diff --git a/bin/langstream b/bin/langstream
index 34f2b9a62..6b4dbe0c7 100755
--- a/bin/langstream
+++ b/bin/langstream
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 #
-set -ex
+set -e
 
 # need this for relative symlinks
 PRG="$0"
diff --git a/dev/cli-post-release-tests.sh b/dev/cli-post-release-tests.sh
index dd65d15c8..be8ac298b 100755
--- a/dev/cli-post-release-tests.sh
+++ b/dev/cli-post-release-tests.sh
@@ -28,5 +28,8 @@ langstream -V
 langstream -V | grep $version
 langstream -h | grep "Usage: langstream"
 
+# pull before otherwise the test will timeout
+docker pull ghcr.io/langstream/langstream-runtime-tester:$version
+
 ./mvnw -ntp install -pl langstream-e2e-tests -am -DskipTests -Dspotless.skip -Dlicense.skip
 ./mvnw -ntp verify -pl langstream-e2e-tests -De2eTests -Dgroups="cli"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/langstream-e2e-tests/src/test/java/ai/langstream/tests/cli/CLIDockerRunIT.java b/langstream-e2e-tests/src/test/java/ai/langstream/tests/cli/CLIDockerRunIT.java
index 57827bc13..7e3f9ebd9 100644
--- a/langstream-e2e-tests/src/test/java/ai/langstream/tests/cli/CLIDockerRunIT.java
+++ b/langstream-e2e-tests/src/test/java/ai/langstream/tests/cli/CLIDockerRunIT.java
@@ -110,8 +110,6 @@ private static CompletableFuture<Void> runCli(String args) {
     @SneakyThrows
     private static CompletableFuture<Void> runCli(String args, Map<String, String> env) {
         final List<String> allArgs = new ArrayList<>();
-        allArgs.add("echo");
-        allArgs.add("starting!!!");
         if (env != null) {
             String beforeCmd =
                     env.entrySet().stream()