diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index f0fd9e1f..2754633f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -84,6 +84,12 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/setup-python@v6
         with:
           python-version: ${{ matrix.pyversion }}
+      
+      - name: Check Python OpenSSL version (see setup_julia)
+        shell: python
+        run: |
+          import ssl
+          assert ssl.OPENSSL_VERSION_INFO < (3, 5)
 
       - name: Set up uv
         uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v6
@@ -94,7 +100,9 @@ jobs:
         id: setup_julia
         uses: julia-actions/setup-julia@v2
         with:
-          version: '1'
+          # Python in the GitHub runners ships with OpenSSL 3.0. Julia 1.12 requires
+          # OpenSSL 3.5. Therefore juliapkg requires Julia 1.11 or lower.
+          version: '1.11'
 
       - name: Set up test Julia project
         if: ${{ matrix.juliaexe == 'julia' }}
diff --git a/CondaPkg.toml b/CondaPkg.toml
index 8ebe709d..08aaf949 100644
--- a/CondaPkg.toml
+++ b/CondaPkg.toml
@@ -1,12 +1,17 @@
-[deps.libstdcxx]
+
+[deps.openssl]
 version = "<=julia"
 
-[deps.libstdcxx-ng]
+[deps.libstdcxx]
 version = "<=julia"
 
-[deps.openssl]
+[deps.libstdcxx-ng]
 version = "<=julia"
 
 [deps.python]
 build = "**cpython**"
 version = ">=3.9,<4"
+
+[dev.deps]
+matplotlib = ""
+pyside6 = ""
diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 547d665c..5eb3baf0 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ UnsafePointers = "e17b2a0c-0bdf-430a-bd0c-3a23cae4ff39"
 [compat]
 Aqua = "0 - 999"
 CategoricalArrays = "0.10, 1"
-CondaPkg = "0.2.30"
+CondaPkg = "0.2.33"
 Dates = "1"
 Libdl = "1"
 MacroTools = "0.5"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 892cc148..0a646f05 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ classifiers = [
     "Operating System :: OS Independent",
 ]
 requires-python = ">=3.9, <4"
-dependencies = ["juliapkg >=0.1.17, <0.2"]
+dependencies = ["juliapkg >=0.1.21, <0.2"]
 
 [dependency-groups]
 dev = [
diff --git a/src/Compat/gui.jl b/src/Compat/gui.jl
index ad7b1687..b0be9363 100644
--- a/src/Compat/gui.jl
+++ b/src/Compat/gui.jl
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ function init_gui()
 
         # add a hook to automatically call fix_qt_plugin_path()
         fixqthook =
-            Py(() -> (Core.CONFIG.auto_fix_qt_plugin_path && fix_qt_plugin_path(); nothing))
+            Py(() -> (PythonCall.CONFIG.auto_fix_qt_plugin_path && fix_qt_plugin_path(); nothing))
         pymodulehooks.add_hook("PyQt4", fixqthook)
         pymodulehooks.add_hook("PyQt5", fixqthook)
         pymodulehooks.add_hook("PySide", fixqthook)
diff --git a/src/Core/stdlib.jl b/src/Core/stdlib.jl
index 98ddcce1..96c526c7 100644
--- a/src/Core/stdlib.jl
+++ b/src/Core/stdlib.jl
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ function init_stdlib()
      class JuliaCompatHooks:
          def __init__(self):
              self.hooks = {}
-         def find_module(self, name, path=None):
+         def find_spec(self, name, path=None, target=None):
              hs = self.hooks.get(name)
              if hs is not None:
                  for h in hs:
diff --git a/src/JlWrap/any.jl b/src/JlWrap/any.jl
index 9685cc4b..96a6a3d2 100644
--- a/src/JlWrap/any.jl
+++ b/src/JlWrap/any.jl
@@ -28,9 +28,10 @@ function pyjlany_setattr(self, k_::Py, v_::Py)
     v = pyconvert(Any, v_)
     if self isa Module && !isdefined(self, k)
         # Fix for https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/54678
-        Base.Core.eval(self, Expr(:global, k))
+        @eval self (global $k = $v)
+    else
+        setproperty!(self, k, v)
     end
-    setproperty!(self, k, v)
     Py(nothing)
 end
 pyjl_handle_error_type(::typeof(pyjlany_setattr), self, exc) = pybuiltins.AttributeError
diff --git a/test/Compat.jl b/test/Compat.jl
index 79037f29..00c93ac6 100644
--- a/test/Compat.jl
+++ b/test/Compat.jl
@@ -1,17 +1,28 @@
-@testitem "gui" begin
+@testitem "gui" setup=[Setup] begin
     @testset "fix_qt_plugin_path" begin
         @test PythonCall.fix_qt_plugin_path() isa Bool
         # second time is a no-op
         @test PythonCall.fix_qt_plugin_path() === false
     end
     @testset "event_loop_on/off" begin
-        for g in [:pyqt4, :pyqt5, :pyside, :pyside2, :pyside6, :gtk, :gtk3, :wx]
+        @testset "$g" for g in [:pyqt4, :pyqt5, :pyside, :pyside2, :pyside6, :gtk, :gtk3, :wx]
             # TODO: actually test the various GUIs somehow?
-            @show g
-            @test_throws PyException PythonCall.event_loop_on(g)
+            if Setup.devdeps && g == :pyside6
+                # pyside6 is installed as a dev dependency
+                # AND it's a dependency of matplotlib, which is also a dev dependency
+                @test PythonCall.event_loop_on(g) isa Timer
+            else
+                @test_throws PyException PythonCall.event_loop_on(g)
+            end
             @test PythonCall.event_loop_off(g) === nothing
         end
     end
+    @testset "matplotlib issue 676" begin
+        if Setup.devdeps
+            plt = pyimport("matplotlib.pyplot")
+            @test plt.get_backend() isa Py
+        end
+    end
 end
 
 @testitem "ipython" begin
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index b9e874db..115648be 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
 using TestItemRunner
 
+@testmodule Setup begin
+    using PythonCall
+    # test if we are in CI
+    ci = get(ENV, "CI", "") == "true"
+    # test if we have all dev conda deps
+    devdeps = PythonCall.C.CTX.which == :CondaPkg
+end
+
 @run_package_tests