diff --git a/.github/workflows/eb_command.yml b/.github/workflows/eb_command.yml
index e1c3f87996..a2ef7c6c1d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/eb_command.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/eb_command.yml
@@ -11,11 +11,14 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   test-eb:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python: [3.7, 3.8, 3.9, '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
+        python: [3.8, 3.9, '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
+        include:
+          - python: 3.7
+            os: ubuntu-22.04
       fail-fast: false
+    runs-on: ${{matrix.os || 'ubuntu-24.04'}}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # 4.2.2
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/linting.yml b/.github/workflows/linting.yml
index faff6f75a9..d5a7163f70 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/linting.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/linting.yml
@@ -10,10 +10,14 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   python-linting:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        python-version: [3.7, 3.8, 3.9, '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
+        python: [3.8, 3.9, '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13']
+        include:
+          - python: 3.7
+            os: ubuntu-22.04
+      fail-fast: false
+    runs-on: ${{matrix.os || 'ubuntu-24.04'}}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # 4.2.2
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/unit_tests.yml
index a2409daeae..45f32bd866 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit_tests.yml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   setup:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     outputs:
         lmod8: Lmod-8.7.58
         modules4: modules-4.5.3
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ jobs:
       - run: "true"
   build:
     needs: setup
-    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
+    runs-on: ${{matrix.os || 'ubuntu-24.04'}}
     strategy:
       matrix:
         # Python 3.10 is default in Ubuntu 22.04
@@ -31,11 +31,11 @@ jobs:
           - ${{needs.setup.outputs.lmod8}}
           - ${{needs.setup.outputs.modules4}}
           - ${{needs.setup.outputs.modules5}}
-        lc_all: [""]
         include:
           # Test different Python 3 versions with Lmod 8.x (with both Lua and Tcl module syntax)
           - python: '3.7'
             modules_tool: ${{needs.setup.outputs.lmod8}}
+            os: ubuntu-22.04
           - python: '3.8'
             modules_tool: ${{needs.setup.outputs.lmod8}}
           - python: '3.9'
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: run test suite
       env:
         EB_VERBOSE: 1
-        LC_ALL: ${{matrix.lc_all}}
+        LC_ALL: "" 
       run: |
           # run tests *outside* of checked out easybuild-framework directory,
           # to ensure we're testing installed version (see previous step)