diff --git a/packages/mongodb-memory-server-core/src/util/MongoBinaryDownloadUrl.ts b/packages/mongodb-memory-server-core/src/util/MongoBinaryDownloadUrl.ts
index e0721f98c..d06a445b7 100644
--- a/packages/mongodb-memory-server-core/src/util/MongoBinaryDownloadUrl.ts
+++ b/packages/mongodb-memory-server-core/src/util/MongoBinaryDownloadUrl.ts
@@ -289,7 +289,9 @@ export class MongoBinaryDownloadUrl implements MongoBinaryDownloadUrlOpts {
       throw new UnknownVersionError(this.version);
     }
 
-    if (release >= 11 || ['unstable', 'testing'].includes(os.release)) {
+    const isTesting = ['unstable', 'testing', ''].includes(os.release);
+
+    if (isTesting || release >= 11) {
       // Debian 11 is compatible with the binaries for debian 10
       // but does not have binaries for before 5.0.8
       // and only set to use "debian10" if the requested version is not a latest version
@@ -309,7 +311,7 @@ export class MongoBinaryDownloadUrl implements MongoBinaryDownloadUrlOpts {
       name += '71';
     }
 
-    if (release >= 10) {
+    if (isTesting || release >= 10) {
       if (semver.lt(coercedVersion, '4.2.1') && !testVersionIsLatest(this.version)) {
         throw new KnownVersionIncompatibilityError(
           `Debian ${release}`,