diff --git a/.github/actions/run-and-record-tests/action.yml b/.github/actions/run-and-record-tests/action.yml
index 260b75e5a..5c7ae6d6e 100644
--- a/.github/actions/run-and-record-tests/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/run-and-record-tests/action.yml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ runs:
     - name: Run Integration Tests
       shell: bash
       run: |
-        uv run --verbose ./scripts/integration-tests.sh \
+        uv run --verbose --active ./scripts/integration-tests.sh \
           --stack-config '${{ inputs.stack-config }}' \
           --provider '${{ inputs.provider }}' \
           --test-subdirs '${{ inputs.test-subdirs }}' \
diff --git a/.github/actions/setup-runner/action.yml b/.github/actions/setup-runner/action.yml
index 08143fa45..67acb309f 100644
--- a/.github/actions/setup-runner/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/setup-runner/action.yml
@@ -21,8 +21,14 @@ runs:
     - name: Install dependencies
       shell: bash
       run: |
+        # explicitly setup a virtual environment distinct from the project one because
+        # we are going to manipulate it via `llama stack build` among other things.
+        VIRTUAL_ENV=github-actions-runner
+        uv venv $VIRTUAL_ENV
+        source $VIRTUAL_ENV/bin/activate
+
         echo "Updating project dependencies via uv sync"
-        uv sync --all-groups
+        uv sync --active --all-groups
 
         echo "Installing ad-hoc dependencies"
         uv pip install ollama faiss-cpu