diff --git a/.github/workflows/push-ld.yml b/.github/workflows/push-ld.yml
index fd626b4ea..525cdf8f4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/push-ld.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/push-ld.yml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           registry: ghcr.io
           username: fluxcdbot
-          password: ${{ secrets.GHCR_TOKEN }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
       - name: Generate image meta
         id: meta
         uses: docker/metadata-action@80c7e94dd9b9319bd5eb7a0e0fe9291e23a2a2e9 # v6.1.0
diff --git a/Dockerfile.loadtester b/Dockerfile.loadtester
index 45a2753fb..c076bd246 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.loadtester
+++ b/Dockerfile.loadtester
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@ ARG REVISION
 
 RUN apk --no-cache add alpine-sdk perl curl bash tar
 
-RUN HELM3_VERSION=3.20.1 && \
+RUN HELM3_VERSION=3.21.1 && \
 curl -sSL "https://get.helm.sh/helm-v${HELM3_VERSION}-linux-${TARGETARCH}.tar.gz" | tar xvz && \
 chmod +x linux-${TARGETARCH}/helm && mv linux-${TARGETARCH}/helm /usr/local/bin/helm
 
-RUN KUBECTL_VERSION=v1.35.1 &&  \
+RUN KUBECTL_VERSION=v1.36.2 &&  \
 curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/${KUBECTL_VERSION}/bin/linux/${TARGETARCH}/kubectl" && \
 chmod +x kubectl && mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
 
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o loadtester ./cmd/loadtester/*
 
 FROM bash:5.2
 
+ARG BUILDPLATFORM
 ARG TARGETPLATFORM
 
 RUN addgroup -S app && \
@@ -64,9 +65,14 @@ RUN chown -R app:app /tmp/ghz
 
 USER app
 
-# test load generator tools
-RUN hey -n 1 -c 1 https://flagger.app > /dev/null && echo $? | grep 0
-RUN wrk -d 1s -c 1 -t 1 https://flagger.app > /dev/null && echo $? | grep 0
+# test load generator tools. skip if we're not running on the host arch - qemu has network
+# bugs that lead to segfaults.
+RUN if [ "$TARGETPLATFORM" = "$BUILDPLATFORM" ]; then \
+      hey -n 1 -c 1 https://flagger.app > /dev/null && \
+      wrk -d 1s -c 1 -t 1 https://flagger.app > /dev/null; \
+    else \
+      echo "Skipping runtime smoke test under emulation: $BUILDPLATFORM -> $TARGETPLATFORM"; \
+    fi
 
 COPY --from=builder --chown=app:app /workspace/loadtester .
 
diff --git a/charts/loadtester/Chart.yaml b/charts/loadtester/Chart.yaml
index 2f28f2f62..2a915ce19 100644
--- a/charts/loadtester/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/loadtester/Chart.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 apiVersion: v1
 name: loadtester
-version: 0.37.0
-appVersion: 0.37.0
+version: 0.38.0
+appVersion: 0.38.0
 kubeVersion: ">=1.19.0-0"
 engine: gotpl
 description: Flagger's load testing services based on rakyll/hey and bojand/ghz that generates traffic during canary analysis when configured as a webhook.
diff --git a/charts/loadtester/values.yaml b/charts/loadtester/values.yaml
index 51b20f4b2..d7c56ddd7 100644
--- a/charts/loadtester/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/loadtester/values.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ replicaCount: 1
 
 image:
   repository: ghcr.io/fluxcd/flagger-loadtester
-  tag: 0.37.0
+  tag: 0.38.0
   pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
   pullSecret:
 
diff --git a/cmd/loadtester/main.go b/cmd/loadtester/main.go
index 370a29ed4..1100b9208 100644
--- a/cmd/loadtester/main.go
+++ b/cmd/loadtester/main.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/fluxcd/flagger/pkg/signals"
 )
 
-var VERSION = "0.37.0"
+var VERSION = "0.38.0"
 var (
 	logLevel          string
 	port              string
diff --git a/kustomize/tester/deployment.yaml b/kustomize/tester/deployment.yaml
index 737999971..89b1f3c4e 100644
--- a/kustomize/tester/deployment.yaml
+++ b/kustomize/tester/deployment.yaml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ spec:
     spec:
       containers:
         - name: loadtester
-          image: ghcr.io/fluxcd/flagger-loadtester:0.37.0
+          image: ghcr.io/fluxcd/flagger-loadtester:0.38.0
           imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
           ports:
             - name: http