diff --git a/scripts/docker-cleanup.sh b/scripts/docker-cleanup.sh
index fc9a69809..0fac7a95d 100755
--- a/scripts/docker-cleanup.sh
+++ b/scripts/docker-cleanup.sh
@@ -177,7 +177,12 @@ info "Removing stale tagged images..."
 
 # Collect image IDs that are directly used by running containers so we never
 # touch them regardless of tag matching.
-running_image_ids=$(ce ps -q 2>/dev/null | xargs -r ce inspect --format '{{.Image}}' 2>/dev/null | sort -u)
+container_ids=($(ce ps -q 2>/dev/null))
+if [[ ${#container_ids[@]} -gt 0 ]]; then
+  running_image_ids=$(ce inspect --format '{{.Image}}' "${container_ids[@]}" 2>/dev/null | sort -u)
+else
+  running_image_ids=""
+fi
 
 stale_images=()
 while IFS=$'\t' read -r repo tag id; do
@@ -215,9 +220,13 @@ echo
 info "Removing unused volumes..."
 
 # Identify volumes in use by running containers
-in_use_volumes=$(ce ps -q 2>/dev/null \
-  | xargs -r ce inspect --format '{{range .Mounts}}{{.Name}} {{end}}' 2>/dev/null \
-  | tr ' ' '\n' | sort -u | grep -v '^$' || true)
+container_ids=($(ce ps -q 2>/dev/null))
+if [[ ${#container_ids[@]} -gt 0 ]]; then
+  in_use_volumes=$(ce inspect --format '{{range .Mounts}}{{.Name}} {{end}}' "${container_ids[@]}" 2>/dev/null \
+    | tr ' ' '\n' | sort -u | grep -v '^$' || true)
+else
+  in_use_volumes=""
+fi
 
 unused_volumes=()
 while read -r vol; do