diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-citation.yml b/.github/workflows/update-citation.yml
index 724c0d0..d6d9ecc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-citation.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-citation.yml
@@ -17,9 +17,17 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set up R
         uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2
 
-      - name: Install dependencies
+      - name: Install minimal system dependencies
         run: |
-          Rscript -e 'install.packages(c("usethis", "cffr", "desc"))'
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install -y \
+            libcurl4-openssl-dev \
+            libssl-dev \
+            libxml2-dev
+
+      - name: Install required R packages
+        run: |
+          Rscript -e 'install.packages(c("cffr", "desc"))'
 
       - name: Update inst/CITATION
         run: |