diff --git a/.github/actions/check-artifact-exists/check_artifact.py b/.github/actions/check-artifact-exists/check_artifact.py
index f860db62feb..0f8a8442918 100644
--- a/.github/actions/check-artifact-exists/check_artifact.py
+++ b/.github/actions/check-artifact-exists/check_artifact.py
@@ -79,6 +79,12 @@ def check_artifact_exists(artifact_name: str, token: str, repo: str, head_sha: s
         while max_iterations > 0:
             params['page'] = page
             response = requests.get(url, headers=headers, params=params)
+
+            if response.status_code == requests.codes.forbidden:
+                print(f"::warning::GitHub API returned 403 when listing artifacts "
+                      f"(name={artifact_name}, page={page}); treating as not found.")
+                return False
+
             response.raise_for_status()
 
             artifacts_data = response.json()
diff --git a/.github/actions/create-cluster/action.yml b/.github/actions/create-cluster/action.yml
index 44309e3e448..5175a4ca056 100644
--- a/.github/actions/create-cluster/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/create-cluster/action.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ inputs:
 runs:
   using: "composite"
   steps:
+    - name: Free up disk space on runner
+      shell: bash
+      run: ./.github/resources/scripts/free-disk-space.sh
+
     - name: Create k8s Kind Cluster
       uses: helm/kind-action@v1.12.0
       id: cluster-create
diff --git a/.github/resources/scripts/collect-logs.sh b/.github/resources/scripts/collect-logs.sh
index 26551084e41..89ea75324b1 100755
--- a/.github/resources/scripts/collect-logs.sh
+++ b/.github/resources/scripts/collect-logs.sh
@@ -23,9 +23,10 @@ fi
 
 function check_namespace {
     if ! kubectl get namespace "$1" &>/dev/null; then
-        echo "Namespace '$1' does not exist."
-        exit 1
+        echo "Namespace '$1' does not exist. Skipping log collection."
+        return 1
     fi
+    return 0
 }
 
 function display_pod_info {
@@ -61,5 +62,8 @@ function display_pod_info {
     echo "Pod information stored in $OUTPUT_FILE"
 }
 
-check_namespace "$NS"
-display_pod_info "$NS"
+if check_namespace "$NS"; then
+    display_pod_info "$NS"
+else
+    exit 0
+fi
diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index e3ad95ac75a..533bc27dfae 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -39,7 +39,9 @@ RUN echo "Building for architecture: ${TARGETARCH}"
 
 # Downloading Argo CLI so that the samples are validated
 ENV ARGO_VERSION=v3.7.3
-RUN curl -sLO https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/releases/download/${ARGO_VERSION}/argo-linux-$TARGETARCH.gz && \
+RUN curl -sL -H "Accept: application/octet-stream" \
+        https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/releases/download/${ARGO_VERSION}/argo-linux-$TARGETARCH.gz \
+    -o argo-linux-$TARGETARCH.gz && \
     gunzip argo-linux-$TARGETARCH.gz && \
     chmod +x argo-linux-$TARGETARCH && \
     mv ./argo-linux-$TARGETARCH /usr/local/bin/argo
diff --git a/test/release/Dockerfile.release b/test/release/Dockerfile.release
index 48d9e13de9b..a3a48451632 100644
--- a/test/release/Dockerfile.release
+++ b/test/release/Dockerfile.release
@@ -49,5 +49,6 @@ RUN chmod -R 777 $NVM_DIR && \
 # Configure npm cache location
 RUN npm config set cache /tmp/.npm --global
 
-RUN curl -L https://github.com/orhun/git-cliff/releases/download/v${GIT_CLIFF_VERSION}/git-cliff-${GIT_CLIFF_VERSION}-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz \
+RUN curl -L -H "Accept: application/octet-stream" \
+        https://github.com/orhun/git-cliff/releases/download/v${GIT_CLIFF_VERSION}/git-cliff-${GIT_CLIFF_VERSION}-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz \
     | tar -xz --strip-components=1 -C /usr/local/bin git-cliff-${GIT_CLIFF_VERSION}/git-cliff