diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 5da284c3..895e88b8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -28,13 +28,28 @@ jobs:
       SECRET_KEY: BetPHpGoUXUwjaAXm6ArIhV95xLdDZtu8QEGnNXY3eTknIkD
       AUTH_STAFF_EMAIL_DOMAINS: mozillafoundation.org
     steps:
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
-    - uses: actions/setup-python@v2
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+    - uses: actions/setup-python@v4
       with:
-        python-version: 3.7
-    - name: Install Python Dependencies
+        python-version: 3.11
+    - name: Write .env file with DATABASE_URL for CI
       run: |
-        pip install -r requirements.txt -r dev-requirements.txt
+        echo "DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/pulseapi" > .env
+    # Pillow requires libjpeg-dev, zlib1g-dev, etc. to build from source
+    - name: Install system dependencies for Pillow build
+      run: |
+        sudo apt-get update
+        sudo apt-get install -y libjpeg-dev zlib1g-dev libpng-dev
+    # setuptools >=66 removed `convert_path`, which breaks django-allauth 0.48.0
+    # See https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/issues/3772
+    - name: Install setuptools 65.5.1 for compatibility with django-allauth
+      run: pip install "setuptools==65.5.1"
+    - name: Install wheel for building packages like cffi
+      run: pip install wheel
+    - name: Install Python Dependencies (no build isolation)
+      run: |
+        pip install --no-binary psycopg2-binary psycopg2-binary
+        pip install --no-build-isolation -r requirements.txt -r dev-requirements.txt
         python manage.py migrate
     - name: Run Tests
       run: |
diff --git a/pulseapi/settings.py b/pulseapi/settings.py
index c339adb5..ceb4c878 100644
--- a/pulseapi/settings.py
+++ b/pulseapi/settings.py
@@ -240,17 +240,25 @@ def show_toolbar(request):
 # Database
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.10/ref/settings/#databases
 
-DATABASES = {
-    'default': {
-        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
-        'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),
-    }
-}
-
+# Try to get DATABASE_URL from the environment (e.g. .env file or CI env vars)
 DATABASE_URL = env('DATABASE_URL')
 
-if DATABASE_URL is not None:
-    DATABASES['default'].update(dj_database_url.config())
+if DATABASE_URL:
+    # If DATABASE_URL is provided, use it to configure the default database
+    # This will typically be a Postgres database in production or CI
+    DATABASES = {
+        'default': dj_database_url.parse(DATABASE_URL)
+    }
+else:
+    # If DATABASE_URL is not set, fall back to using SQLite
+    # This is a good default for local development environments
+    DATABASES = {
+        'default': {
+            'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
+            'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),
+        }
+    }
+
 
 
 # Password validation
diff --git a/requirements.in b/requirements.in
index a4b75fd5..b393aae3 100644
--- a/requirements.in
+++ b/requirements.in
@@ -19,4 +19,5 @@ Pillow==8.3.2
 protobuf==3.12.2
 psycopg2-binary
 requests
+setuptools==65.5.1
 whitenoise
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index a5b586c5..517c3969 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 #
-# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with python 3.9
-# To update, run:
+# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with Python 3.11
+# by the following command:
 #
-#    pip-compile
+#    pip-compile requirements.in
 #
 boto3==1.16.26
     # via -r requirements.in
diff --git a/runtime.txt b/runtime.txt
index 32a8d83a..cf3b8042 100644
--- a/runtime.txt
+++ b/runtime.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-python-3.7.8
+python-3.11.8