diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 3e4ee15a3..7789077eb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@ jobs:
         run: bundle exec rake rubocop
 
   test:
-    # CentOS 7 testing is broken on Ubuntu 22.04
-    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index a89328a20..b0914b7fa 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -67,11 +67,11 @@ def hosts_opt(use_preserved_hosts = false)
 end
 
 def agent_target
-  ENV['TEST_TARGET'] || 'centos7-64af'
+  ENV['TEST_TARGET'] || 'centos9-64af'
 end
 
 def master_target
-  ENV['MASTER_TEST_TARGET'] || 'centos7-64default.mdcal'
+  ENV['MASTER_TEST_TARGET'] || 'centos9-64default.mdcal'
 end
 
 def test_targets
diff --git a/acceptance/tests/base/host/packages.rb b/acceptance/tests/base/host/packages.rb
index 0b10d5902..a625de987 100644
--- a/acceptance/tests/base/host/packages.rb
+++ b/acceptance/tests/base/host/packages.rb
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ def get_host_pkg(host)
     Beaker::HostPrebuiltSteps::OPENBSD_PACKAGES
   when /solaris-10/
     Beaker::HostPrebuiltSteps::SOLARIS10_PACKAGES
+  when /el-[89]/
+    Beaker::HostPrebuiltSteps::RHEL8_PACKAGES
   else
     Beaker::HostPrebuiltSteps::UNIX_PACKAGES
   end
diff --git a/lib/beaker/host_prebuilt_steps.rb b/lib/beaker/host_prebuilt_steps.rb
index 60b55a02a..acb2e60b3 100644
--- a/lib/beaker/host_prebuilt_steps.rb
+++ b/lib/beaker/host_prebuilt_steps.rb
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ module HostPrebuiltSteps
     SLEEPWAIT = 5
     TRIES = 5
     AMAZON2023_PACKAGES = %w[chrony]
-    RHEL8_PACKAGES = %w[chrony]
-    FEDORA_PACKAGES = %w[chrony]
+    RHEL8_PACKAGES = %w[chrony iputils] # iputils provides ping. beaker assumes that's present
+    FEDORA_PACKAGES = %w[chrony iputils]
     UNIX_PACKAGES = %w[curl ntpdate]
     FREEBSD_PACKAGES = ['curl', 'perl5|perl']
     OPENBSD_PACKAGES = ['curl']