diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 793e806d77..e792016ec8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ CONTROLLER ?= $(GO) tool sigs.k8s.io/controller-tools/cmd/controller-gen
 CHAINSAW ?= $(GO) run github.com/kyverno/chainsaw@latest
 CHAINSAW_TEST ?= $(CHAINSAW) test
 CRD_CHECKER ?= $(GO) run github.com/openshift/crd-schema-checker/cmd/crd-schema-checker@latest
-ENVTEST ?= $(GO) run sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/tools/setup-envtest@latest
+ENVTEST ?= $(GO) run sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/tools/setup-envtest@release-0.22
 KUTTL ?= $(GO) run github.com/kudobuilder/kuttl/cmd/kubectl-kuttl@latest
 KUTTL_TEST ?= $(KUTTL) test
 
diff --git a/internal/testing/events/recorder.go b/internal/testing/events/recorder.go
index e76ef21eb3..dad5dccf83 100644
--- a/internal/testing/events/recorder.go
+++ b/internal/testing/events/recorder.go
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func (*Recorder) AnnotatedEventf(object runtime.Object, annotations map[string]s
 }
 func (r *Recorder) Event(object runtime.Object, eventtype, reason, message string) {
 	if r.eventf != nil {
-		r.eventf(object, nil, eventtype, reason, "", message)
+		r.eventf(object, nil, eventtype, reason, "", "%v", message)
 	}
 }
 func (r *Recorder) Eventf(object runtime.Object, eventtype, reason, messageFmt string, args ...any) {