diff --git a/.github/workflows/scripts/setup-full.sh b/.github/workflows/scripts/setup-full.sh
index 63e935395..cf764c7c4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/scripts/setup-full.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/scripts/setup-full.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2020 Birger Schacht
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2020 Birger Schacht, 2024 Institute for Common Good Technology
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
 
 set -x
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@ echo -e '-XX:+DisableExplicitGC\n-Djdk.io.permissionsUseCanonicalPath=true\n-Dlo
 sudo chown -R elasticsearch:elasticsearch /etc/default/elasticsearch
 sudo systemctl start elasticsearch
 
+sudo apt update
+if [ $python_version == '3.8' ]; then
+	# for pymssql there are no wheels for 3.8 https://github.com/certtools/intelmq/issues/2539
+	DEBIAN_FRONTEND="noninteractive" sudo -E apt install -y freetds-dev
+fi
+
 # Install the dependencies of all the bots
 pip install wheel
 for file in intelmq/bots/*/*/REQUIREMENTS.txt; do
diff --git a/.github/workflows/unittests.yml b/.github/workflows/unittests.yml
index 1dee5735f..078ba1400 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unittests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unittests.yml
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ jobs:
         PGPORT: 5432
         PGUSER: intelmq
         PGPASSWORD: intelmq
+        python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
       run: bash .github/workflows/scripts/setup-full.sh
 
     - name: Install test dependencies