diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 1bba99e..eac8bd4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -7,20 +7,34 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         ARCH: [x86_64, i386, aarch64, armhf]
+        USE_STATIC_RUNTIME: [""]
         UPDATE: ["1"]
+        
+        include:
+          # test build
+          - ARCH: x86_64
+            DOCKER_ARCH: amd64
+            BUILD_TYPE: coverage
+
+          # experimental build
+          - ARCH: x86_64
+            BUILD_TYPE: appimage
+            USE_STATIC_RUNTIME: -static
+
       fail-fast: false
 
-    name: ${{ matrix.ARCH }}
+    name: ${{ matrix.ARCH }}${{ matrix.USE_STATIC_RUNTIME }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
     env:
       ARCH: ${{ matrix.ARCH }}
       BUILD_TYPE: ${{ matrix.BUILD_TYPE }}
       DEBIAN_FRONTEND: interactive
+      USE_STATIC_RUNTIME: ${{ matrix.USE_STATIC_RUNTIME }}
 
     steps:
       # check out once git command is available
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: recursive
 
@@ -31,10 +45,10 @@ jobs:
         run: bash ci/build-in-docker.sh
 
       - name: Archive artifacts
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
-          name: AppImage ${{ matrix.ARCH }}
-          path: linuxdeploy-plugin-qt-${{ matrix.ARCH }}.AppImage*
+          name: AppImage ${{ matrix.ARCH }}${{ matrix.USE_STATIC_RUNTIME}}
+          path: linuxdeploy-plugin-qt${{ matrix.USE_STATIC_RUNTIME}}-${{ matrix.ARCH }}.AppImage*
 
   upload:
     name: Create release and upload artifacts
@@ -43,7 +57,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
     steps:
       - name: Download artifacts
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v2
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
       - name: Inspect directory after downloading artifacts
         run: ls -alFR
       - name: Create release and upload artifacts
@@ -52,4 +66,4 @@ jobs:
         run: |
             wget -q https://github.com/TheAssassin/pyuploadtool/releases/download/continuous/pyuploadtool-x86_64.AppImage
             chmod +x pyuploadtool-x86_64.AppImage
-            ./pyuploadtool-x86_64.AppImage **/linuxdeploy-plugin-qt*.AppImage*
+            ./pyuploadtool-x86_64.AppImage **/linuxdeploy*.AppImage*
diff --git a/ci/build-in-docker.sh b/ci/build-in-docker.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index a7f7d9f..3024c5f
--- a/ci/build-in-docker.sh
+++ b/ci/build-in-docker.sh
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ run_in_docker() {
         -i \
         --init \
         -e GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER \
+        -e USE_STATIC_RUNTIME \
         -e ARCH \
         -e CI \
         --user "$uid" \
@@ -118,4 +119,4 @@ run_in_docker() {
 }
 
 run_in_docker bash ci/build.sh
-run_in_docker bash ci/test.sh linuxdeploy-plugin-qt-"$ARCH".AppImage
+run_in_docker bash ci/test.sh linuxdeploy-plugin-qt"$USE_STATIC_RUNTIME"-"$ARCH".AppImage
diff --git a/ci/build.sh b/ci/build.sh
index c29edf8..103d555 100755
--- a/ci/build.sh
+++ b/ci/build.sh
@@ -43,6 +43,17 @@ patchelf_path="$(which patchelf)"
 strip_path="$(which strip)"
 
 export UPD_INFO="gh-releases-zsync|linuxdeploy|linuxdeploy-plugin-qt|continuous|linuxdeploy-plugin-qt-$ARCH.AppImage"
+export OUTPUT="linuxdeploy-plugin-qt-$ARCH.AppImage"
+
+# special set of builds using a different experimental runtime, used for testing purposes
+if [[ "${USE_STATIC_RUNTIME:-}" != "" ]]; then
+    custom_runtime_url="https://github.com/AppImage/type2-runtime/releases/download/continuous/runtime-$ARCH"
+    wget "$custom_runtime_url"
+    runtime_filename="$(echo "$custom_runtime_url" | rev | cut -d/ -f1 | rev)"
+    LDAI_RUNTIME_FILE="$(readlink -f "$runtime_filename")"
+    export LDAI_RUNTIME_FILE
+    export OUTPUT="linuxdeploy-plugin-qt-static-$ARCH.AppImage"
+fi
 
 wget "https://github.com/TheAssassin/linuxdeploy/releases/download/continuous/linuxdeploy-$ARCH.AppImage"
 # qemu is not happy about the AppImage type 2 magic bytes, so we need to "fix" that
@@ -56,4 +67,4 @@ chmod +x linuxdeploy*.AppImage
     -e "$strip_path" \
     --output appimage
 
-mv linuxdeploy-plugin-qt-"$ARCH".AppImage* "$OLD_CWD"/
+mv "$OUTPUT"* "$OLD_CWD"/