diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index dbfb9dffed..8ab95af295 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -51,10 +51,6 @@ variables:
   # cross-testrun files as there is no need to use that feature in CI.
   PYTEST_ADDOPTS: "-p no:cacheprovider"
 
-  # Default platforms to run "stress" tests on
-  BIND_STRESS_TEST_OS: linux
-  BIND_STRESS_TEST_ARCH: amd64
-
   HYPOTHESIS_PROFILE: "ci"
 
 default:
@@ -1699,279 +1695,29 @@ shotgun:doh-get:
 
 .stress-test: &stress_test
   stage: performance
+
+generate-stress-test-configs:
+  <<: *base_image
+  <<: *default_triggering_rules
+  stage: precheck
   script:
-    - *configure
-    - *setup_interfaces
-    - make -j${BUILD_PARALLEL_JOBS:-1} -k all V=1
-    - make DESTDIR="${INSTALL_PATH}" install
-    - git clone --depth 1 https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/bind9-qa.git
-    - cd bind9-qa/stress
-    - LD_LIBRARY_PATH="${INSTALL_PATH}/usr/local/lib" BIND_INSTALL_PATH="${INSTALL_PATH}/usr/local" WORKSPACE="${CI_PROJECT_DIR}" bash stress.sh
+    - util/generate-stress-test-configs.py > stress-test-configs.yml
+  artifacts:
+    paths:
+      - stress-test-configs.yml
+  needs: []
+
+stress-test-child-pipeline:
+  <<: *default_triggering_rules
+  stage: performance
+  trigger:
+    include:
+      - artifact: stress-test-configs.yml
+        job: generate-stress-test-configs
   needs:
-    - job: autoreconf
+    - job: generate-stress-test-configs
       artifacts: true
 
-.stress-test-long: &stress_test_long_job
-  <<: *stress_test
-  artifacts:
-    untracked: true
-    exclude:
-      - "output/ns4/*.dtq*"
-      - "output/ns4/large-delta-rpz*.local"
-      - "output/rpz_*"
-    expire_in: "1 week"
-    when: always
-  timeout: 2h
-
-.stress-test-short: &stress_test_short_job
-  <<: *stress_test
-  only:
-    - merge_requests
-  artifacts:
-    untracked: true
-    exclude:
-      - "output/ns4/*.dtq*"
-      - "output/ns4/large-delta-rpz*.local"
-      - "output/rpz_*"
-    when: always
-
-stress:short:authoritative:fedora:41:amd64:
-  <<: *fedora_41_amd64_image
-  <<: *linux_amd64
-  <<: *stress_test_short_job
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/bin/flame
-    MODE: authoritative
-    RATE: 10000
-    RUN_TIME: 15
-
-stress:short:recursive:fedora:41:amd64:
-  <<: *fedora_41_amd64_image
-  <<: *linux_amd64
-  <<: *stress_test_short_job
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/bin/flame
-    MODE: recursive
-    RATE: 10000
-    RUN_TIME: 15
-
-stress:short:rpz:fedora:41:amd64:
-  <<: *fedora_41_amd64_image
-  <<: *linux_amd64
-  <<: *stress_test_short_job
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/bin/flame
-    MODE: rpz
-    RATE: 1500
-    RUN_TIME: 15
-
-stress:short:authoritative:fedora:41:arm64:
-  <<: *fedora_41_arm64_image
-  <<: *linux_arm64
-  <<: *stress_test_short_job
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/bin/flame
-    MODE: authoritative
-    RATE: 10000
-    RUN_TIME: 15
-
-stress:short:recursive:fedora:41:arm64:
-  <<: *fedora_41_arm64_image
-  <<: *linux_arm64
-  <<: *stress_test_short_job
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/bin/flame
-    MODE: recursive
-    RATE: 10000
-    RUN_TIME: 15
-
-stress:short:rpz:fedora:41:arm64:
-  <<: *fedora_41_arm64_image
-  <<: *linux_arm64
-  <<: *stress_test_short_job
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/bin/flame
-    MODE: rpz
-    RATE: 1500
-    RUN_TIME: 15
-
-stress:short:authoritative:freebsd13:amd64:
-  <<: *freebsd_stress_amd64
-  <<: *stress_test_short_job
-  variables:
-    CC: clang
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/local/bin/flame
-    MODE: authoritative
-    RATE: 10000
-    RUN_TIME: 15
-
-stress:short:recursive:freebsd13:amd64:
-  <<: *freebsd_stress_amd64
-  <<: *stress_test_short_job
-  variables:
-    CC: clang
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/local/bin/flame
-    MODE: recursive
-    RATE: 10000
-    RUN_TIME: 15
-
-stress:short:rpz:freebsd13:amd64:
-  <<: *freebsd_stress_amd64
-  <<: *stress_test_short_job
-  variables:
-    CC: clang
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/local/bin/flame
-    MODE: rpz
-    RATE: 1500
-    RUN_TIME: 15
-
-stress:authoritative:fedora:41:amd64:
-  <<: *fedora_41_amd64_image
-  <<: *linux_amd64
-  <<: *stress_test_long_job
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/bin/flame
-    MODE: authoritative
-    RATE: 10000
-    RUN_TIME: 60
-  only:
-    variables:
-      - $CI_COMMIT_TAG || ($BIND_STRESS_TEST_OS =~ /linux/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_MODE =~ /authoritative/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_ARCH =~ /amd64/i)
-
-stress:recursive:fedora:41:amd64:
-  <<: *fedora_41_amd64_image
-  <<: *linux_amd64
-  <<: *stress_test_long_job
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/bin/flame
-    MODE: recursive
-    RATE: 10000
-    RUN_TIME: 60
-  only:
-    variables:
-      - $CI_COMMIT_TAG || ($BIND_STRESS_TEST_OS =~ /linux/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_MODE =~ /recursive/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_ARCH =~ /amd64/i)
-
-stress:rpz:fedora:41:amd64:
-  <<: *fedora_41_amd64_image
-  <<: *linux_amd64
-  <<: *stress_test_long_job
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/bin/flame
-    MODE: rpz
-    RATE: 1500
-    RUN_TIME: 60
-  only:
-    variables:
-      - $CI_COMMIT_TAG || ($BIND_STRESS_TEST_OS =~ /linux/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_MODE =~ /rpz/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_ARCH =~ /amd64/i)
-
-stress:authoritative:fedora:41:arm64:
-  <<: *fedora_41_arm64_image
-  <<: *linux_arm64
-  <<: *stress_test_long_job
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/bin/flame
-    MODE: authoritative
-    RATE: 10000
-    RUN_TIME: 60
-  only:
-    variables:
-      - $CI_COMMIT_TAG || ($BIND_STRESS_TEST_OS =~ /linux/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_MODE =~ /authoritative/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_ARCH =~ /arm64/i)
-
-stress:recursive:fedora:41:arm64:
-  <<: *fedora_41_arm64_image
-  <<: *linux_arm64
-  <<: *stress_test_long_job
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/bin/flame
-    MODE: recursive
-    RATE: 10000
-    RUN_TIME: 60
-  only:
-    variables:
-      - $CI_COMMIT_TAG || ($BIND_STRESS_TEST_OS =~ /linux/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_MODE =~ /recursive/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_ARCH =~ /arm64/i)
-
-stress:rpz:fedora:41:arm64:
-  <<: *fedora_41_arm64_image
-  <<: *linux_arm64
-  <<: *stress_test_long_job
-  variables:
-    CC: gcc
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/bin/flame
-    MODE: rpz
-    RATE: 1500
-    RUN_TIME: 60
-  only:
-    variables:
-      - $CI_COMMIT_TAG || ($BIND_STRESS_TEST_OS =~ /linux/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_MODE =~ /rpz/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_ARCH =~ /arm64/i)
-
-stress:authoritative:freebsd13:amd64:
-  <<: *freebsd_stress_amd64
-  <<: *stress_test_long_job
-  variables:
-    CC: clang
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/local/bin/flame
-    MODE: authoritative
-    RATE: 10000
-    RUN_TIME: 60
-  only:
-    variables:
-      - $CI_COMMIT_TAG || ($BIND_STRESS_TEST_OS =~ /freebsd/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_MODE =~ /authoritative/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_ARCH =~ /amd64/i)
-
-stress:recursive:freebsd13:amd64:
-  <<: *freebsd_stress_amd64
-  <<: *stress_test_long_job
-  variables:
-    CC: clang
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/local/bin/flame
-    MODE: recursive
-    RATE: 10000
-    RUN_TIME: 60
-  only:
-    variables:
-      - $CI_COMMIT_TAG || ($BIND_STRESS_TEST_OS =~ /freebsd/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_MODE =~ /recursive/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_ARCH =~ /amd64/i)
-
-stress:rpz:freebsd13:amd64:
-  <<: *freebsd_stress_amd64
-  <<: *stress_test_long_job
-  variables:
-    CC: clang
-    CFLAGS: "${CFLAGS_COMMON} -Og"
-    FLAME: /usr/local/bin/flame
-    MODE: rpz
-    RATE: 1500
-    RUN_TIME: 60
-  only:
-    variables:
-      - $CI_COMMIT_TAG || ($BIND_STRESS_TEST_OS =~ /freebsd/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_MODE =~ /rpz/i && $BIND_STRESS_TEST_ARCH =~ /amd64/i)
-
 # git fsck operates over the whole repository and is sufficient to schedule it
 # only in one branch, preferably "main". GitLab's clone strategy prevents us
 # from using the "bind9" repo clone; we need to clone it ourselves.
diff --git a/util/generate-stress-test-configs.py b/util/generate-stress-test-configs.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..55b27c9711
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/generate-stress-test-configs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+# Copyright (C) Internet Systems Consortium, Inc. ("ISC")
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+#
+# This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+# License, v. 2.0.  If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+# file, you can obtain one at https://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+#
+# See the COPYRIGHT file distributed with this work for additional
+# information regarding copyright ownership.
+
+import itertools
+import os
+import random
+
+import yaml
+
+with open(".gitlab-ci.yml", encoding="utf-8") as gitlab_ci_yml:
+    anchors = yaml.load(gitlab_ci_yml, Loader=yaml.Loader)
+
+# Mandatory environment variables
+ci_pipeline_source = os.environ["CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE"]
+install_path = os.environ["INSTALL_PATH"]
+project_directory = os.environ["CI_PROJECT_DIR"]
+
+# Optional environment variables
+all_bind_stress_tests = os.getenv("ALL_BIND_STRESS_TESTS")
+build_parallel_jobs = os.getenv("BUILD_PARALLEL_JOBS", "1")
+cflags_common = os.getenv("CFLAGS_COMMON", "")
+ci_commit_tag = os.getenv("CI_COMMIT_TAG")
+
+# Optional overrides for default test parameters
+env_traffic_rate = os.getenv("BIND_STRESS_TESTS_RATE")
+env_run_time = os.getenv("BIND_STRESS_TESTS_RUN_TIME")
+
+# Tags and scheduled pipelines produce longer jobs.
+if ci_commit_tag or ci_pipeline_source == "schedule":
+    all_bind_stress_tests = True
+    scenario = "long"
+    default_runtime = 60
+    expire_in = "1 week"
+else:
+    scenario = "short"
+    default_runtime = 15
+    expire_in = "1 day"
+
+ALL_MODES = "recursive", "authoritative", "rpz"
+ALL_PROTOCOLS = "tcp", "doh", "dot"
+ALL_PLATFORMS = ".fedora-41-amd64", ".fedora-41-arm64", ".freebsd-stress-amd64"
+
+# If ALL_BIND_STRESS_TESTS and CI_COMMIT_TAG environmental variables are unset,
+# pick only two of three items from "modes", "protocols", and "machines" to make
+# the "modes x protocols x machines" matrix smaller.
+if all_bind_stress_tests is None and ci_commit_tag is None:
+    modes = random.sample(ALL_MODES, k=2)
+    protocols = random.sample(ALL_PROTOCOLS, k=2)
+    platforms = random.sample(ALL_PLATFORMS, k=2)
+else:
+    modes = ALL_MODES
+    protocols = ALL_PROTOCOLS
+    platforms = ALL_PLATFORMS
+
+jobs = {}
+
+for mode, protocol, platform in itertools.product(modes, protocols, platforms):
+    if "freebsd" in platform:
+        # Flamethrower-produced DoH queries on FreeBSD always timeout. Skip
+        # DoH-on-FreeBSD jobs.
+        if protocol == "doh":
+            continue
+        job_platform = "freebsd:amd64"
+        compiler_binary = "clang"
+        flame_binary = "/usr/local/bin/flame"
+    else:
+        if "amd64" in platform:
+            job_platform = "linux:amd64"
+        else:
+            job_platform = "linux:arm64"
+        compiler_binary = "gcc"
+        flame_binary = "/usr/bin/flame"
+
+    if mode == "rpz":
+        default_traffic_rate = 1500
+    else:
+        default_traffic_rate = 10000
+
+    traffic_rate = int(env_traffic_rate or default_traffic_rate)
+    runtime = int(env_run_time or default_runtime)
+
+    expected_tcp_response_rate = 80 if protocol == "dot" else 90
+
+    job_definition = {
+        "stage": "test",
+        "variables": {
+            "CC": compiler_binary,
+            "CFLAGS": f"{cflags_common} -Og",
+            "EXPECTED_TCP_RESPONSE_RATE": expected_tcp_response_rate,
+            "FLAME": flame_binary,
+            "MODE": mode,
+            "PROTOCOL": f"{protocol} udp",
+            "RATE": traffic_rate,
+            "RUN_TIME": runtime,
+        },
+        "script": [
+            "autoreconf -fi",
+            *anchors[".configure"],
+            *anchors[".setup_interfaces"],
+            f"make -j{build_parallel_jobs} -k all V=1",
+            f'make DESTDIR="{install_path}" install',
+            "git clone --depth 1 https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/bind9-qa.git",
+            "cd bind9-qa/stress",
+            f'export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="{install_path}/usr/local/lib"',
+            f'export BIND_INSTALL_PATH="{install_path}/usr/local"',
+            f'export WORKSPACE="{project_directory}"',
+            "bash stress.sh",
+        ],
+        "rules": [{"if": '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "parent_pipeline"'}],
+        "timeout": f"{runtime + 30} minutes",
+        "artifacts": {
+            "untracked": True,
+            "when": "always",
+            "expire_in": expire_in,
+            "exclude": [
+                "output/ns4/*.dtq*",
+                "output/ns4/large-delta-rpz*.local",
+                "output/rpz_*",
+            ],
+        },
+    }
+
+    job_definition |= anchors[platform]
+
+    job_name = f"stress:{scenario}:{mode}:{protocol}+udp:{job_platform}"
+    jobs[job_name] = job_definition
+
+
+print(yaml.dump(jobs, Dumper=yaml.Dumper))