diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-multiarch.yml b/.github/workflows/build-multiarch.yml
index 0873d64f690..a267bab282f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-multiarch.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-multiarch.yml
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ jobs:
             # and each variant (including main one) gets the tag with the variant suffix, such as 2023.1.1-java17
             type=ref,event=tag,suffix=-${{ matrix.variant }}
             # latest repo tag gets a moving 'stable' image tag applied to the main variant
-            type=pep440,value=stable,enable=${{ matrix.variant == env.MAIN_VARIANT }},pattern={{version}}
+            type=match,value=stable,enable=${{ matrix.variant == env.MAIN_VARIANT }},pattern=\d+\.\d+\.\d+
             # for building test/* branch images
             type=ref,event=branch,suffix=-${{ matrix.variant }},enable=${{ github.ref_name != 'master' }}
             # 
diff --git a/docs/versions/java.md b/docs/versions/java.md
index 3ec6c27036a..5b1f161b8c6 100644
--- a/docs/versions/java.md
+++ b/docs/versions/java.md
@@ -11,11 +11,12 @@
        cannot be cast to class java.net.URLClassLoader
     ```
 
-When using the image `itzg/minecraft-server` without a tag, the `latest` image tag is implied from the table below. To use a different version of Java, please use an alternate tag to run your Minecraft server container.
+When using the image `itzg/minecraft-server` without a tag, the `latest` image tag is implied from the table below. To use a different version of Java, please use an alternate tag to run your Minecraft server container. The `stable` tag is similar to `latest`; however, it tracks [the most recent repository release/tag](https://github.com/itzg/docker-minecraft-server/releases/latest).
 
 | Tag name          | Java version | Linux  | JVM Type    | Architecture      |
 |-------------------|--------------|--------|-------------|-------------------|
 | latest            | 17           | Ubuntu | Hotspot     | amd64,arm64,armv7 |
+| stable            | 17           | Ubuntu | Hotspot     | amd64,arm64,armv7 |
 | java8             | 8            | Alpine | Hotspot     | amd64             |
 | java8-jdk         | 8            | Ubuntu | Hotspot+JDK | amd64             |
 | java8-multiarch   | 8            | Ubuntu | Hotspot     | amd64,arm64,armv7 |