diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index 9db7a54..bb9c784 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 version: 2
 updates:
+  - package-ecosystem: "github-actions"
+    directory: /
+    schedule:
+      interval: weekly
   - package-ecosystem: pip
     directory: /
     schedule:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
index a1e7041..3b7e1ea 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ jobs:
     permissions:
       id-token: write # to authenticate as Trusted Publisher to pypi.org
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
-      - uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
           python-version: "3.x"
           cache: "pip"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
index 7a34da5..b6f281d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ jobs:
           version: 1.0
 
       - name: Set up Python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
           python-version: ${{ matrix.config.python }}
           cache: pip
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ jobs:
           packages: |
             bioc::SingleCellExperiment
             bioc::scRNAseq
+            ${{ matrix.config.r == 'oldrel' && 'cran::rjson@0.2.21' || '' }}
         env:
           R_BIOC_VERSION: ${{ matrix.config.bioc }}