diff --git a/.github/workflows/full-test.yml b/.github/workflows/full-test.yml
index 1e132a9e..c53d2abc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/full-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/full-test.yml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         python -m pip install --upgrade pip
         python -m pip install pytest pytest-cov coveralls flake8
+        python -m pip install "numpy<2"
     - name: Install Brian 2
       run: |
         python -m pip install brian2
@@ -44,9 +45,9 @@ jobs:
       if: startsWith(matrix.os, 'ubuntu')
       run: |
         python -m pip install cython
-        wget https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/archive/refs/tags/v3.7.tar.gz -O nest-simulator-3.7.tar.gz
-        tar xzf nest-simulator-3.7.tar.gz
-        cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$HOME/.local -Dwith-mpi=ON ./nest-simulator-3.7
+        wget https://github.com/nest/nest-simulator/archive/refs/tags/v3.8_rc2.tar.gz -O nest-simulator-3.8-rc2.tar.gz
+        tar xzf nest-simulator-3.8-rc2.tar.gz
+        cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$HOME/.local -Dwith-mpi=ON ./nest-simulator-3.8_rc2
         make
         make install
     - name: Install PyNN itself