diff --git a/tests/stability/gha-run.sh b/tests/stability/gha-run.sh
index 6db0ffe529..bf91090525 100755
--- a/tests/stability/gha-run.sh
+++ b/tests/stability/gha-run.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ set -o pipefail
 kata_tarball_dir="${2:-kata-artifacts}"
 stability_dir="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")")"
 source "${stability_dir}/../common.bash"
+source "${stability_dir}/../metrics/lib/common.bash"
+DOCKERFILE="${stability_dir}/stressng_dockerfile/Dockerfile"
+IMAGE="docker.io/library/local-stressng:latest"
 
 function install_dependencies() {
 	info "Installing the dependencies needed for running the containerd-stability tests"
@@ -27,6 +30,7 @@ function install_dependencies() {
 
 	ensure_yq
 	install_docker
+	check_ctr_images "${IMAGE}" "${DOCKERFILE}"
 }
 
 function run() {
diff --git a/tests/stability/stressng.sh b/tests/stability/stressng.sh
index cfd7ac71fc..1c2b03d7b7 100755
--- a/tests/stability/stressng.sh
+++ b/tests/stability/stressng.sh
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@ SCRIPT_PATH=$(dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")")
 source "${SCRIPT_PATH}/../metrics/lib/common.bash"
 
 PAYLOAD_ARGS="${PAYLOAD_ARGS:-tail -f /dev/null}"
-DOCKERFILE="${SCRIPT_PATH}/stressng_dockerfile/Dockerfile"
-IMAGE="docker.io/library/local-stressng:latest"
 CONTAINER_NAME="${CONTAINER_NAME:-stressng_test}"
 
 function main() {
@@ -20,7 +18,6 @@ function main() {
 
 	init_env
 	check_cmds "${cmds[@]}"
-	check_ctr_images "${IMAGE}" "${DOCKERFILE}"
 	sudo -E ctr run -d --runtime "${CTR_RUNTIME}" "${IMAGE}" "${CONTAINER_NAME}" sh -c "${PAYLOAD_ARGS}"
 
 	# Run 1 iomix stressor (mix of I/O operations) for 20 seconds with verbose output