diff --git a/.github/workflows/gh-build-and-test.yml b/.github/workflows/gh-build-and-test.yml
index 51f4bd87b..c2dc50c6b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gh-build-and-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gh-build-and-test.yml
@@ -300,9 +300,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run cuda.core tests
         shell: bash --noprofile --norc -xeuo pipefail {0}
         run: |
-          if [[ $SKIP_CUDA_BINDINGS_TEST == 1 ]]; then
+          if [[ ${{ matrix.python-version }} == "3.13" ]]; then
             # TODO: remove this hack once cuda-python has a cp313 build
-            if [[ ${{ matrix.python-version }} == "3.13" ]]; then
+            if [[ $SKIP_CUDA_BINDINGS_TEST == 1 ]]; then
               echo "Python 3.13 + cuda-python ${{ matrix.cuda-version }} is not supported, skipping the test..."
               exit 0
             fi
@@ -316,9 +316,6 @@ jobs:
           popd
 
           pushd ./cuda_core
-          # TODO: add requirements.txt for test deps?
-          pip install pytest
-          # TODO: add CuPy to test deps (which would require cuRAND)
-          # pip install "cupy-cuda${TEST_CUDA_MAJOR}x"
+          pip install -r "tests/requirements-cu${TEST_CUDA_MAJOR}.txt"
           pytest -rxXs tests/
           popd
diff --git a/cuda_core/examples/saxpy.py b/cuda_core/examples/saxpy.py
index 8caa4d4a5..d1d7211f2 100644
--- a/cuda_core/examples/saxpy.py
+++ b/cuda_core/examples/saxpy.py
@@ -47,8 +47,9 @@
 # prepare input/output
 size = cp.uint64(64)
 a = dtype(10)
-x = cp.random.random(size, dtype=dtype)
-y = cp.random.random(size, dtype=dtype)
+rng = cp.random.default_rng()
+x = rng.random(size, dtype=dtype)
+y = rng.random(size, dtype=dtype)
 out = cp.empty_like(x)
 dev.sync()  # cupy runs on a different stream from s, so sync before accessing
 
@@ -73,8 +74,8 @@
 # prepare input
 size = cp.uint64(128)
 a = dtype(42)
-x = cp.random.random(size, dtype=dtype)
-y = cp.random.random(size, dtype=dtype)
+x = rng.random(size, dtype=dtype)
+y = rng.random(size, dtype=dtype)
 dev.sync()
 
 # prepare output
diff --git a/cuda_core/examples/strided_memory_view.py b/cuda_core/examples/strided_memory_view.py
index 564d7fa01..2cc25989e 100644
--- a/cuda_core/examples/strided_memory_view.py
+++ b/cuda_core/examples/strided_memory_view.py
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@
     gpu_prog = Program(gpu_code, code_type="c++")
     # To know the GPU's compute capability, we need to identify which GPU to use.
     dev = Device(0)
+    dev.set_current()
     arch = "".join(f"{i}" for i in dev.compute_capability)
     mod = gpu_prog.compile(
         target_type="cubin",
@@ -156,7 +157,6 @@ def my_func(arr, work_stream):
 
 # This takes the GPU path
 if cp:
-    dev.set_current()
     s = dev.create_stream()
     # Create input array on GPU
     arr_gpu = cp.ones(1024, dtype=cp.int32)
diff --git a/cuda_core/examples/vector_add.py b/cuda_core/examples/vector_add.py
index 550eaf2a2..172653277 100644
--- a/cuda_core/examples/vector_add.py
+++ b/cuda_core/examples/vector_add.py
@@ -42,8 +42,9 @@
 
 # prepare input/output
 size = 50000
-a = cp.random.random(size, dtype=dtype)
-b = cp.random.random(size, dtype=dtype)
+rng = cp.random.default_rng()
+a = rng.random(size, dtype=dtype)
+b = rng.random(size, dtype=dtype)
 c = cp.empty_like(a)
 
 # cupy runs on a different stream from s, so sync before accessing
diff --git a/cuda_core/tests/requirements-cu11.txt b/cuda_core/tests/requirements-cu11.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8fb37e92e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cuda_core/tests/requirements-cu11.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+pytest
+# TODO: remove this hack once cupy has a cp313 build
+cupy-cuda11x; python_version < "3.13"
diff --git a/cuda_core/tests/requirements-cu12.txt b/cuda_core/tests/requirements-cu12.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2e82e12da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cuda_core/tests/requirements-cu12.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+pytest
+# TODO: remove this hack once cupy has a cp313 build
+cupy-cuda12x; python_version < "3.13"