diff --git a/ci-automation/ci-config.env b/ci-automation/ci-config.env
index f54c7d2cda8..287dc0b0660 100644
--- a/ci-automation/ci-config.env
+++ b/ci-automation/ci-config.env
@@ -19,11 +19,6 @@ GC_BUCKET="flatcar-linux"
 
 DEFAULT_HTTP_IMAGE_URL_TEMPLATE="@PROTO@://${BUILDCACHE_SERVER}/images/@ARCH@/@VERNUM@"
 
-if ! command -v zstd > /dev/null; then
-  # we require zstd and it is included by default on flatcar
-  echo >&2 "zstd could not be found. unpacking container image may fail."
-fi
-
 CI_GIT_AUTHOR="flatcar-ci"
 CI_GIT_EMAIL="infra+ci@flatcar-linux.org"
 
diff --git a/ci-automation/test.sh b/ci-automation/test.sh
index c8db48edd01..8a1f60ced6f 100644
--- a/ci-automation/test.sh
+++ b/ci-automation/test.sh
@@ -157,6 +157,8 @@ function _test_run_impl() {
     local tests_escaped=()
     __escape_multiple tests_escaped "${@}"
 
+    # Remove the old results first
+    rm -f ${tests_dir}/*-run-1.* || true
     # Vendor tests may need to know if it is a first run or a rerun
     touch "${work_dir}/first_run"
     for retry in $(seq "${retries}"); do
@@ -171,14 +173,18 @@ function _test_run_impl() {
         touch sdk_container/.env
         docker run --pull always --rm --name="${container_name}" --privileged --net host -v /dev:/dev \
           -w /work -v "$PWD":/work "${MANTLE_REF}" \
-         bash -c "git config --global --add safe.directory /work && \
-                  source sdk_container/.env && \
+         bash -c "source sdk_container/.env && \
                   ci-automation/vendor-testing/${image_escaped}.sh ${common_test_args_escaped[*]} ${tapfile_escaped} ${tests_escaped[*]}"
         set -e
         rm -f "${work_dir}/first_run"
 
+        [[ -s "${tests_dir}/${tapfile}" ]] || {
+            echo "ERROR: something went wrong, result is empty: ${tests_dir}/${tapfile}"
+            break
+        }
+
         # Note: git safe.directory is not set in this run as it does not use git
-        docker run --pull always --rm --name="${container_name}" --privileged --net host -v /dev:/dev \
+        docker run --rm --name="${container_name}" --privileged --net host -v /dev:/dev \
           -w /work -v "$PWD":/work "${MANTLE_REF}" \
             ci-automation/test_update_reruns.sh \
                 "${arch}" "${vernum}" "${image}" "${retry}" \
diff --git a/run_local_tests.sh b/run_local_tests.sh
index f1bff2cfe3d..30eeffb00e7 100755
--- a/run_local_tests.sh
+++ b/run_local_tests.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,21 @@
 # The devcontainer tests will be skipped since these require a valid commit ref in
 #   the upstream scripts repo.
 #
+# Usage:
+#   ./run_local_tests.sh [ARCH] [PARALLEL] [TEST ...]
+#
+#   ARCH      : Machine architecture to test (default: amd64)
+#   PARALLEL  : Number of parallel tests (default: 2)
+#   TEST ...  : Optional list of kola tests/globs to run. If omitted,
+#               all suitable qemu_uefi tests (except devcontainer) are run
+#               and qemu_update tests are executed as well.
+#
+#
+#   Helper options:
+#     -h, --help       : Show this help and exit.
+#     --list-tests : List all qemu/qemu_update tests that would be run by
+#                    default (excluding devcontainer tests) and exit.
+#
 # Requirements:
 # - Docker (for running the Mantle container).
 #
@@ -63,6 +78,23 @@ EOF
 }
 #--
 
+function usage() {
+  cat <<EOF
+Usage: ./run_local_tests.sh [ARCH] [PARALLEL] [TEST ...]
+
+  ARCH      : Machine architecture to test (default: amd64)
+  PARALLEL  : Number of parallel tests (default: 2)
+  TEST ...  : Optional list of kola tests/globs to run. If omitted,
+              all suitable qemu_uefi tests (except devcontainer) are run
+              and qemu_update tests are executed as well.
+  Helper options:
+    -h, --help       : Show this help and exit.
+    --list-tests     : List all qemu/qemu_update tests that would be run by
+                       default (excluding devcontainer tests) and exit.
+EOF
+}
+#--
+
 function run_local_tests() (
   local arch="${1:-amd64}"
   if [[ $# -gt 0 ]] ; then shift; fi
@@ -120,5 +152,18 @@ function run_local_tests() (
 
 if [[ "$(basename "${0}")" = "run_local_tests.sh" ]] ; then
   set -euo pipefail
+  case "${1:-}" in
+    -h|--help)
+      usage
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+    --list-tests)
+      # List all tests that would be run by default and exit.
+      mantle_container="$(cat "sdk_container/.repo/manifests/mantle-container")"
+      docker run "${mantle_container}" kola list --platform qemu
+      exit 0
+      ;;
+  esac
+
   run_local_tests "${@}"
 fi