diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index d9e3a6689262d24bde7c8ca267cbf2d6ebba7fcc..ef1641be7c61924da962a586676fda75044fa545 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -5,10 +5,10 @@ variables:
   DOCKER_IMAGE: docker.io/docker:24.0.5
   SINGULARITY_IMAGE: quay.io/singularity/singularity:v3.11.4
 
-  ## Application versions used for the main release 
+  ## Default versions are specified in packages.yaml but can be overridden
   ## note: nightly builds will always use the master/main branch
-  JUGGLER_VERSION: "v13.0.0"
-  EICRECON_VERSION: "v1.9.0"
+  JUGGLER_VERSION: ""
+  EICRECON_VERSION: ""
 
   ## Local registry
   CI_PUSH: 1
diff --git a/spack-environment/packages.yaml b/spack-environment/packages.yaml
index ca3844330d07d9b5142ebfeb07091db8551ae5a0..d9e482fb7b7d44185ddfbf43ed3a0db70a36308f 100644
--- a/spack-environment/packages.yaml
+++ b/spack-environment/packages.yaml
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ packages:
     - -ipo +podio +root +zmq
   juggler:
     require:
-    - '@12.0.0'
+    - '@13.0.0'
     - cxxstd=20
   k4actstracking:
     require: