diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/renovate.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/renovate.yaml
index a6da2b5..19df32b 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/renovate.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/renovate.yaml
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ jobs:
             ${{ runner.os }}-renovate-discovery-${{ hashFiles('config.js') }}-
             ${{ runner.os }}-renovate-discovery-
       
+      - name: Install jq
+        run: |
+          apt-get update && apt-get install -y jq
+      
       - name: Discover Repositories
         run: |
           renovate --write-discovered-repos=/tmp/renovate-repos.json
@@ -41,24 +45,33 @@ jobs:
       - name: Create Repository Batches
         id: create-batches
         run: |
-          # Install jq (not included in Renovate image)
-          apt-get update && apt-get install -y jq
-          
-          # Check if repos file exists
-          if [ ! -f /tmp/renovate-repos.json ]; then
-            echo "No repositories discovered or file not created"
+          # Check if repos file exists and is not empty
+          if [ ! -f /tmp/renovate-repos.json ] || [ ! -s /tmp/renovate-repos.json ]; then
+            echo "No repositories discovered or file not created/empty"
             echo "batches=[]" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
             exit 0
           fi
           
-          # Read the JSON array from the input file
-          json_array=$(cat /tmp/renovate-repos.json)
+          # Verify the file contains valid JSON
+          if ! jq empty /tmp/renovate-repos.json 2>/dev/null; then
+            echo "Invalid JSON in repositories file"
+            echo "batches=[]" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            exit 0
+          fi
           
-          # Group repositories into batches of 5
+          # Read the JSON array and create batches
           echo "Creating batches of repositories..."
-          batches=$(echo "$json_array" | jq -r '.[]' | xargs -n5 | jq -R -s 'split("\n") | map(select(length > 0) | split(" "))' | jq 'del(.[] | select(. == []))' | jq -c .)
+          batches=$(jq -c 'if type == "array" then . else [] end | _nwise(5) | [.[]]' /tmp/renovate-repos.json)
           
-          # Set the output for the next job
+          # Handle empty results
+          if [ "$batches" = "" ] || [ "$batches" = "null" ]; then
+            echo "No valid repositories found"
+            echo "batches=[]" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          
+          # Format as proper JSON array for GitHub Actions output
+          batches="[$(echo "$batches" | tr '\n' ',' | sed 's/,$//' )]"
           echo "batches=$batches" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           
           echo "Created $(echo "$batches" | jq '. | length') batches of repositories"
@@ -83,20 +96,34 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/cache@v4
         with:
           path: /tmp/renovate-cache
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-renovate-batch-${{ join(matrix.batch, '-') }}-${{ hashFiles('config.js') }}-${{ github.run_id }}
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-renovate-batch-${{ github.run_id }}
           restore-keys: |
-            ${{ runner.os }}-renovate-batch-${{ join(matrix.batch, '-') }}-${{ hashFiles('config.js') }}-
-            ${{ runner.os }}-renovate-batch-${{ join(matrix.batch, '-') }}-
             ${{ runner.os }}-renovate-
       
+      - name: Install jq
+        run: |
+          apt-get update && apt-get install -y jq
+      
       - name: Run Renovate on Batch
         run: |
-          # Convert array to comma-separated list
-          REPOS=$(echo '${{ toJson(matrix.batch) }}' | jq -r 'join(",")')
+          # Simple processing of batch array without complex jq
+          REPOS=""
+          for repo in $(echo '${{ toJson(matrix.batch) }}' | jq -r '.[]'); do
+            if [ -n "$REPOS" ]; then
+              REPOS="$REPOS,$repo"
+            else
+              REPOS="$repo"
+            fi
+          done
+          
           echo "Processing repositories: $REPOS"
           
           # Run Renovate on the specific repositories
-          renovate $REPOS
+          if [ -n "$REPOS" ]; then
+            renovate $REPOS
+          else
+            echo "No repositories to process in this batch"
+          fi
         env:
           RENOVATE_CONFIG_FILE: "config.js"
           RENOVATE_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.RENOVATE_TOKEN }}