});
+
 describe('versionSatisfies', () => {
   test.each([
     ['v0.4.1', '>=0.3.2', true],
diff --git a/__tests__/docker/docker.test.ts b/__tests__/docker/docker.test.ts
index 46a406ee..0de37ba6 100644
--- a/__tests__/docker/docker.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/docker/docker.test.ts
@@ -167,6 +167,23 @@ describe('getExecOutput', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('getErrorMessage', () => {
+  it.each([
+    {name: 'empty output', stderr: '', expected: 'unknown error'},
+    {name: 'whitespace-only output', stderr: ' \r\n\t\n', expected: 'unknown error'},
+    {name: 'daemon error', stderr: 'Error response from daemon: pull access denied\n', expected: 'Error response from daemon: pull access denied'},
+    {name: 'unprefixed error', stderr: 'invalid reference format\n', expected: 'invalid reference format'},
+    {name: 'trailing blank lines', stderr: 'warning\n  failed to save image: permission denied  \n \t\n', expected: 'failed to save image: permission denied'},
+    {name: 'CRLF output', stderr: 'warning\r\ninvalid tar header\r\n', expected: 'invalid tar header'},
+    {name: 'carriage returns', stderr: 'progress\rinvalid tar header\r', expected: 'invalid tar header'},
+    {name: 'terminal formatting', stderr: 'warning\n\u001b[31minvalid tar header\u001b[0m\n', expected: 'invalid tar header'},
+    {name: 'formatting-only output', stderr: '\u001b[0m\n', expected: 'unknown error'},
+    {name: 'no special ERROR prefix handling', stderr: 'ERROR: earlier message\ninvalid tar header\n', expected: 'invalid tar header'}
+  ])('$name', ({stderr, expected}) => {
+    expect(Docker.getErrorMessage(stderr)).toBe(expected);
+  });
+});
+
 describe('pull', () => {
   const originalDockerConfig = process.env.DOCKER_CONFIG;
 
@@ -194,7 +211,7 @@ describe('pull', () => {
       )
       .mockResolvedValueOnce(execOutput(1, '', 'Error response from daemon: Head "https://registry-1.docker.io/v2/tonistiigi/binfmt/manifests/latest": EOF'))
       .mockResolvedValueOnce(execOutput(1, '', 'Error response from daemon: received unexpected HTTP status: 503 Service Unavailable'))
-      .mockResolvedValueOnce(execOutput(1, '', 'Error response from daemon: connection reset by peer'))
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce(execOutput(1, '', '\u001b[31mError response from daemon: connection reset by peer\u001b[0m\r\n \t\r\n'))
       .mockResolvedValueOnce(execOutput(0, 'latest: Pulling from tonistiigi/binfmt', ''));
 
     const pull = Docker.pull('tonistiigi/binfmt');
@@ -209,6 +226,12 @@ describe('pull', () => {
     expect(execSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   });
 
+  it('reports a clean pull error with trailing blank lines', async () => {
+    const execSpy = vi.spyOn(Docker, 'getExecOutput').mockResolvedValue(execOutput(1, '', '\u001b[31mError response from daemon: pull access denied\u001b[0m\r\n \t\r\n'));
+    await expect(Docker.pull('doesnotexist:foo')).rejects.toThrow(new Error('Error response from daemon: pull access denied'));
+    expect(execSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
   it('does not retry rate limit errors', async () => {
     const execSpy = vi.spyOn(Docker, 'getExecOutput').mockResolvedValue(execOutput(1, '', 'Error response from daemon: toomanyrequests: You have reached your pull rate limit'));
     await expect(Docker.pull('busybox')).rejects.toThrow('toomanyrequests');
diff --git a/src/buildx/bake.ts b/src/buildx/bake.ts
index 8828a6dd..2eaa3ff2 100644
--- a/src/buildx/bake.ts
+++ b/src/buildx/bake.ts
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ export class Bake {
     const printCmd = await this.buildx.getCommand([...args, '--print', ...(cmdOpts.targets || [])]);
     return await Exec.getExecOutput(printCmd.command, printCmd.args, execOptions).then(res => {
       if (res.stderr.length > 0 && res.exitCode != 0) {
-        throw new Error(`cannot parse bake definitions: ${res.stderr.match(/(.*)\s*$/)?.[0]?.trim() ?? 'unknown error'}`);
+        throw new Error(`cannot parse bake definitions: ${Buildx.getErrorMessage(res.stderr)}`);
       }
       return Bake.parseDefinition(res.stdout.trim());
     });
diff --git a/src/buildx/install.ts b/src/buildx/install.ts
index 85697a58..7fd34a89 100644
--- a/src/buildx/install.ts
+++ b/src/buildx/install.ts
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ export class Install {
       ignoreReturnCode: true
     }).then(res => {
       if (res.stderr.length > 0 && res.exitCode != 0) {
-        throw new Error(`build failed with: ${res.stderr.match(/(.*)\s*$/)?.[0]?.trim() ?? 'unknown error'}`);
+        throw new Error(`build failed with: ${Buildx.getErrorMessage(res.stderr)}`);
       }
       return `${outputDir}/buildx`;
     });
diff --git a/src/cosign/cosign.ts b/src/cosign/cosign.ts
index 43998fc1..56e6941e 100644
--- a/src/cosign/cosign.ts
+++ b/src/cosign/cosign.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+import {stripVTControlCharacters} from 'util';
 import * as core from '@actions/core';
 import {BUNDLE_V03_MEDIA_TYPE, SerializedBundle} from '@sigstore/bundle';
 
@@ -92,6 +93,17 @@ export class Cosign {
     });
   }
 
+  public static getErrorMessage(stderr: string): string {
+    const lines = stripVTControlCharacters(stderr).split(/[\r\n]/);
+    for (let i = lines.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+      const line = lines[i].trim();
+      if (line) {
+        return line;
+      }
+    }
+    return 'unknown error';
+  }
+
   public async versionSatisfies(range: string, version?: string): Promise<boolean> {
     const ver = version ?? (await this.version());
     if (!ver) {
diff --git a/src/cosign/install.ts b/src/cosign/install.ts
index 47f45316..00cb0c82 100644
--- a/src/cosign/install.ts
+++ b/src/cosign/install.ts
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ export class Install {
       input: Buffer.from(dockerfileContent)
     }).then(res => {
       if (res.stderr.length > 0 && res.exitCode != 0) {
-        throw new Error(`build failed with: ${res.stderr.match(/(.*)\s*$/)?.[0]?.trim() ?? 'unknown error'}`);
+        throw new Error(`build failed with: ${Buildx.getErrorMessage(res.stderr)}`);
       }
       return `${outputDir}/cosign`;
     });
diff --git a/src/docker/docker.ts b/src/docker/docker.ts
index 4ee6ca13..c7c6a26b 100644
--- a/src/docker/docker.ts
+++ b/src/docker/docker.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import fs from 'fs';
 import os from 'os';
 import path from 'path';
+import {stripVTControlCharacters} from 'util';
 import retry from 'async-retry';
 import * as core from '@actions/core';
 import {ExecOptions, ExecOutput} from '@actions/exec';
@@ -74,6 +75,17 @@ export class Docker {
     return Exec.getExecOutput('docker', args, Docker.execOptions(options));
   }
 
+  public static getErrorMessage(stderr: string): string {
+    const lines = stripVTControlCharacters(stderr).split(/[\r\n]/);
+    for (let i = lines.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+      const line = lines[i].trim();
+      if (line) {
+        return line;
+      }
+    }
+    return 'unknown error';
+  }
+
   private static execOptions(options?: ExecOptions): ExecOptions {
     if (!options) {
       options = {};
@@ -179,7 +191,7 @@ export class Docker {
           ignoreReturnCode: true
         }).then(res => {
           if (res.stderr.length > 0 && res.exitCode != 0) {
-            core.warning(`Failed to load image from cache: ${res.stderr.match(/(.*)\s*$/)?.[0]?.trim() ?? 'unknown error'}`);
+            core.warning(`Failed to load image from cache: ${Docker.getErrorMessage(res.stderr)}`);
           }
         });
       }
@@ -203,7 +215,7 @@ export class Docker {
         ignoreReturnCode: true
       }).then(async res => {
         if (res.stderr.length > 0 && res.exitCode != 0) {
-          core.warning(`Failed to save image: ${res.stderr.match(/(.*)\s*$/)?.[0]?.trim() ?? 'unknown error'}`);
+          core.warning(`Failed to save image: ${Docker.getErrorMessage(res.stderr)}`);
         } else {
           const cachePath = await imageCache.save(imageTarPath);
           core.info(`Image cached to ${cachePath}`);
@@ -220,7 +232,7 @@ export class Docker {
           ignoreReturnCode: true
         });
         if (res.stderr.length > 0 && res.exitCode != 0) {
-          const err = res.stderr.match(/(.*)\s*$/)?.[0]?.trim() ?? 'unknown error';
+          const err = Docker.getErrorMessage(res.stderr);
           if (!Docker.isPullTransientError(err)) {
             bail(new Error(err));
             return;
diff --git a/src/sigstore/sigstore.ts b/src/sigstore/sigstore.ts
index b32b633a..effbdee9 100644
--- a/src/sigstore/sigstore.ts
+++ b/src/sigstore/sigstore.ts
@@ -116,8 +116,7 @@ export class Sigstore {
                 const errorMessages = signResult.errors.map(e => `- [${e.code}] ${e.message} : ${e.detail}`).join('\n');
                 throw new Error(`Cosign sign command failed with errors:\n${errorMessages}`);
               } else {
-                // prettier-ignore
-                throw new Error(`Cosign sign command failed with: ${execRes.stderr.trim().split(/\r?\n/).filter(line => line.length > 0).pop() ?? 'unknown error'}`);
+                throw new Error(`Cosign sign command failed with: ${Cosign.getErrorMessage(execRes.stderr)}`);
               }
             }
             const parsedBundle = Sigstore.parseBundle(bundleFromJSON(signResult.bundle));
@@ -207,8 +206,7 @@ export class Sigstore {
         }) as {[key: string]: string}
       });
       if (execRes.exitCode !== 0) {
-        // prettier-ignore
-        throw new Error(`Cosign verify command failed with: ${execRes.stderr.trim().split(/\r?\n/).filter(line => line.length > 0).pop() ?? 'unknown error'}`);
+        throw new Error(`Cosign verify command failed with: ${Cosign.getErrorMessage(execRes.stderr)}`);
       }
       const verifyResult = Cosign.parseCommandOutput(execRes.stderr.trim());
       return {
@@ -245,8 +243,7 @@ export class Sigstore {
             throw lastError;
           }
         } else {
-          // prettier-ignore
-          throw new Error(`Cosign verify command failed with: ${execRes.stderr.trim().split(/\r?\n/).filter(line => line.length > 0).pop() ?? 'unknown error'}`);
+          throw new Error(`Cosign verify command failed with: ${Cosign.getErrorMessage(execRes.stderr)}`);
         }
       }
     }
@@ -308,8 +305,7 @@ export class Sigstore {
               const errorMessages = signResult.errors.map(e => `- [${e.code}] ${e.message} : ${e.detail}`).join('\n');
               throw new Error(`Cosign attest-blob command failed with errors:\n${errorMessages}`);
             } else {
-              // prettier-ignore
-              throw new Error(`Cosign attest-blob command failed with: ${execRes.stderr.trim().split(/\r?\n/).filter(line => line.length > 0).pop() ?? 'unknown error'}`);
+              throw new Error(`Cosign attest-blob command failed with: ${Cosign.getErrorMessage(execRes.stderr)}`);
             }
           }
           const parsedBundle = Sigstore.parseBundle(bundleFromJSON(JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(bundlePath, {encoding: 'utf-8'}))));