diff --git a/.github/workflows/checks.yml b/.github/workflows/checks.yml
index 8a25d8313d..2a27834dc6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/checks.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/checks.yml
@@ -40,16 +40,14 @@ jobs:
           fetch-depth: 0
       - name: cache SBT
         uses: coursier/cache-action@v6
-      - name: Java ${{matrix.java}} setup
+      - name: Java 11 setup
         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
           distribution: temurin
-          java-version: ${{matrix.java}}
+          java-version: 11
       - run: sbt "++${{matrix.scala}} mimaReportBinaryIssues"
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        java:
-          - 11
         scala:
           - 2.12.17
           - 2.13.8
diff --git a/.github/workflows/it-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/it-tests.yml
index 80b2f1c151..692430362a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/it-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/it-tests.yml
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ jobs:
           credentials_json: ${{ secrets.GCP_CREDENTIALS }}
       - name: cache SBT
         uses: coursier/cache-action@v6
-      - name: Java 17 setup
+      - name: Java 11 setup
         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
           distribution: temurin
-          java-version: 17
+          java-version: 11
       - name: set JVM opts
         run: scripts/gha_setup.sh
       - run: sbt "IntegrationTest/test"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/populate-it-data.yml b/.github/workflows/populate-it-data.yml
index 903b7ead0e..0a92ba7218 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/populate-it-data.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/populate-it-data.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
           project_id: data-integration-test
       - name: cache SBT
         uses: coursier/cache-action@v6
-      - name: Java setup
+      - name: Java 11 setup
         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
           distribution: temurin
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pre-release-check.yml b/.github/workflows/pre-release-check.yml
index df2fda3dbb..69ef5da5ea 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pre-release-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pre-release-check.yml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
           distribution: temurin
-          java-version: 17
+          java-version: 11
       - name: set JVM opts
         run: scripts/gha_setup.sh
       - name: Run Dataflow jobs
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 2b12470686..b731b1137d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@ jobs:
           fetch-depth: 0
       - name: cache SBT
         uses: coursier/cache-action@v6
-      - name: Java 17 setup
+      - name: Java 11 setup
         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
           distribution: temurin
-          java-version: 17
+          java-version: 11
       - uses: olafurpg/setup-gpg@v3
       - name: Publish ${{ github.ref }}
         run: sbt ci-release
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index b04a809c73..d08db54dc1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ jobs:
         exclude:
           - scala: 2.12.17
             java: 8
+          - scala: 2.12.17
+            java: 17
   repl-test:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
diff --git a/.jvmopts b/.jvmopts
index 73d3d26c3b..41bddf567c 100644
--- a/.jvmopts
+++ b/.jvmopts
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
---add-opens java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED
---add-opens java.base/java.lang.invoke=ALL-UNNAMED
 -Dfile.encoding=UTF8
 -Dscio.ignoreVersionWarning=true
 -Dorg.slf4j.simpleLogger.defaultLogLevel=warn
diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index a9dc0091c5..936b845ca1 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -260,6 +260,7 @@ val commonSettings = formatSettings ++
       "org.apache.beam" % "beam-sdks-java-io-kafka"
     ),
     resolvers ++= Resolver.sonatypeOssRepos("public"),
+    fork := true,
     javaOptions ++= Seq("-Dscio.ignoreVersionWarning=true") ++
       sys.props.get("bigquery.project").map(project => s"-Dbigquery.project=$project") ++
       sys.props.get("bigquery.secret").map(secret => s"-Dbigquery.secret=$secret"),
@@ -367,8 +368,7 @@ lazy val itSettings = Defaults.itSettings ++
         } else {
           HiddenFileFilter || "*.scala"
         }
-      },
-      fork := true
+      }
     )
   )