diff --git a/pkg/container/docker_run.go b/pkg/container/docker_run.go
index 61b2bfac34a..2b8a59b500d 100644
--- a/pkg/container/docker_run.go
+++ b/pkg/container/docker_run.go
@@ -699,6 +699,9 @@ func (cr *containerReference) waitForCommand(ctx context.Context, isTerminal boo
 }
 
 func (cr *containerReference) CopyTarStream(ctx context.Context, destPath string, tarStream io.Reader) error {
+	if common.Dryrun(ctx) {
+		return nil
+	}
 	// Mkdir
 	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
 	tw := tar.NewWriter(buf)
diff --git a/pkg/runner/action.go b/pkg/runner/action.go
index a19e58f1eb2..0b5feb9fe9f 100644
--- a/pkg/runner/action.go
+++ b/pkg/runner/action.go
@@ -186,11 +186,11 @@ func runActionImpl(step actionStep, actionDir string, remoteAction *remoteAction
 
 			return rc.execJobContainer(containerArgs, *step.getEnv(), "", "")(ctx)
 		case model.ActionRunsUsingDocker:
-			location := actionLocation
 			if remoteAction == nil {
-				location = containerActionDir
+				actionDir = ""
+				actionPath = containerActionDir
 			}
-			return execAsDocker(ctx, step, actionName, location, remoteAction == nil, "entrypoint")
+			return execAsDocker(ctx, step, actionName, actionDir, actionPath, remoteAction == nil, "entrypoint")
 		case model.ActionRunsUsingComposite:
 			if err := maybeCopyToActionDir(ctx, step, actionDir, actionPath, containerActionDir); err != nil {
 				return err
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ func removeGitIgnore(ctx context.Context, directory string) error {
 // TODO: break out parts of function to reduce complexicity
 //
 //nolint:gocyclo
-func execAsDocker(ctx context.Context, step actionStep, actionName string, basedir string, localAction bool, entrypointType string) error {
+func execAsDocker(ctx context.Context, step actionStep, actionName, basedir, subpath string, localAction bool, entrypointType string) error {
 	logger := common.Logger(ctx)
 	rc := step.getRunContext()
 	action := step.getActionModel()
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ func execAsDocker(ctx context.Context, step actionStep, actionName string, based
 		image = fmt.Sprintf("%s-dockeraction:%s", regexp.MustCompile("[^a-zA-Z0-9]").ReplaceAllString(actionName, "-"), "latest")
 		image = fmt.Sprintf("act-%s", strings.TrimLeft(image, "-"))
 		image = strings.ToLower(image)
-		contextDir, fileName := filepath.Split(filepath.Join(basedir, action.Runs.Image))
+		contextDir, fileName := path.Split(path.Join(subpath, action.Runs.Image))
 
 		anyArchExists, err := container.ImageExistsLocally(ctx, image, "any")
 		if err != nil {
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ func execAsDocker(ctx context.Context, step actionStep, actionName string, based
 				defer buildContext.Close()
 			}
 			prepImage = container.NewDockerBuildExecutor(container.NewDockerBuildExecutorInput{
-				ContextDir:   contextDir,
+				ContextDir:   filepath.Join(basedir, contextDir),
 				Dockerfile:   fileName,
 				ImageTag:     image,
 				BuildContext: buildContext,
@@ -557,11 +557,11 @@ func runPreStep(step actionStep) common.Executor {
 			return rc.execJobContainer(containerArgs, *step.getEnv(), "", "")(ctx)
 
 		case model.ActionRunsUsingDocker:
-			location := actionLocation
 			if remoteAction == nil {
-				location = containerActionDir
+				actionDir = ""
+				actionPath = containerActionDir
 			}
-			return execAsDocker(ctx, step, actionName, location, remoteAction == nil, "pre-entrypoint")
+			return execAsDocker(ctx, step, actionName, actionDir, actionPath, remoteAction == nil, "pre-entrypoint")
 
 		case model.ActionRunsUsingComposite:
 			if step.getCompositeSteps() == nil {
@@ -662,11 +662,11 @@ func runPostStep(step actionStep) common.Executor {
 			return rc.execJobContainer(containerArgs, *step.getEnv(), "", "")(ctx)
 
 		case model.ActionRunsUsingDocker:
-			location := actionLocation
 			if remoteAction == nil {
-				location = containerActionDir
+				actionDir = ""
+				actionPath = containerActionDir
 			}
-			return execAsDocker(ctx, step, actionName, location, remoteAction == nil, "post-entrypoint")
+			return execAsDocker(ctx, step, actionName, actionDir, actionPath, remoteAction == nil, "post-entrypoint")
 
 		case model.ActionRunsUsingComposite:
 			if err := maybeCopyToActionDir(ctx, step, actionDir, actionPath, containerActionDir); err != nil {