diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit-test-on-pull-request.yml b/.github/workflows/unit-test-on-pull-request.yml
index 7d2ccdbab..fc28c0ab2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit-test-on-pull-request.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit-test-on-pull-request.yml
@@ -161,15 +161,15 @@ jobs:
           - { target_arch: amd64, kernel: 6.9.1 }
           - { target_arch: amd64, kernel: 6.12.16 }
           - { target_arch: amd64, kernel: 6.16 }
+          - { target_arch: amd64, kernel: 6.18 }
 
           # ARM64 (NOTE: older ARM64 kernels are not available in Cilium repos)
           - { target_arch: arm64, kernel: 6.6.31 }
           - { target_arch: arm64, kernel: 6.8.4 }
           - { target_arch: arm64, kernel: 6.9.1 }
           - { target_arch: arm64, kernel: 6.12.16 }
-          # qemu has a bug that prevents booting the following kernel on ARM,
-          # fixed in qemu 9.2
-          #- { target_arch: arm64, kernel: 6.16 }
+          - { target_arch: arm64, kernel: 6.16 }
+          - { target_arch: arm64, kernel: 6.18 }
     steps:
       - name: Disable man-db
         run: |
diff --git a/support/run-tests.sh b/support/run-tests.sh
index d44b65c60..cced106bb 100755
--- a/support/run-tests.sh
+++ b/support/run-tests.sh
@@ -52,7 +52,13 @@ case "$qemu_arch" in
         bb_args+=(-a amd64)
         ;;
     aarch64)
-        additionalQemuArgs+=" -machine virt -cpu max"
+        # Newer Linux kernels may fail to load with QEMU for arm64.
+        # This issue has been addressed in QEMU 9.2+ by
+        # https://github.com/qemu/qemu/commit/1505b651fdbd9af59a4a90876a62ae7ea2d4cd39.
+        #
+        # To test newer Linux kernels with older QEMU versions, a dedicated,
+        # unaffected CPU should be set for the QEMU configuration.
+        additionalQemuArgs+=" -machine virt -cpu cortex-a72"
         bb_args+=(-a arm64)
         ;;
 esac