diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 73a8c52c448f7..7faf4249e755f 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ workflow:
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH
 
 variables:
-  CI_IMAGE: !reference [.ci-unified, variables, CI_IMAGE]
+  CI_IMAGE: europe-docker.pkg.dev/parity-build/ci-images/ci-unified:bullseye-1.77.0-2024-04-10-v20240515
   # BUILDAH_IMAGE is defined in group variables
   BUILDAH_COMMAND: "buildah --storage-driver overlay2"
   RELENG_SCRIPTS_BRANCH: "master"
@@ -119,25 +119,16 @@ default:
 #
 .forklift-cache:
   before_script:
+    - 'curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $FL_CI_GROUP_TOKEN" -o forklift  -L "${CI_API_V4_URL}/projects/676/packages/generic/forklift/${FL_FORKLIFT_VERSION}/forklift_${FL_FORKLIFT_VERSION}_linux_amd64"'
+    - chmod +x forklift
     - mkdir ~/.forklift
     - cp .forklift/config.toml ~/.forklift/config.toml
     - >
       if [ "$FORKLIFT_BYPASS" != "true" ]; then
-        echo "FORKLIFT_BYPASS not set"; 
-        if command -v forklift >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-          echo "forklift already exists"; 
-          forklift version
-        else
-          echo "forklift does not exist, downloading";
-          curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $FL_CI_GROUP_TOKEN" -o forklift  -L "${CI_API_V4_URL}/projects/676/packages/generic/forklift/${FL_FORKLIFT_VERSION}/forklift_${FL_FORKLIFT_VERSION}_linux_amd64"; 
-          chmod +x forklift;
-          export PATH=$PATH:$(pwd);
-          echo ${FL_FORKLIFT_VERSION};
-        fi
-        echo "Creating alias cargo='forklift cargo'"; 
-        shopt -s expand_aliases;
+        echo "FORKLIFT_BYPASS not set, creating alias cargo='forklift cargo'"; 
         alias cargo="forklift cargo";
       fi
+    - echo "FL_FORKLIFT_VERSION ${FL_FORKLIFT_VERSION}"
     #
 
 .common-refs:
@@ -223,12 +214,6 @@ include:
   - .gitlab/pipeline/test.yml
   # build jobs
   - .gitlab/pipeline/build.yml
-  # short-benchmarks jobs
-  - .gitlab/pipeline/short-benchmarks.yml
-  # publish jobs
-  - .gitlab/pipeline/publish.yml
-  # zombienet jobs
-  - .gitlab/pipeline/zombienet.yml
   # ci image
   - project: parity/infrastructure/ci_cd/shared
     ref: main
diff --git a/.gitlab/pipeline/build.yml b/.gitlab/pipeline/build.yml
index 8658e92efc8f9..ab433b64a8573 100644
--- a/.gitlab/pipeline/build.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/pipeline/build.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ build-linux-stable:
     RUSTFLAGS: "-Cdebug-assertions=y -Dwarnings"
     # Ensure we run the UI tests.
     RUN_UI_TESTS: 1
+    CI_IMAGE: paritytech/ci-unified:bullseye-1.75.0-2024-01-22-v20240222
   script:
     - time cargo build --locked --profile testnet --features pyroscope,fast-runtime --bin polkadot --bin polkadot-prepare-worker --bin polkadot-execute-worker
     - time ROCOCO_EPOCH_DURATION=10  ./polkadot/scripts/build-only-wasm.sh rococo-runtime $(pwd)/runtimes/rococo-runtime-10/
diff --git a/polkadot/scripts/build-only-wasm.sh b/polkadot/scripts/build-only-wasm.sh
index 50b786dab4101..9435efd88206d 100755
--- a/polkadot/scripts/build-only-wasm.sh
+++ b/polkadot/scripts/build-only-wasm.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@
 set -e
 
 PROJECT_ROOT=`git rev-parse --show-toplevel`
+fl_cargo () {
+    if command -v forklift123 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        forklift cargo "$@";
+    else
+        cargo "$@";
+    fi
+}
 
 if [ "$#" -lt 1 ]; then
   echo "You need to pass the name of the crate you want to compile!"