diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/check.yml b/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
index 55545f4..4428b9f 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/check.yml
@@ -16,17 +16,8 @@ on:
 jobs:
   gate:
     runs-on: veron-1
-    # Run IN a Python 3.12 image rather than trusting the runner image's
-    # toolchain. The first real CI run wedged here: catthehacker/ubuntu:act-22.04
-    # ships Python 3.10.12, this project declares requires-python >=3.12, and pip
-    # answered that by backtracking through the entire release history of every
-    # dependency looking for something 3.10-compatible. It churned for 14 minutes
-    # at 100% CPU with `-q` hiding all of it, and would have churned until the
-    # runner timeout. A version mismatch presenting as a hang, not an error.
-    container:
-      image: python:3.12-bookworm
-    # And a hard ceiling, so a wedged step is a red check in minutes rather than
-    # an occupied runner for half an hour.
+    # A hard ceiling, so a wedged step is a red check in minutes rather than an
+    # occupied runner for half an hour.
     timeout-minutes: 12
     services:
       postgres:
@@ -42,6 +33,21 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
+      # The runner image ships Python 3.10.12; this project requires >=3.12.
+      # The first real CI run wedged for 14 minutes on exactly that: pip
+      # answered the mismatch by backtracking through the entire release
+      # history of every dependency looking for something 3.10-compatible, at
+      # 100% CPU, with `-q` hiding every line of it. A version mismatch
+      # presenting as a hang rather than an error.
+      #
+      # The obvious fix — run the job in a python:3.12 image — trades one wedge
+      # for another: actions/checkout is a JavaScript action, and the official
+      # Python images carry no `node`, so checkout dies with "executable file
+      # not found". Hence setup-python on the act image, which has both.
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.12"
+
       - name: install
         run: |
           python3 --version
diff --git a/api/tests/test_invariants.py b/api/tests/test_invariants.py
index 395e18f..8aeb5cf 100644
--- a/api/tests/test_invariants.py
+++ b/api/tests/test_invariants.py
@@ -478,10 +478,13 @@ def test_g73_workflow_pins_a_python_that_satisfies_requires_python():
 
     for wf in ROOT.rglob(".gitea/workflows/*.y*ml"):
         text = wf.read_text()
-        img = _re.search(r"image:\s*python:(\d+)\.(\d+)", text)
-        assert img, f"{wf.name}: job does not pin a python image"
-        assert (int(img.group(1)), int(img.group(2))) >= (major, minor), (
-            f"{wf.name}: pins python {img.group(0)} but the project requires "
+        # Either a pinned container image or an explicit setup-python version.
+        pin = _re.search(r"image:\s*python:(\d+)\.(\d+)", text) or _re.search(
+            r'python-version:\s*"?(\d+)\.(\d+)"?', text
+        )
+        assert pin, f"{wf.name}: job neither pins a python image nor sets up a version"
+        assert (int(pin.group(1)), int(pin.group(2))) >= (major, minor), (
+            f"{wf.name}: pins python {pin.group(0)} but the project requires "
             f">={major}.{minor}"
         )