diff --git a/util/cron/common-tarball.bash b/util/cron/common-tarball.bash
index 787c2175f096..449bef3e95a1 100644
--- a/util/cron/common-tarball.bash
+++ b/util/cron/common-tarball.bash
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ source $CWD/common.bash
 export CHPL_HOME=$(cd $CWD/../.. ; pwd)
 log_info "Setting CHPL_HOME to: ${CHPL_HOME}"
 
+# Load functions for getting version information from the source tree
 source ${CHPL_HOME}/util/build_configs/functions.bash
 
 major=$(get_src_major_version ${CHPL_HOME})
diff --git a/util/cron/docker.bash b/util/cron/docker.bash
deleted file mode 100644
index e56e6b9ddf1b..000000000000
--- a/util/cron/docker.bash
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-# Common functions used for docker 
-
-check_docker_install(){
-     # check if docker desktop is installed in mac if not install it before running the tests.
-    if [[ -n "$(docker info --format '{{.Architecture}}' | grep 'aarch64')" ]]; then
-        echo "aarch64 Architecture found. Skipping installation ..." 
-    else
-        echo "ERROR! Docker Desktop not installed:"
-        echo "  * Install docker desktop from <https://docs.docker.com/docker-for-mac/install/>"
-        
-    fi
-
-}
-
-start_docker(){
-    check_docker_install
-    # Start docker desktop and wait for it to respond
-    printf "Starting Docker for Mac";
-    colima start;
-
-    while (! docker stats --no-stream ); do
-  # Docker takes a few seconds to initialize
-        echo "Waiting for Docker to launch..."
-        sleep 60
-    done
-}
-
-
diff --git a/util/cron/publish-docker-images.bash b/util/cron/publish-docker-images.bash
index b2417d1b89d4..e532c8d1217b 100755
--- a/util/cron/publish-docker-images.bash
+++ b/util/cron/publish-docker-images.bash
@@ -16,19 +16,15 @@ echo "imageVersion: $image_version"
 
 CWD=$(cd $(dirname $0) ; pwd)
 source $CWD/common.bash
-source $CWD/docker.bash
 export CHPL_HOME=$(cd $CWD/../.. ; pwd)
 log_info "Setting CHPL_HOME to: ${CHPL_HOME}"
 
-start_docker
-
-       
 # build_publish will build multi platform chapel docker images, tags them, and pushes the images to the docker repository .
 
 build_publish(){
 
 local registry="$1"
-local imageName="$2" 
+local imageName="$2"
 local version="$3"
 
 # the below buildx command will build images for amd and arm, tags with the tags specified, and pushes it to the docker repository($registry)
@@ -36,48 +32,48 @@ docker buildx build --platform=linux/amd64,linux/arm64 . --push -t $registry/$im
 
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]
 then
-      echo "docker publish using buildx failed " 
+      echo "docker publish using buildx failed "
       exit 1
 else
       echo "docker publish using buildx succeeded "
-fi   
+fi
 
 }
 
-# Get the repository name and chapel version, Build chapel docker images and push to docker hub repository . 
+# Get the repository name and chapel version, Build chapel docker images and push to docker hub repository .
 #build and publish chapel docker image
 docker login -u $username -p $password
-if [ $? -ne 0 ] 
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]
 then
       echo " Docker login failed "
       exit 1
 else
       echo "docker login succeeded "
-fi 
+fi
 
 cd $CHPL_HOME
 build_publish $docker_repository  chapel $image_version
 
 docker login -u $username -p $password
-if [ $? -ne 0 ] 
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]
 then
       echo " Docker login failed "
       exit 1
 else
       echo "docker login succeeded "
-fi 
+fi
 #build and publish chapel-gasnet docker image
 cd $CHPL_HOME/util/packaging/docker/gasnet
 build_publish $docker_repository  chapel-gasnet $image_version
 
 docker login -u $username -p $password
-if [ $? -ne 0 ] 
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]
 then
       echo " Docker login failed "
       exit 1
 else
       echo "docker login succeeded "
-fi 
+fi
 #build and publish chapel-gasnet-smp docker image
 cd $CHPL_HOME/util/packaging/docker/gasnet-smp
 build_publish $docker_repository  chapel-gasnet-smp $image_version
diff --git a/util/cron/test-docker.bash b/util/cron/test-docker.bash
index 8d99a2ec6317..6abfe1f568d9 100755
--- a/util/cron/test-docker.bash
+++ b/util/cron/test-docker.bash
@@ -4,12 +4,9 @@
 
 CWD=$(cd $(dirname $0) ; pwd)
 source $CWD/common.bash
-source $CWD/docker.bash
 export CHPL_HOME=$(cd $CWD/../.. ; pwd)
 log_info "Setting CHPL_HOME to: ${CHPL_HOME}"
 
-start_docker
-
 # build_image function takes image name and docker script location as arguments.
 # Builds the image with the name from arg$1, runs the container and execute the install and verify script located in the location $2.
 build_image() {
diff --git a/util/cron/test-homebrew-linux.bash b/util/cron/test-homebrew-linux.bash
index 088bcd7434d9..4754e01b599d 100755
--- a/util/cron/test-homebrew-linux.bash
+++ b/util/cron/test-homebrew-linux.bash
@@ -30,39 +30,42 @@ cd $CHPL_HOME
 # replace the url and sha in the chapel formula with the url pointing to the tarball created and sha of the tarball.
 # run home-brew scripts to install chapel.
 
-# gen_release $short_version
+gen_release $short_version
 
 cp ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/homebrew/chapel-main.rb  ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/homebrew/chapel.rb
 cd ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/homebrew
 # Get the tarball from the root tar/ directory and replace the url in chapel.rb with the tarball location
 location="${CHPL_HOME}/tar/chapel-${short_version}.tar.gz"
+# Bail early if the tarball doesn't exist
+if [[ ! -f $location ]]; then
+    log_error "FATAL: Did not find tarball at $location"
+    exit 1
+fi
 log_info $location
 
 # Replace the url and sha256 in chapel.rb with the location of the tarball and sha256 of the tarball generated.
-# create sed -i '' -e for macOS
-sed_command="sed -i '' -e"
-$sed_command "s#url.*#url \"file\:///$location\"#" chapel.rb
+
+# Get the sha256 of the tarball
 sha=($(shasum -a 256 $location))
 sha256=${sha[0]}
 log_info $sha256
-$sed_command  "1s/sha256.*/sha256 \"$sha256\"/;t" -e "1,/sha256.*/s//sha256 \"$sha256\"/" chapel.rb
 
-#To mimic home-brew CI. Run home-brew chpl install inside a container.
-# check if docker desktop is installed, if not fail the test.
-# TODO: maybe change this for linux?
-source ${CHPL_HOME}/util/cron/docker.bash
-start_docker
-# This mimics homebrew-ci
-# This will test homebrew installation inside ubuntu VM using the lastest chapel.rb using the tarball built
-cd ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/homebrew
+# create sed -i command
+sed_command="sed -i.bak -e "
+#
 
 # Replace the tarball location in the container where the tarball is copied over
 $sed_command "s#url.*#url \"file\:////home/linuxbrew/chapel-${short_version}.tar.gz\"#" chapel.rb
+$sed_command  "1s/sha256.*/sha256 \"$sha256\"/;t" -e "1,/sha256.*/s//sha256 \"$sha256\"/" chapel.rb
+
+# To mimic home-brew CI. Run homebrew chpl install inside a container.
+# This will test homebrew installation inside ubuntu VM using the lastest chapel.rb using the tarball built
+cd ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/homebrew
 
 cp ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/homebrew/chapel.rb  ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/docker/test
 cp $location ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/docker/test
 
-#This will start a docker container that is similar to the one used by homebrew-ci and test the homebrew installation inside it.
+# This will start a docker container that is similar to the one used by homebrew-ci and test the homebrew installation inside it.
 source ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/docker/test/homebrew_ci.bash
 
 export CHPL_NIGHTLY_TEST_CONFIG_NAME="homebrew-linux"
diff --git a/util/cron/test-homebrew.bash b/util/cron/test-homebrew.bash
index 805828236bd1..d9c793cb4011 100755
--- a/util/cron/test-homebrew.bash
+++ b/util/cron/test-homebrew.bash
@@ -6,8 +6,6 @@
 # replace the url and sha in the chapel formula with the url pointing to the tarball created and sha of the tarball.
 # run home-brew scripts to install chapel.
 
-# Create a tarball from current repo.
-# The tarball is left in root of repo in tar/ directory.
 CWD=$(cd $(dirname $0) ; pwd)
 
 # common-tarball sets CHPL_HOME
@@ -18,6 +16,8 @@ source $CWD/common-tarball.bash
 export CHPL_GEN_RELEASE_NO_CLONE=true
 
 export CHPL_LLVM=none
+# $CWD/common.bash sets this to none, but Homebrew builds with native
+export CHPL_TARGET_CPU=native
 
 log_info "Moving to ${CHPL_HOME}"
 cd $CHPL_HOME
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ cd $CHPL_HOME
 # replace the url and sha in the chapel formula with the url pointing to the tarball created and sha of the tarball.
 # run home-brew scripts to install chapel.
 
+# Create a tarball from current repo.
+# The tarball is left in root of repo in tar/ directory.
 gen_release $short_version
 
 cp ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/homebrew/chapel-main.rb  ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/homebrew/chapel.rb
@@ -33,16 +35,23 @@ cd ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/homebrew
 
 # Get the tarball from the root tar/ directory and replace the url in chapel.rb with the tarball location
 location="${CHPL_HOME}/tar/chapel-${short_version}.tar.gz"
+# Bail early if the tarball doesn't exist
+if [[ ! -f $location ]]; then
+  log_error "FATAL: Did not find tarball at ${location}"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 log_info $location
 
 # Replace the url and sha256 in chapel.rb with the location of the tarball and sha256 of the tarball generated.
-# create sed -i '' -e for macOS
-sed_command="sed -i '' -e"
-$sed_command "s#url.*#url \"file\:///$location\"#" chapel.rb
 sha=($(shasum -a 256 $location))
 sha256=${sha[0]}
 log_info $sha256
-$sed_command  "1s/sha256.*/sha256 \"$sha256\"/;t" -e "1,/sha256.*/s//sha256 \"$sha256\"/" chapel.rb
+
+# create sed command
+sed_command="sed -i.bak -e "
+$sed_command "s#url.*#url \"file\:///$location\"#" chapel.rb
+$sed_command "1s/sha256.*/sha256 \"$sha256\"/;t" -e "1,/sha256.*/s//sha256 \"$sha256\"/" chapel.rb
 
 # Test if homebrew install using the chapel formula works.
 brew upgrade
diff --git a/util/packaging/docker/test/Dockerfile b/util/packaging/docker/test/Dockerfile
index d693b6dcfdc1..616fc443eb11 100644
--- a/util/packaging/docker/test/Dockerfile
+++ b/util/packaging/docker/test/Dockerfile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # This is a container used to run homebrew-ci
 
-# Get the homebrew ubuntu container, set the platform to avoid warnings when on M1
-FROM --platform=linux/amd64 ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu22.04:master
+# Get the homebrew ubuntu container
+FROM ghcr.io/homebrew/ubuntu22.04:master
 
 # Redundant to brew_install.bash but imporant for anyone working in this container
 # which can be ran without brew_install.bash
diff --git a/util/packaging/docker/test/homebrew_ci.bash b/util/packaging/docker/test/homebrew_ci.bash
index 0906ac7103be..c0af0d903b77 100755
--- a/util/packaging/docker/test/homebrew_ci.bash
+++ b/util/packaging/docker/test/homebrew_ci.bash
@@ -1,22 +1,21 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-#This script will build a docker image using the Dockerfile and will execute home-brew install scripts inside the container
-CWD=$(cd $(dirname $0) ; pwd)
-export CHPL_HOME=$(cd $CWD/../.. ; pwd)
+#This script will build a docker image using the Dockerfile and will execute homebrew install scripts inside the container
+cd ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/docker/test
 
-cd ${CHPL_HOME}/packaging/docker/test
+# specify the platform as linux/amd64 to avoid warnings from aarch64 platforms
 
 # Remove image with name homebrew_ci before creating a fresh image to avoid failures.
 docker image rm --force homebrew_ci
-docker build . --load -t homebrew_ci
+docker build . --load --platform linux/amd64 -t homebrew_ci
 containerid= docker image ls | grep 'homebrew_ci' | awk '{print$3}'
 
 # Start the container and run a script to check homebrew install inside the running container
-docker run --rm -i homebrew_ci /bin/bash < ${CHPL_HOME}/packaging/docker/test/brew_install.bash
+docker run --platform linux/amd64 --rm -i homebrew_ci /bin/bash < ${CHPL_HOME}/util/packaging/docker/test/brew_install.bash
 CONTAINER_RUN=$?
-    if [ $CONTAINER_RUN -ne 0 ]
-    then
-      echo "brew test bot commands failed inside ubuntu container"
-      exit 1
-      else
-      echo "brew test bot commands succeeded inside ubuntu container"
-    fi
+if [ $CONTAINER_RUN -ne 0 ]
+then
+  echo "brew test bot commands failed inside ubuntu container"
+  exit 1
+  else
+  echo "brew test bot commands succeeded inside ubuntu container"
+fi