diff --git a/.github/workflows/basic-ci-amd64.yaml b/.github/workflows/basic-ci-amd64.yaml
index a024d0a21f..e26467c9a8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/basic-ci-amd64.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/basic-ci-amd64.yaml
@@ -292,8 +292,6 @@ jobs:
         run: bash tests/integration/docker/gha-run.sh run
 
   run-nerdctl-tests:
-    # TODO: Transition to free runner (see #9940).
-    if: false
     strategy:
       # We can set this to true whenever we're 100% sure that
       # all the tests are not flaky, otherwise we'll fail them
@@ -308,7 +306,7 @@ jobs:
         # TODO: enable with clh when https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/issues/9852 is fixed
         exclude:
           - vmm: clh
-    runs-on: garm-ubuntu-2304-smaller
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     env:
       KATA_HYPERVISOR: ${{ matrix.vmm }}
     steps: