diff --git a/modules/actions/jobparser/jobparser.go b/modules/actions/jobparser/jobparser.go
index 6dc75072de..aeeb19f768 100644
--- a/modules/actions/jobparser/jobparser.go
+++ b/modules/actions/jobparser/jobparser.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 
 	"gitea.com/gitea/runner/act/exprparser"
 	"gitea.com/gitea/runner/act/model"
+	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/log"
 	"go.yaml.in/yaml/v4"
 )
 
@@ -88,10 +89,13 @@ func Parse(content []byte, options ...ParseOption) ([]*SingleWorkflow, error) {
 		// Create an evaluator with access to needs/outputs for matrix evaluation
 		matrixEvaluator := NewExpressionEvaluator(NewInterpeter(id, &evaluatedJob, nil, pc.gitContext, results, pc.vars, pc.inputs))
 
-		// Evaluate the matrix before expanding it
+		// Evaluate the matrix before expanding it.
+		// If evaluation fails (e.g. expression references unresolved job outputs),
+		// continue with the unevaluated matrix — the job will be created as a
+		// placeholder and re-evaluated by ReEvaluateMatrixForJobWithNeeds later.
 		if evaluatedJob.Strategy != nil && evaluatedJob.Strategy.RawMatrix.Kind != 0 {
 			if err := matrixEvaluator.EvaluateYamlNode(&evaluatedJob.Strategy.RawMatrix); err != nil {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("error evaluating matrix for job %s: %w", id, err)
+				log.Debug("matrix evaluation deferred for job %s (unresolved expression): %v", id, err)
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/services/actions/matrix.go b/services/actions/matrix.go
index a71410695c..55cc91e2c6 100644
--- a/services/actions/matrix.go
+++ b/services/actions/matrix.go
@@ -245,8 +245,8 @@ func ReEvaluateMatrixForJobWithNeeds(ctx context.Context, job *actions_model.Act
 			log.Warn("Skipped nil jobDef at index %d for job %d (JobID: %s)", i, job.ID, job.JobID)
 			continue
 		}
-		if id == job.JobID {
-			// Skip the original placeholder — we only want the expanded matrix entries
+		if id != job.JobID {
+			// Skip dependency stubs — we only want matrix-expanded entries for the target job
 			continue
 		}
 		needs := jobDef.Needs()
@@ -266,7 +266,8 @@ func ReEvaluateMatrixForJobWithNeeds(ctx context.Context, job *actions_model.Act
 			JobID:             id,
 			Needs:             needs,
 			RunsOn:            jobDef.RunsOn(),
-			Status:            actions_model.StatusBlocked,
+			// All dependency jobs are already done at this point; start as Waiting.
+			Status: actions_model.StatusWaiting,
 		})
 	}
 
diff --git a/services/actions/matrix_cache.go b/services/actions/matrix_cache.go
index 68f854f867..c1bb0f0a61 100644
--- a/services/actions/matrix_cache.go
+++ b/services/actions/matrix_cache.go
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ package actions
 import (
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/hex"
-	"fmt"
+	"errors"
 	"sync"
 
 	lru "github.com/hashicorp/golang-lru/v2"
@@ -50,14 +50,12 @@ func computeCacheKey(workflowYAML []byte, taskNeeds map[string]*TaskNeed) string
 	h.Write(workflowYAML)
 
 	// Add outputs in deterministic order (sorted by job ID)
-	if taskNeeds != nil {
-		for jobID, need := range taskNeeds {
-			h.Write([]byte(jobID))
-			if need.Outputs != nil {
-				for k, v := range need.Outputs {
-					h.Write([]byte(k))
-					h.Write([]byte(v))
-				}
+	for jobID, need := range taskNeeds {
+		h.Write([]byte(jobID))
+		if need.Outputs != nil {
+			for k, v := range need.Outputs {
+				h.Write([]byte(k))
+				h.Write([]byte(v))
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -88,7 +86,7 @@ func (c *WorkflowParseCache) Set(key string, value []byte) {
 // Stats returns cache statistics for monitoring
 func (c *WorkflowParseCache) Stats() (size int, err error) {
 	if c == nil || c.cache == nil {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf("cache not initialized")
+		return 0, errors.New("cache not initialized")
 	}
 	c.mu.RLock()
 	defer c.mu.RUnlock()