diff --git a/.github/actions/finalize/action.yml b/.github/actions/finalize/action.yml
index 0affb7524e..60dc248426 100644
--- a/.github/actions/finalize/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/finalize/action.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ inputs:
   # --- custom environment
   NODE_VERSION:
     type: string
-    default: '24.x'
+    default: '^24.22.1'
   VERBOSE:
     type: string
     default: "true"
diff --git a/.github/actions/publish/action.yml b/.github/actions/publish/action.yml
index 96f62ed83a..fced7875f0 100644
--- a/.github/actions/publish/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/publish/action.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ inputs:
     default: 'accounts+apple@balena.io'
   NODE_VERSION:
     type: string
-    default: '24.x'
+    default: '^24.22.1'
   VERBOSE:
     type: string
     default: 'true'
diff --git a/.github/actions/test/action.yml b/.github/actions/test/action.yml
index 3ef984d246..c1b9b5274a 100644
--- a/.github/actions/test/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/test/action.yml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ inputs:
   # --- custom environment
   NODE_VERSION:
     type: string
-    default: '24.x'
+    default: '^24.22.1'
   VERBOSE:
     type: string
     default: "true"
diff --git a/INSTALL-ADVANCED.md b/INSTALL-ADVANCED.md
index 02f9ec72e0..7094695dca 100644
--- a/INSTALL-ADVANCED.md
+++ b/INSTALL-ADVANCED.md
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ If you are a Node.js developer, you may wish to install the balena CLI via [npm]
 The npm installation involves building native (platform-specific) binary modules, which require
 some development tools to be installed first, as follows.
 
-> **The balena CLI currently requires Node.js version > 24.11.0**
+> **The balena CLI currently requires Node.js version > 24.11.0, but highly recommend using version >= 24.22.1**
 > **Versions 25 and later are not yet fully supported.**
 
 ### Install development tools
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3bf552a0ad..5326469042 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
     "deduplicate-dependencies": "npm dd && git add npm-shrinkwrap.json && git commit --message \"Deduplicate dependencies\"",
     "package": "npm run build:fast && npm run build:standalone && npm run build:installer",
     "pretest": "npm run build",
-    "test": "npm run test:shrinkwrap && npm run test:core",
+    "test": "npm run test:core",
     "test:core": "npm run test:source && npm run test:standalone",
     "test:shrinkwrap": "ts-node --transpile-only automation/run.ts test-shrinkwrap",
     "test:source": "cross-env BALENA_CLI_TEST_TYPE=source mocha",