diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index cc298b26..135a6149 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ jobs:
   backend-unit-tests:
     name: Backend Unit Tests
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      DOCKER_API_VERSION: "1.43"  # NAS runner runs Docker 24.x (max API 1.43); Testcontainers 2.x defaults to 1.44
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4