diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index b980833b20946733a758ca45c7a38dd918b1d8da..239ff4c5254d1146e20e67d260ac12c1648b9f23 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ sanitycheck:
     - tags
 
 build_css:
-  image: node:current-buster
+  image: node:current-bookworm
   stage: prepare
   needs: []
   script:
@@ -180,8 +180,7 @@ test_internals:
       alias: hubapp
   before_script:
     - pip3 install httpie requests "urllib3<2"
-    - ping -c 2 dbserver || true
-    - ping -c 2 hubapp || true
+    - echo "testing on: $BASE_URL"
     - timeout 30 bash -c "while timeout -k 3 2 http --check-status GET ${BASE_URL}/.well-known/version; rc=\$?; [ \$rc = 124 -o \$rc = 502 ]; do sleep 1; done; if [ \$rc != 0 ]; then exit \$rc; fi"
     - http --timeout 2.5 --check-status GET ${BASE_URL}/.well-known/health
   only: