diff --git a/.github/scripts/matrix.py b/.github/scripts/matrix.py
index c3390215..dd483b55 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/matrix.py
+++ b/.github/scripts/matrix.py
@@ -12,10 +12,7 @@
     f"{MANAGED_OWNER}/bpf",
     f"{MANAGED_OWNER}/vmtest",
 }
-# We need to run on ubuntu 20.04 because our rootfs is based on debian buster and we
-# otherwise get library versioning issue such as
-# `./test_verifier: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.34' not found (required by ./test_verifier)`
-DEFAULT_RUNNER: Final[str] = "ubuntu-20.04"
+DEFAULT_RUNNER: Final[str] = "ubuntu-24.04"
 DEFAULT_LLVM_VERSION: Final[int] = 17
 DEFAULT_SELF_HOSTED_RUNNER_TAGS: Final[List[str]] = ["self-hosted", "docker-noble-main"]
 
@@ -159,6 +156,7 @@ def generate_test_config(test: str) -> Dict[str, Union[str, int]]:
             toolchain=Toolchain(compiler=Compiler.GCC, version=DEFAULT_LLVM_VERSION),
             run_veristat=True,
             parallel_tests=True,
+            build_release=True,
         ),
         BuildConfig(
             arch=Arch.X86_64,
diff --git a/.github/workflows/kernel-build.yml b/.github/workflows/kernel-build.yml
index cf378dd9..560f53e0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/kernel-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/kernel-build.yml
@@ -94,6 +94,14 @@ jobs:
           arch: ${{ inputs.arch }}
           llvm-version: ${{ inputs.llvm-version }}
           pahole: c2f89dab3f2b0ebb53bab3ed8be32f41cb743c37
+      - name: Print toolchain version used
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          TOOLCHAIN=${{ inputs.toolchain }}
+          if [ $TOOLCHAIN = "llvm" ]; then
+            TOOLCHAIN="clang-${{ inputs.llvm-version }}"
+          fi
+          ${TOOLCHAIN} --version
       - name: Build kernel image
         uses: libbpf/ci/build-linux@main
         with: