diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/build-iso.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/build-iso.yml
index 37b72cf..ab94870 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/build-iso.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/build-iso.yml
@@ -62,6 +62,13 @@ jobs:
           cp -f "$iso" /data/smoke-cache/latest.iso
           ls -lh /data/smoke-cache/latest.iso
 
+      - name: Install smoke prerequisites
+        # Runner container is Alpine with a near-empty base; smoke-vm.sh
+        # needs curl, python3, arp-scan, and sudo (kept so the script
+        # also works when invoked from a dev laptop as a non-root user).
+        # apk cache survives across jobs so subsequent runs are ~1 s.
+        run: apk add --no-cache curl python3 arp-scan sudo
+
       - name: Smoke-test ISO on Proxmox test host
         # Inlined as a step (rather than a separate job with `needs:`) so
         # we can reuse the ISO that's already in the workspace — Forgejo's
diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/smoke-latest.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/smoke-latest.yml
index b4a7e18..90968d6 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/smoke-latest.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/smoke-latest.yml
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ jobs:
           echo "Will smoke: $iso"
           ls -lh "$iso"
 
+      - name: Install smoke prerequisites
+        # Runner container is Alpine with a near-empty base; smoke-vm.sh
+        # needs curl, python3, arp-scan, and sudo (kept so the script
+        # also works when invoked from a dev laptop as a non-root user).
+        run: apk add --no-cache curl python3 arp-scan sudo
+
       - name: Smoke-test ISO on Proxmox test host
         env:
           PVE_TEST_HOST: ${{ secrets.PVE_TEST_HOST }}