diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 4116294..5eaa610 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 - MongoDB: Fixed BSON decoding of `{"$date": 1180690093000}` timestamps
+- DynamoDB: Use CrateDB 5.8.3 for testing. 5.8.4 caught a regression with
+  `OBJECT(IGNORED)` columns: They no longer accept `ARRAY`s of varying
+  types.
 
 ## 2024/09/30 v0.0.20
 - DynamoDB: Change CrateDB data model to use (`pk`, `data`, `aux`) columns
diff --git a/tests/transform/conftest.py b/tests/transform/conftest.py
index 8c33e84..2a7a61d 100644
--- a/tests/transform/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/transform/conftest.py
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
+from typing import Generator
+
 import pytest
+from cratedb_toolkit.testing.testcontainers.cratedb import CrateDBTestAdapter
 
 from commons_codec.transform.dynamodb import DynamoDBCDCTranslator, DynamoDBFullLoadTranslator
 from commons_codec.transform.dynamodb_model import PrimaryKeySchema
@@ -9,13 +12,24 @@
 ]
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def cratedb_custom_service() -> Generator[CrateDBTestAdapter, None, None]:
+    """
+    Provide a CrateDB service instance to the test suite.
+    """
+    db = CrateDBTestAdapter(crate_version="5.8.3")
+    db.start()
+    yield db
+    db.stop()
+
+
 @pytest.fixture(scope="function")
-def cratedb(cratedb_service):
+def cratedb(cratedb_custom_service):
     """
     Provide a fresh canvas to each test case invocation, by resetting database content.
     """
-    cratedb_service.reset(tables=RESET_TABLES)
-    yield cratedb_service
+    cratedb_custom_service.reset(tables=RESET_TABLES)
+    yield cratedb_custom_service
 
 
 @pytest.fixture