diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yaml b/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yaml
index 9a3e071c6a..34ab0a20f3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yaml
@@ -42,6 +42,18 @@ env:
   PYTHONPATH: ${{ github.workspace }}/install
 
 jobs:
+  debug:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: build_runner
+        run: echo ${{ inputs.build_runner }}
+      - name: build_runner_from_json
+        run: echo ${{ fromJson(inputs.build_runner) }}
+      - name: test_runner
+        run: echo ${{ inputs.test_runner }}
+      - name: test_runner_from_json
+        run: echo ${{ fromJson(inputs.test_runner) }}
+
   build:
     runs-on: ${{ fromJson(inputs.build_runner) }}
     container:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests_new.yaml b/.github/workflows/tests_new.yaml
index 8e145fe300..58dbf7db2b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests_new.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests_new.yaml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ jobs:
       config: ${{ join(matrix.config, '_') }}
       container_prefix: ${{ matrix.config[0] }}
       # Use self-hosted runners or fall back to GitHub hosted runners when self-hosted are offline
-      build_runner: ${{ needs.start_action_runners.outputs.active == '0' && 'ubuntu-latest' || '["self-hosted","jetstream2","CPU"]' }}
+      build_runner: ${{ needs.start_action_runners.outputs.active == '0' && toJson('ubuntu-latest') || '["self-hosted","jetstream2","CPU"]' }}
       # Default to ubuntu-latest when unset
       test_runner: ${{ matrix.test_runner == '' && 'ubuntu-latest' || toJson(matrix.test_runner) }}
       test_docker_options: ${{ matrix.test_docker_options }}