diff --git a/bake/compose.go b/bake/compose.go
index c6eabcb31a4c..88516949e5fb 100644
--- a/bake/compose.go
+++ b/bake/compose.go
@@ -127,7 +127,12 @@ func ParseCompose(cfgs []composetypes.ConfigFile, envs map[string]string) (*Conf
 			var ulimits []string
 			if s.Build.Ulimits != nil {
 				for n, u := range s.Build.Ulimits {
-					ulimit, err := units.ParseUlimit(fmt.Sprintf("%s=%d:%d", n, u.Soft, u.Hard))
+					soft, hard := u.Soft, u.Hard
+					if u.Single != 0 {
+						// short syntax (e.g. "nproc: 65535") sets both limits
+						soft, hard = u.Single, u.Single
+					}
+					ulimit, err := units.ParseUlimit(fmt.Sprintf("%s=%d:%d", n, soft, hard))
 					if err != nil {
 						return nil, err
 					}
diff --git a/bake/compose_test.go b/bake/compose_test.go
index 3782e2eeaaec..4c306fb6b3c3 100644
--- a/bake/compose_test.go
+++ b/bake/compose_test.go
@@ -413,6 +413,25 @@ services:
 	require.Equal(t, []string{"nofile=1024:1024"}, c.Targets[1].Ulimits)
 }
 
+func TestComposeUlimitsSingleValue(t *testing.T) {
+	dt := []byte(`
+services:
+  app:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      ulimits:
+        nproc: 65535
+        nofile:
+          soft: 20000
+          hard: 40000
+`)
+
+	c, err := ParseCompose([]composetypes.ConfigFile{{Content: dt}}, nil)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, c.Targets, 1)
+	require.ElementsMatch(t, []string{"nproc=65535:65535", "nofile=20000:40000"}, c.Targets[0].Ulimits)
+}
+
 func TestComposeExtDedup(t *testing.T) {
 	dt := []byte(`
 services: