diff --git a/.github/workflows/nightly.yaml b/.github/workflows/nightly.yaml
index 38c3751dcc..98fb48c0a4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nightly.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nightly.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 name: 'Nightly jobs'
 on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [main]
   schedule:
     - cron: '30 1 * * *'
   workflow_dispatch:
@@ -98,7 +100,7 @@ jobs:
             make bench
             ./bin/zot-linux-amd64 serve test/gc-stress/config-gc-referrers-bench-s3-localstack.json &
             sleep 10
-            bin/zb-linux-amd64 -c 10 -n 100 -o ci-cd http://localhost:8080
+            bin/zb-linux-amd64 -c 10 -n 100 -o ci-cd http://localhost:8080 --skip-cleanup
 
             killall -r zot-*
 
@@ -135,7 +137,7 @@ jobs:
             make bench
             ./bin/zot-linux-amd64 serve test/gc-stress/config-gc-bench-s3-localstack.json &
             sleep 10
-            bin/zb-linux-amd64 -c 10 -n 100 -o ci-cd http://localhost:8080
+            bin/zb-linux-amd64 -c 10 -n 100 -o ci-cd http://localhost:8080 --skip-cleanup
 
             killall -r zot-*
 
diff --git a/test/blackbox/helpers_zot.bash b/test/blackbox/helpers_zot.bash
index 8428dddfdb..6168629251 100644
--- a/test/blackbox/helpers_zot.bash
+++ b/test/blackbox/helpers_zot.bash
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ function wait_zot_reachable() {
         --max-time 3 \
         --retry 10 \
         --retry-delay 0 \
-        --retry-max-time 60 \
+        --retry-max-time 120 \
         --retry-connrefused \
         ${zot_url}
 }
diff --git a/test/blackbox/pushpull_running_dedupe.bats b/test/blackbox/pushpull_running_dedupe.bats
index b18163a3e6..17d758b145 100644
--- a/test/blackbox/pushpull_running_dedupe.bats
+++ b/test/blackbox/pushpull_running_dedupe.bats
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ function setup_file() {
         exit 1
     fi
     # Download test data to folder common for the entire suite, not just this file
-    skopeo --insecure-policy copy --format=oci docker://ghcr.io/project-zot/golang:1.20 oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/golang:1.20
+    skopeo --insecure-policy copy --format=oci docker://ghcr.io/project-zot/test-images/alpine:3.17.3 oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/alpine:1
     # Setup zot server
     local zot_root_dir=${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot
     local zot_config_file=${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot_config.json
@@ -67,8 +67,8 @@ function teardown_file() {
 @test "push image - dedupe not running" {
     start=`date +%s`
     run skopeo --insecure-policy copy --dest-tls-verify=false \
-        oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/golang:1.20 \
-        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/golang:1.20
+        oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/alpine:1 \
+        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/alpine:1
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     end=`date +%s`
 
@@ -77,34 +77,34 @@ function teardown_file() {
 
     run curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v2/_catalog
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
-    [ $(echo "${lines[-1]}" | jq '.repositories[]') = '"golang"' ]
-    run curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v2/golang/tags/list
+    [ $(echo "${lines[-1]}" | jq '.repositories[]') = '"alpine"' ]
+    run curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v2/alpine/tags/list
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
-    [ $(echo "${lines[-1]}" | jq '.tags[]') = '"1.20"' ]
+    [ $(echo "${lines[-1]}" | jq '.tags[]') = '"1"' ]
 }
 
 @test "pull image - dedupe not running" {
     local oci_data_dir=${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/oci
     start=`date +%s`
     run skopeo --insecure-policy copy --src-tls-verify=false \
-        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/golang:1.20 \
-        oci:${oci_data_dir}/golang:1.20
+        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/alpine:1 \
+        oci:${oci_data_dir}/alpine:1
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     end=`date +%s`
 
     runtime=$((end-start))
     echo "pull image exec time: $runtime sec" >&3
-    run cat ${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/oci/golang/index.json
+    run cat ${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/oci/alpine/index.json
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
-    [ $(echo "${lines[-1]}" | jq '.manifests[].annotations."org.opencontainers.image.ref.name"') = '"1.20"' ]
+    [ $(echo "${lines[-1]}" | jq '.manifests[].annotations."org.opencontainers.image.ref.name"') = '"1"' ]
 }
 
 @test "push 50 images with dedupe disabled" {
     for i in {1..50}
     do
         run skopeo --insecure-policy copy --dest-tls-verify=false \
-            oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/golang:1.20 \
-            docker://127.0.0.1:8080/golang${i}:1.20
+            oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/alpine:1 \
+            docker://127.0.0.1:8080/alpine${i}:1
         [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     done
 }
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ function teardown_file() {
     sed -i 's/false/true/g' ${zot_config_file}
 
     zot_serve ${ZOT_PATH} ${zot_config_file}
+
     wait_zot_reachable 8080
     # deduping will now run in background (task scheduler) while we push images, shouldn't interfere
 }
@@ -126,8 +127,8 @@ function teardown_file() {
 @test "push image - dedupe running" {
     start=`date +%s`
     run skopeo --insecure-policy copy --dest-tls-verify=false \
-        oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/golang:1.20 \
-        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/dedupe/golang:1.20
+        oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/alpine:1 \
+        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/dedupe/alpine:1
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     end=`date +%s`
 
@@ -142,8 +143,8 @@ function teardown_file() {
 
     start=`date +%s`
     run skopeo --insecure-policy copy --src-tls-verify=false \
-        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/dedupe/golang:1.20 \
-        oci:${oci_data_dir}/dedupe/golang:1.20
+        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/dedupe/alpine:1 \
+        oci:${oci_data_dir}/dedupe/alpine:1
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     end=`date +%s`
     runtime=$((end-start))
@@ -158,8 +159,8 @@ function teardown_file() {
 
     start=`date +%s`
     run skopeo --insecure-policy copy --src-tls-verify=false \
-        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/golang2:1.20 \
-        oci:${oci_data_dir}/dedupe/golang2:1.20
+        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/alpine2:1 \
+        oci:${oci_data_dir}/dedupe/alpine2:1
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     end=`date +%s`
     runtime=$((end-start))
@@ -179,9 +180,6 @@ function teardown_file() {
     runtime=$((end-start))
 
     echo "push image index exec time: $runtime sec" >&3
-    run curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v2/_catalog
-    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
-    [ $(echo "${lines[-1]}" | jq '.repositories[0]') = '"busybox"' ]
     run curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v2/busybox/tags/list
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     [ $(echo "${lines[-1]}" | jq '.tags[]') = '"latest"' ]
@@ -243,16 +241,16 @@ function teardown_file() {
     # attach signature
     echo "{\"artifact\": \"\", \"signature\": \"pat hancock\"}" > ${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/signature.json
     start=`date +%s`
-    run oras attach --plain-http 127.0.0.1:8080/golang:1.20 --image-spec v1.1-image --artifact-type 'signature/example' ${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/signature.json:application/json
+    run oras attach --plain-http 127.0.0.1:8080/alpine:1 --image-spec v1.1-image --artifact-type 'signature/example' ${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/signature.json:application/json
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     end=`date +%s`
     runtime=$((end-start))
 
     echo "attach signature exec time: $runtime sec" >&3
     # attach sbom
-    echo "{\"version\": \"0.0.0.0\", \"artifact\": \"'127.0.0.1:8080/golang:1.20'\", \"contents\": \"good\"}" > ${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/sbom.json
+    echo "{\"version\": \"0.0.0.0\", \"artifact\": \"'127.0.0.1:8080/alpine:1'\", \"contents\": \"good\"}" > ${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/sbom.json
     start=`date +%s`
-    run oras attach --plain-http 127.0.0.1:8080/golang:1.20 --image-spec v1.1-image --artifact-type 'sbom/example' ${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/sbom.json:application/json
+    run oras attach --plain-http 127.0.0.1:8080/alpine:1 --image-spec v1.1-image --artifact-type 'sbom/example' ${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/sbom.json:application/json
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     end=`date +%s`
     runtime=$((end-start))
@@ -262,7 +260,7 @@ function teardown_file() {
 
 @test "discover oras artifacts - dedupe running" {
     start=`date +%s`
-    run oras discover --plain-http -o json 127.0.0.1:8080/golang:1.20
+    run oras discover --plain-http -o json 127.0.0.1:8080/alpine:1
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     end=`date +%s`
     runtime=$((end-start))
@@ -299,7 +297,7 @@ function teardown_file() {
     run regctl registry set localhost:8080 --tls disabled
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     start=`date +%s`
-    run regctl image copy ocidir://${TEST_DATA_DIR}/golang:1.20 localhost:8080/test-regclient
+    run regctl image copy ocidir://${TEST_DATA_DIR}/alpine:1 localhost:8080/test-regclient
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     end=`date +%s`
     runtime=$((end-start))
diff --git a/test/blackbox/restore_s3_blobs.bats b/test/blackbox/restore_s3_blobs.bats
index f9a95ccd96..1443bf1ad9 100644
--- a/test/blackbox/restore_s3_blobs.bats
+++ b/test/blackbox/restore_s3_blobs.bats
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ function setup_file() {
     fi
 
     # Download test data to folder common for the entire suite, not just this file
-    skopeo --insecure-policy copy --format=oci docker://ghcr.io/project-zot/golang:1.20 oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/golang:1.20
+    skopeo --insecure-policy copy --format=oci docker://ghcr.io/project-zot/test-images/alpine:3.17.3 oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/alpine:1
     # Setup zot server
     local zot_root_dir=${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot
     local zot_config_file_dedupe=${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot_config_dedupe.json
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ function setup_file() {
     local ZOT_LOG_FILE_DEDUPE=${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot-log-dedupe.json
     local ZOT_LOG_FILE_NODEDUPE=${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot-log-nodedupe.json
 
+    touch ${ZOT_LOG_FILE_NODEDUPE}
     mkdir -p ${zot_root_dir}
 
     cat > ${zot_config_file_dedupe}<<EOF
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ EOF
     "storage": {
         "rootDirectory": "${zot_root_dir}",
         "dedupe": false,
+        "gc": false,
         "storageDriver": {
             "name": "s3",
             "rootdirectory": "/zot",
@@ -106,8 +108,8 @@ function teardown_file() {
     for i in {1..50}
     do
         run skopeo --insecure-policy copy --dest-tls-verify=false \
-            oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/golang:1.20 \
-            docker://127.0.0.1:8080/golang${i}:1.20
+            oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/alpine:1 \
+            docker://127.0.0.1:8080/alpine${i}:1
         [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     done
 }
@@ -124,10 +126,12 @@ function teardown_file() {
 
     # start with dedupe disabled
     zot_serve ${zot_config_file_nodedupe}
-    wait_zot_reachable 8080
+
+    sleep 1 // if we wait for zot to be reachable we may not catch the log message
+
     start=`date +%s`
     echo "waiting for restoring blobs task to finish" >&3
-    run wait_for_string "dedupe rebuild: finished" ${ZOT_LOG_FILE} "10m"
+    run wait_for_string "dedupe rebuild: finished" ${ZOT_LOG_FILE} "5m"
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
 
     end=`date +%s`
@@ -138,18 +142,20 @@ function teardown_file() {
 }
 
 @test "pulling a previous deduped image should work" {
-    # golang1 should have original blobs already
+    wait_zot_reachable 8080
+
+    # alpine1 should have original blobs already
     echo "pulling first image" >&3
     run skopeo --insecure-policy copy --src-tls-verify=false \
-        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/golang1:1.20 \
-        oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/golang1:1.20
+        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/alpine1:1 \
+        oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/alpine1:1
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
 
     echo "pulling second image" >&3
-    # golang2 should have original blobs after restoring blobs
+    # alpine2 should have original blobs after restoring blobs
     run skopeo --insecure-policy copy --src-tls-verify=false \
-        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/golang2:1.20 \
-        oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/golang2:1.20
+        docker://127.0.0.1:8080/alpine2:1 \
+        oci:${TEST_DATA_DIR}/alpine2:1
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
 }
 
diff --git a/test/gc-stress/config-gc-bench-s3-localstack.json b/test/gc-stress/config-gc-bench-s3-localstack.json
index 11151bdce2..047a0256bb 100644
--- a/test/gc-stress/config-gc-bench-s3-localstack.json
+++ b/test/gc-stress/config-gc-bench-s3-localstack.json
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@
         "rootDirectory": "/tmp/zot/s3",
         "gc": true,
         "gcReferrers": false,
-        "gcDelay": "50m",
-        "untaggedImageRetentionDelay": "50m",
-        "gcInterval": "2m",
+        "gcDelay": "80m",
+        "untaggedImageRetentionDelay": "80m",
+        "gcInterval": "5m",
         "storageDriver": {
             "name": "s3",
             "rootdirectory": "/zot",
diff --git a/test/gc-stress/config-gc-referrers-bench-s3-localstack.json b/test/gc-stress/config-gc-referrers-bench-s3-localstack.json
index 98cee6bc48..74c372812e 100644
--- a/test/gc-stress/config-gc-referrers-bench-s3-localstack.json
+++ b/test/gc-stress/config-gc-referrers-bench-s3-localstack.json
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@
         "rootDirectory": "/tmp/zot/s3",
         "gc": true,
         "gcReferrers": true,
-        "gcDelay": "50m",
-        "untaggedImageRetentionDelay": "50m",
-        "gcInterval": "2m",
+        "gcDelay": "80m",
+        "untaggedImageRetentionDelay": "80m",
+        "gcInterval": "5m",
         "storageDriver": {
             "name": "s3",
             "rootdirectory": "/zot",