diff --git a/ci/test_pynvbench.sh b/ci/test_pynvbench.sh
index 6943a41..8941e40 100755
--- a/ci/test_pynvbench.sh
+++ b/ci/test_pynvbench.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 set -euo pipefail
+
+# Enable verbose output for debugging
+set -x
 ci_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 
 source "$ci_dir/pyenv_helper.sh"
@@ -39,17 +42,35 @@ fi
 # Determine CUDA major version from environment
 cuda_major_version=$(nvcc --version | grep release | awk '{print $6}' | tr -d ',' | cut -d '.' -f 1 | cut -d 'V' -f 2)
 
-# Setup Python environment
-setup_python_env "${py_version}"
+# Setup Python environment (skip if we're already in ci-wheel container with correct Python)
+echo "Checking for Python ${py_version}..."
+if command -v python &> /dev/null; then
+    actual_py_version=$(python --version 2>&1 | awk '{print $2}' | cut -d. -f1,2)
+    echo "Found Python version: ${actual_py_version}"
+    if [[ "${actual_py_version}" == "${py_version}" ]]; then
+        echo "Python ${py_version} already available, skipping pyenv setup"
+        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+    else
+        echo "Python version mismatch (found ${actual_py_version}, need ${py_version})"
+        echo "Setting up Python ${py_version} with pyenv"
+        setup_python_env "${py_version}"
+    fi
+else
+    echo "Python not found, setting up with pyenv"
+    setup_python_env "${py_version}"
+fi
+
+echo "Python setup complete, version: $(python --version)"
 
 # Wheel should be in /workspace/wheelhouse (downloaded by workflow or built locally)
 WHEELHOUSE_DIR="/workspace/wheelhouse"
 
 # Find and install pynvbench wheel
-PYNVBENCH_WHEEL_PATH="$(ls ${WHEELHOUSE_DIR}/pynvbench-*+cu${cuda_version}*.whl 2>/dev/null | head -1)"
+# Look for .cu${cuda_version} in the version string (e.g., pynvbench-0.0.1.dev1+g123.cu12-...)
+PYNVBENCH_WHEEL_PATH="$(ls ${WHEELHOUSE_DIR}/pynvbench-*.cu${cuda_version}-*.whl 2>/dev/null | head -1)"
 if [[ -z "$PYNVBENCH_WHEEL_PATH" ]]; then
     echo "Error: No pynvbench wheel found in ${WHEELHOUSE_DIR}"
-    echo "Looking for: pynvbench-*+cu${cuda_version}*.whl"
+    echo "Looking for: pynvbench-*.cu${cuda_version}-*.whl"
     echo "Contents of ${WHEELHOUSE_DIR}:"
     ls -la ${WHEELHOUSE_DIR}/ || true
     exit 1