diff --git a/build/local/README.md b/build/local/README.md
index 4814516393..ab863fac0b 100644
--- a/build/local/README.md
+++ b/build/local/README.md
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ Below is a list of prerequisites that are required to build PMM locally.
 - tar
 - git
 - curl
-- jq: 1.6+
 
 Please note, that building some of the PMM internals, such as Grafana, requires at least 8GB of memory available to docker. The number of CPUs, however, does not matter that much.
 
@@ -117,8 +116,8 @@ Currently, Local Builds target the following platforms and distributions:
 
 ## TODO
 
-- use the `--debug` parameter to control the verbosity of the logs (1/2 done)
+- use the `--debug` parameter to control the verbosity of the logs (1/2 ✅)
 - implement the `--release` parameter
-- remove `jq` from prerequisites
+- remove `jq` from prerequisites ✅
 - output the build summary at the end of the build
 - implement the `--clean` parameter
diff --git a/build/local/build.sh b/build/local/build.sh
index 37c965cfe4..75e3695008 100755
--- a/build/local/build.sh
+++ b/build/local/build.sh
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ parse_params() {
 	SUBMODULES=.modules
   CLONE_BRANCH=v3
 	PATH_TO_SCRIPTS="sources/pmm/src/github.com/percona/pmm/build/scripts"
-	VAR_PREFIX="__PMM"
 
 	# Exported variables
 	export LOCAL_BUILD=1
@@ -114,32 +113,6 @@ parse_params() {
 	done
 }
 
-# Function to set a key/value pair
-set_value() {
-	local key="$1"
-	local value="$2"
-	validate_key "$key"
-	eval "${VAR_PREFIX}_${key}=\"${value}\""
-}
-
-# Function to retrieve a value by key
-get_value() {
-	local key="$1"
-	validate_key "$key"
-	local value=$(eval "echo -n ${VAR_PREFIX}_${key}")
-	if [ -z "$value" ]; then
-		echo "Error: variable '${VAR_PREFIX}_${key}' is undefined" >&2
-	fi
-	echo -n "$value"
-}
-
-# Function to unset a key
-unset_value() {
-	local key="$1"
-	validate_key "$key"
-	eval "unset ${VAR_PREFIX}_${key}"
-}
-
 # Function to validate a key (allow only alphanumeric and underscore characters)
 validate_key() {
 	local key="$1"
@@ -215,6 +188,8 @@ check_files() {
     echo
 		exit 1
 	fi
+
+  mkdir -p "$DIR/build"
 }
 
 # Update submodules and PR branches
@@ -232,45 +207,71 @@ update() {
 
 		git config --global --add safe.directory /app
 
+	  # Join the dependencies from ci-default.yml and ci.yml
 		rm -f gitmodules.yml
 		python ci.py --convert
 
 		DEPS=$(yq -o=json eval-all '. as $item ireduce ({}; . *d $item )' gitmodules.yml ci.yml | jq '.deps')
 		DEPS=$(echo "$DEPS" | jq -r '[.[] | {name: .name, branch: .branch, path: .path, url: .url}]')
-		echo "$DEPS"
+		rm -f gitmodules.yml
+		echo "$DEPS" > /app/build/build.json
+    echo -n > /tmp/deps.txt
+
+		echo "$DEPS" | jq -c '.[]' | while read -r item; do
+			branch=$(echo "$item" | jq -r '.branch')
+			path=$(echo "$item" | jq -r '.path')
+			name=$(echo "$item" | jq -r '.name')
+			echo "name=${name}:path=${path}:branch=${branch}" >> /tmp/deps.txt
+		done
+
+		mv -f /tmp/deps.txt /app/build/deps.txt
 	EOF
 
 	chmod +x "$CURDIR/entrypoint.sh"
-	# Join the dependencies from ci-default.yml and ci.yml
-	DEPS=$(
-		docker run --rm --platform="$PLATFORM" \
-      -v $ROOT_DIR:/app \
-			-v $CURDIR/ci.yml:/app/ci.yml \
-			-v $CURDIR/entrypoint.sh:/entrypoint.sh \
-      -w /app \
-			--entrypoint=/entrypoint.sh \
-			"$RPMBUILD_DOCKER_IMAGE"
-	)
-
-	echo "$DEPS" > sbom.json
+  docker run --rm --platform="$PLATFORM" \
+    -v $ROOT_DIR:/app \
+    -v $CURDIR/ci.yml:/app/ci.yml \
+    -v $CURDIR/entrypoint.sh:/entrypoint.sh \
+    -w /app \
+    --entrypoint=/entrypoint.sh \
+    "$RPMBUILD_DOCKER_IMAGE"
 
 	rm -f "$CURDIR/entrypoint.sh"
 
+  if [ ! -f "$SUBMODULES/build/deps.txt" ]; then
+    echo "Error: could not locate the 'build/deps.txt' file, exiting..."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
 	echo
 	echo "This script rewinds submodule branches as per the joint config of '.gitmodules' and 'ci.yml'"
 
 	cd "$SUBMODULES"
 
-	echo "$DEPS" | jq -c '.[]' | while read -r item; do
-		branch=$(echo "$item" | jq -r '.branch')
-		path=$(echo "$item" | jq -r '.path')
-		name=$(echo "$item" | jq -r '.name')
+  # Read deps line by line and rewind submodules
+  while IFS= read -r line; do
+    local key="" val="" pair="" name="" path="" branch=""
+
+    # Parse the colon-separated subkeys and subvalues
+    IFS=':' read -r -a pairs <<< "$line"
+    for pair in "${pairs[@]}"; do
+      key="${pair%%=*}"
+      val="${pair#*=}"
+      if [ "$key" = "name" ]; then
+        name="$val"
+      elif [ "$key" = "path" ]; then
+        path="$val"
+      elif [ "$key" = "branch" ]; then
+        branch="$val"
+      fi
+    done
+
 		echo
-		echo "Rewinding submodule '$name' ..."
-		echo "path: ${path}, branch: ${branch}"
+		echo "Rewinding submodule $name ..."
+		echo "path: $path, branch: $branch"
 
 		rewind "$path" "$branch"
-	done
+  done < "build/deps.txt"
 
 	echo
 	echo "Printing git status..."
@@ -280,6 +281,10 @@ update() {
 	git submodule status
 
 	cd "$CURDIR" > /dev/null
+
+  if [ "$UPDATE_ONLY" -eq 1 ]; then
+    exit 0
+  fi
 }
 
 get_branch_name() {