diff --git a/simplerisk-setup.sh b/simplerisk-setup.sh
index 6efaa20..a436748 100755
--- a/simplerisk-setup.sh
+++ b/simplerisk-setup.sh
@@ -515,43 +515,30 @@ setup_ubuntu_debian(){
 	print_status 'Updating current packages (this may take a bit)...'
 	run_cmd apt-get dist-upgrade -qq --assume-yes
 
-	if [ "${OS}" = "${UBUNTU_OSVAR}" ]; then
-		print_status 'Installing lamp-server...'
-		run_cmd apt-get install -y 'lamp-server^'
-		print_status 'Installing cron...'
-		run_cmd apt-get install -y cron
-
-		# lamp-server^ installs whatever PHP version Ubuntu's own archive
-		# defaults to for this release (e.g. 8.1 on 22.04), which can be
-		# older than SimpleRisk's Composer platform requirement. Install the
-		# pinned Sury version from the repo added above and switch Apache's
-		# active PHP module to it, without touching the MySQL/Apache
-		# packages lamp-server^ already installed.
-		print_status "Installing PHP ${apt_php_version} from Ondrej's repository..."
-		run_cmd apt-get install -y "php${apt_php_version}" "php${apt_php_version}-mysql" "libapache2-mod-php${apt_php_version}"
-		for old_mod_file in /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/php*.load; do
-			[ -e "${old_mod_file}" ] || continue
-			old_mod=$(basename "${old_mod_file}" .load)
-			[ "${old_mod}" = "php${apt_php_version}" ] && continue
-			run_cmd a2dismod "${old_mod}"
-		done
-		run_cmd a2enmod "php${apt_php_version}"
-	else
-		print_status 'Installing Apache...'
-		run_cmd apt-get install -y apache2
+	# Both OSes install the same explicit package set - Ubuntu previously
+	# used the lamp-server^ "task" metapackage instead, but that pulls in a
+	# large set of packages beyond the actual LAMP stack (CGI/Perl libraries,
+	# etc.) that SimpleRisk has no use for, and still needed the Sury PHP
+	# package installed and its Apache module swapped in afterward to
+	# override whatever older PHP lamp-server^ had already defaulted to.
+	# Installing the same explicit packages Debian already uses (now that
+	# Ubuntu gets the same Sury repo added above) gets the pinned PHP
+	# version directly, with nothing to swap out.
+	print_status 'Installing Apache...'
+	run_cmd apt-get install -y apache2
 
-		print_status 'Installing MySQL...'
-		run_cmd apt-get install -y mysql-server
+	print_status 'Installing MySQL...'
+	run_cmd apt-get install -y mysql-server
 
-		print_status 'Installing PHP...'
-		run_cmd apt-get install -y "php${apt_php_version:-}" "php${apt_php_version:-}-mysql" "libapache2-mod-php${apt_php_version:-}"
+	print_status 'Installing PHP...'
+	run_cmd apt-get install -y "php${apt_php_version:-}" "php${apt_php_version:-}-mysql" "libapache2-mod-php${apt_php_version:-}"
 
-		if [ "${OS}" = "${DEBIAN_OSVAR}" ]; then
-			if [ "${VER}" = '12' ] || [ "${VER}" = '13' ]; then
-				print_status 'Installing crontab'
-				run_cmd apt-get install -y cron
-			fi
-		fi
+	if [ "${OS}" = "${UBUNTU_OSVAR}" ]; then
+		print_status 'Installing cron...'
+		run_cmd apt-get install -y cron
+	elif [ "${VER}" = '12' ] || [ "${VER}" = '13' ]; then
+		print_status 'Installing crontab'
+		run_cmd apt-get install -y cron
 	fi
 
 	print_status 'Installing PHP development libraries...'
diff --git a/tests/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.ubuntu-22.04 b/tests/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.ubuntu-22.04
index fa42ac9..7635bb7 100644
--- a/tests/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.ubuntu-22.04
+++ b/tests/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.ubuntu-22.04
@@ -14,24 +14,30 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
 
 # MySQL uses native AIO by default, which fails on Docker's overlayfs storage
 # driver during the post-install data directory initialisation. Pre-creating
-# this config disables AIO so that `lamp-server^` installs cleanly.
+# this config disables AIO so that mysql-server installs cleanly.
 RUN mkdir -p /etc/mysql/conf.d && \
     printf '[mysqld]\ninnodb_use_native_aio=0\n' > /etc/mysql/conf.d/docker.cnf
 
-# DENY all service operations during the lamp-server^ pre-install below.
-# This is the standard Docker pattern: MySQL's post-install script tries to
-# start mysqld for initialization and then shut it down — the shutdown step
-# times out inside Docker's overlayfs because the process can't be signalled
-# cleanly. By denying service actions here, dpkg skips start/stop but still
-# initialises the data directory via mysqld --initialize, which is sufficient.
+# DENY all service operations during the apache2/mysql-server pre-install
+# below. This is the standard Docker pattern: MySQL's post-install script
+# tries to start mysqld for initialization and then shut it down — the
+# shutdown step times out inside Docker's overlayfs because the process
+# can't be signalled cleanly. By denying service actions here, dpkg skips
+# start/stop but still initialises the data directory via mysqld
+# --initialize, which is sufficient.
 RUN printf '#!/bin/sh\nexit 101\n' > /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d && \
     chmod +x /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d
 
-# Pre-install lamp-server^ so that when the setup script calls
-# `apt-get install -y lamp-server^` during the test run, all packages are
-# already present and dpkg has nothing to reconfigure.
+# Pre-install the same explicit packages simplerisk-setup.sh installs
+# (apache2, mysql-server - PHP comes from the Sury repo the script adds
+# itself, not from Ubuntu's own archive) so the test run has nothing left
+# to fetch. Deliberately not the lamp-server^ metapackage: it pulls in a
+# large set of packages beyond the actual LAMP stack (CGI/Perl libraries,
+# etc.) the script has no use for, and installs whatever PHP version
+# Ubuntu's own archive defaults to, which the script immediately overrides
+# via Sury anyway.
 RUN apt-get update && \
-    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y lamp-server^ && \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y apache2 mysql-server && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # Switch back to ALLOW so the setup script can start/stop services normally
diff --git a/tests/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.ubuntu-24.04 b/tests/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.ubuntu-24.04
index ea8c31d..37ac24d 100644
--- a/tests/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.ubuntu-24.04
+++ b/tests/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.ubuntu-24.04
@@ -17,15 +17,19 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
 RUN mkdir -p /etc/mysql/conf.d && \
     printf '[mysqld]\ninnodb_use_native_aio=0\n' > /etc/mysql/conf.d/docker.cnf
 
-# DENY all service operations during the lamp-server^ pre-install below.
-# MySQL's post-install shutdown times out inside Docker; denying start/stop
-# lets dpkg initialise the data directory without triggering the timeout.
+# DENY all service operations during the apache2/mysql-server pre-install
+# below. MySQL's post-install shutdown times out inside Docker; denying
+# start/stop lets dpkg initialise the data directory without triggering
+# the timeout.
 RUN printf '#!/bin/sh\nexit 101\n' > /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d && \
     chmod +x /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d
 
-# Pre-install lamp-server^ so packages are already present for the test run.
+# Pre-install the same explicit packages simplerisk-setup.sh installs
+# (apache2, mysql-server - PHP comes from the Sury repo the script adds
+# itself). Deliberately not the lamp-server^ metapackage: see
+# Dockerfile.ubuntu-22.04 for why.
 RUN apt-get update && \
-    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y lamp-server^ && \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y apache2 mysql-server && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # Switch back to ALLOW so the setup script can start/stop services normally.
diff --git a/tests/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.ubuntu-26.04 b/tests/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.ubuntu-26.04
index ac2b6d1..a870c8a 100644
--- a/tests/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.ubuntu-26.04
+++ b/tests/dockerfiles/Dockerfile.ubuntu-26.04
@@ -17,15 +17,19 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
 RUN mkdir -p /etc/mysql/conf.d && \
     printf '[mysqld]\ninnodb_use_native_aio=0\n' > /etc/mysql/conf.d/docker.cnf
 
-# DENY all service operations during the lamp-server^ pre-install below.
-# MySQL's post-install shutdown times out inside Docker; denying start/stop
-# lets dpkg initialise the data directory without triggering the timeout.
+# DENY all service operations during the apache2/mysql-server pre-install
+# below. MySQL's post-install shutdown times out inside Docker; denying
+# start/stop lets dpkg initialise the data directory without triggering
+# the timeout.
 RUN printf '#!/bin/sh\nexit 101\n' > /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d && \
     chmod +x /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d
 
-# Pre-install lamp-server^ so packages are already present for the test run.
+# Pre-install the same explicit packages simplerisk-setup.sh installs
+# (apache2, mysql-server - PHP comes from the Sury repo the script adds
+# itself). Deliberately not the lamp-server^ metapackage: see
+# Dockerfile.ubuntu-22.04 for why.
 RUN apt-get update && \
-    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y lamp-server^ && \
+    DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y apache2 mysql-server && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # Switch back to ALLOW so the setup script can start/stop services normally.