diff --git a/docker/build_scripts/build-cpython.sh b/docker/build_scripts/build-cpython.sh
index 39e99720..7a0bdd72 100755
--- a/docker/build_scripts/build-cpython.sh
+++ b/docker/build_scripts/build-cpython.sh
@@ -54,13 +54,10 @@ elif [ "${BASE_POLICY}_${AUDITWHEEL_ARCH}" == "musllinux_armv7l" ]; then
 	CONFIGURE_ARGS+=(--build=arm-linux-musleabihf)
 fi
 
-SQLITE_PREFIX=$(find /opt/_internal -maxdepth 1 -name 'sqlite*')
-if [ "${SQLITE_PREFIX}" != "" ]; then
-	case "${CPYTHON_VERSION}" in
-		3.8.*|3.9.*|3.10.*) sed -i "s|/usr/local/include/sqlite3|/opt/_internal/sqlite3/include|g ; s|sqlite_extra_link_args = ()|sqlite_extra_link_args = ('-Wl,--enable-new-dtags,-rpath=/opt/_internal/sqlite3/lib',)|g" setup.py;;
-		*) ;;
-	esac
-fi
+case "${CPYTHON_VERSION}" in
+	3.8.*|3.9.*|3.10.*) sed -i "s|/usr/local/include/sqlite3|/opt/_internal/sqlite3/include|g ; s|sqlite_extra_link_args = ()|sqlite_extra_link_args = ('-Wl,--enable-new-dtags,-rpath=/opt/_internal/sqlite3/lib',)|g" setup.py;;
+	*) ;;
+esac
 
 OPENSSL_PREFIX=$(find /opt/_internal -maxdepth 1 -name 'openssl*')
 if [ "${OPENSSL_PREFIX}" != "" ]; then
diff --git a/docker/build_scripts/build-sqlite3.sh b/docker/build_scripts/build-sqlite3.sh
index b37190ee..3f187a57 100755
--- a/docker/build_scripts/build-sqlite3.sh
+++ b/docker/build_scripts/build-sqlite3.sh
@@ -11,11 +11,7 @@ MY_DIR=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")
 # shellcheck source-path=SCRIPTDIR
 source "${MY_DIR}/build_utils.sh"
 
-if [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "manylinux2014" ] || [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "manylinux_2_28" ] || [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "musllinux_1_2" ]; then
-	PREFIX=/usr/local
-else
-	PREFIX=/opt/_internal/sqlite3
-fi
+PREFIX=/opt/_internal/sqlite3
 
 # Install a more recent SQLite3
 check_var "${SQLITE_AUTOCONF_ROOT}"
@@ -42,8 +38,12 @@ strip_ /manylinux-rootfs
 mkdir /manylinux-buildfs
 cp -rlf /manylinux-rootfs/* /manylinux-buildfs/
 
-if [ "${PREFIX}" == "/opt/_internal/sqlite3" ]; then
-	# python >= 3.11
-	mkdir -p /manylinux-buildfs/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/
-	ln -s ${PREFIX}/lib/pkgconfig/sqlite3.pc /manylinux-buildfs/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/sqlite3.pc
+# python >= 3.11
+mkdir -p /manylinux-buildfs/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/
+ln -s ${PREFIX}/lib/pkgconfig/sqlite3.pc /manylinux-buildfs/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/sqlite3.pc
+
+if [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "manylinux2014" ] || [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "manylinux_2_28" ] || [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "musllinux_1_2" ]; then
+	# we still expose our custom libsqlite3 for dev in runtime images
+	mkdir -p /manylinux-rootfs/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/
+	ln -s ${PREFIX}/lib/pkgconfig/sqlite3.pc /manylinux-rootfs/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/sqlite3.pc
 fi
diff --git a/docker/tests/ctest/CMakeLists.txt b/docker/tests/ctest/CMakeLists.txt
index b81582ac..f466d16d 100644
--- a/docker/tests/ctest/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/docker/tests/ctest/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.14.7)
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 4.0)
 project(manylinux_ctest)
 include(CTest)
 
 # SQLite3 test Derived from CMake unit test for FindSQLite3
 # https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/cmake/-/tree/master/Tests/FindSQLite3/Test
-find_package(SQLite3 3.34 REQUIRED)
+find_package(SQLite3 3.50 REQUIRED)
 add_definitions(-DCMAKE_EXPECTED_SQLite3_VERSION="${SQLite3_VERSION}")
 add_executable(test_sqlite3 test_sqlite3.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(test_sqlite3 SQLite::SQLite3)
diff --git a/docker/tests/run_tests.sh b/docker/tests/run_tests.sh
index dc53348f..3a7f5ccd 100755
--- a/docker/tests/run_tests.sh
+++ b/docker/tests/run_tests.sh
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ for PYTHON in /opt/python/*/bin/python; do
 	if [ "${IMPLEMENTATION}" == "cpython" ]; then
 		# Make sure sqlite3 module can be loaded properly and is the manylinux version one
 		# c.f. https://github.com/pypa/manylinux/issues/1030
-		$PYTHON -c 'import sqlite3; print(sqlite3.sqlite_version); assert sqlite3.sqlite_version_info[0:2] >= (3, 31)'
+		$PYTHON -c 'import sqlite3; print(sqlite3.sqlite_version); assert sqlite3.sqlite_version_info[0:2] >= (3, 50)'
 		# Make sure tkinter module can be loaded properly
 		$PYTHON -c 'import tkinter; print(tkinter.TkVersion); assert tkinter.TkVersion >= 8.6'
 		# cpython shall be available as python
@@ -128,10 +128,6 @@ pipx run nox --version
 pipx install --pip-args='--no-input' nox
 nox --version
 tar --version | grep "GNU tar"
-# we stopped installing sqlite3 after manylinux_2_28 / musllinux_1_2
-if [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "manylinux2014" ] || [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "manylinux_2_28" ] || [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "musllinux_1_2" ]; then
-	sqlite3 --version
-fi
 
 # check libcrypt.so.1 can be loaded by some system packages,
 # as LD_LIBRARY_PATH might not be enough.
@@ -143,6 +139,8 @@ if [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "manylinux2014" ]; then
 fi
 
 if [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "manylinux2014" ] || [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "manylinux_2_28" ] || [ "${AUDITWHEEL_POLICY}" == "musllinux_1_2" ]; then
+	# we stopped installing sqlite3 after manylinux_2_28 / musllinux_1_2 & this is becoming an internal detail
+	/opt/_internal/sqlite3/bin/sqlite3 --version
 	# sqlite compilation tests, intended to ensure appropriate headers, pkg_config, etc.
 	# are available for downstream compile against installed tools
 	source_dir="${MY_DIR}/ctest"