diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-core.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-core.yml
index 34aabc736..2171ca535 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-core.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-core.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,14 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run twine check
         run: poetry build && poetry run twine check dist/*.tar.gz
       - name: Set up Docker
-        uses: docker/setup-docker-action@v4
+        uses: docker/setup-docker-action@v4      - name: Display Docker and Compose Versions
+        run: |
+          echo "##[group]Docker Version"
+          docker --version || echo "Docker is not installed or misconfigured"
+          echo "##[endgroup]"
+          echo "##[group]Docker Compose Version"
+          docker compose version || docker-compose --version || echo "Docker Compose is not installed or misconfigured"
+          echo "##[endgroup]"
       - name: Run tests
         run: make core/tests
       - name: Rename coverage file
diff --git a/core/tests/test_core_registry.py b/core/tests/test_core_registry.py
index 384b06693..36e4730f9 100644
--- a/core/tests/test_core_registry.py
+++ b/core/tests/test_core_registry.py
@@ -18,8 +18,13 @@
 from testcontainers.core.waiting_utils import wait_container_is_ready
 
 from testcontainers.registry import DockerRegistryContainer
+from testcontainers.core.utils import is_mac
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    is_mac(),
+    reason="Docker Desktop on macOS does not support insecure private registries without daemon reconfiguration",
+)
 def test_missing_on_private_registry(monkeypatch):
     username = "user"
     password = "pass"
@@ -41,6 +46,10 @@ def test_missing_on_private_registry(monkeypatch):
                 wait_container_is_ready(test_container)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    is_mac(),
+    reason="Docker Desktop on macOS does not support local insecure registries over HTTP without modifying daemon settings",
+)
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "image,tag,username,password",
     [
diff --git a/core/tests/test_docker_in_docker.py b/core/tests/test_docker_in_docker.py
index b07f80e9a..02b8e1fc4 100644
--- a/core/tests/test_docker_in_docker.py
+++ b/core/tests/test_docker_in_docker.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 from testcontainers.core.container import DockerContainer
 from testcontainers.core.docker_client import DockerClient, LOGGER
 from testcontainers.core.utils import inside_container
+from testcontainers.core.utils import is_mac
 from testcontainers.core.waiting_utils import wait_for_logs
 
 
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ def _wait_for_dind_return_ip(client, dind):
     return docker_host_ip
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(is_mac(), reason="Docker socket forwarding (socat) is unsupported on Docker Desktop for macOS")
 def test_wait_for_logs_docker_in_docker():
     # real dind isn't possible (AFAIK) in CI
     # forwarding the socket to a container port is at least somewhat the same
@@ -64,6 +66,9 @@ def test_wait_for_logs_docker_in_docker():
     not_really_dind.remove()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    is_mac(), reason="Bridge networking and Docker socket forwarding are not supported on Docker Desktop for macOS"
+)
 def test_dind_inherits_network():
     client = DockerClient()
     try:
@@ -158,6 +163,9 @@ def test_find_host_network_in_dood() -> None:
     assert DockerClient().find_host_network() == os.environ[EXPECTED_NETWORK_VAR]
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    is_mac(), reason="Docker socket mounting and container networking do not work reliably on Docker Desktop for macOS"
+)
 @pytest.mark.skipif(not Path(tcc.ryuk_docker_socket).exists(), reason="No docker socket available")
 def test_dood(python_testcontainer_image: str) -> None:
     """
diff --git a/core/tests/test_ryuk.py b/core/tests/test_ryuk.py
index 5d6b208af..76556d4f4 100644
--- a/core/tests/test_ryuk.py
+++ b/core/tests/test_ryuk.py
@@ -8,9 +8,14 @@
 from testcontainers.core.config import testcontainers_config
 from testcontainers.core.container import Reaper
 from testcontainers.core.container import DockerContainer
+from testcontainers.core.utils import is_mac
 from testcontainers.core.waiting_utils import wait_for_logs
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    is_mac(),
+    reason="Ryuk container reaping is unreliable on Docker Desktop for macOS due to VM-based container lifecycle handling",
+)
 @pytest.mark.inside_docker_check
 def test_wait_for_reaper(monkeypatch: MonkeyPatch):
     Reaper.delete_instance()
@@ -41,6 +46,9 @@ def test_wait_for_reaper(monkeypatch: MonkeyPatch):
     Reaper.delete_instance()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    is_mac(), reason="Ryuk disabling behavior is unreliable on Docker Desktop for macOS due to Docker socket emulation"
+)
 @pytest.mark.inside_docker_check
 def test_container_without_ryuk(monkeypatch: MonkeyPatch):
     Reaper.delete_instance()
diff --git a/modules/cosmosdb/tests/test_cosmosdb_emulator.py b/modules/cosmosdb/tests/test_cosmosdb_emulator.py
index 542ddd11c..41653cd4a 100644
--- a/modules/cosmosdb/tests/test_cosmosdb_emulator.py
+++ b/modules/cosmosdb/tests/test_cosmosdb_emulator.py
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import pytest
 from testcontainers.cosmosdb._emulator import CosmosDBEmulatorContainer
 
+from testcontainers.core.utils import is_arm
 
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(is_arm(), reason="db2 container not available for ARM")
 def test_runs():
     with CosmosDBEmulatorContainer(partition_count=1, bind_ports=False) as emulator:
         assert emulator.server_certificate_pem is not None
diff --git a/modules/cosmosdb/tests/test_cosmosdb_mongodb.py b/modules/cosmosdb/tests/test_cosmosdb_mongodb.py
index a50ee82ea..3c10ee19f 100644
--- a/modules/cosmosdb/tests/test_cosmosdb_mongodb.py
+++ b/modules/cosmosdb/tests/test_cosmosdb_mongodb.py
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import pytest
 from testcontainers.cosmosdb import CosmosDBMongoEndpointContainer
 
+from testcontainers.core.utils import is_arm
 
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(is_arm(), reason="db2 container not available for ARM")
 def test_requires_a_version():
     with pytest.raises(AssertionError, match="A MongoDB version is required"):
         CosmosDBMongoEndpointContainer(mongodb_version=None)
@@ -10,6 +13,7 @@ def test_requires_a_version():
     CosmosDBMongoEndpointContainer(mongodb_version="4.0")
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(is_arm(), reason="db2 container not available for ARM")
 def test_runs():
     with CosmosDBMongoEndpointContainer(mongodb_version="4.0", partition_count=1, bind_ports=False) as emulator:
         assert emulator.env["AZURE_COSMOS_EMULATOR_ENABLE_MONGODB_ENDPOINT"] == "4.0"
diff --git a/modules/cosmosdb/tests/test_cosmosdb_nosql.py b/modules/cosmosdb/tests/test_cosmosdb_nosql.py
index a9460a1b0..a48a52ac8 100644
--- a/modules/cosmosdb/tests/test_cosmosdb_nosql.py
+++ b/modules/cosmosdb/tests/test_cosmosdb_nosql.py
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import pytest
 from testcontainers.cosmosdb import CosmosDBNoSQLEndpointContainer
 
+from testcontainers.core.utils import is_arm
 
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(is_arm(), reason="db2 container not available for ARM")
 def test_runs():
     with CosmosDBNoSQLEndpointContainer(partition_count=1, bind_ports=False) as emulator:
         assert emulator.get_exposed_port(8081) is not None, "The NoSQL endpoint's port should be exposed"
diff --git a/modules/db2/tests/test_db2.py b/modules/db2/tests/test_db2.py
index 7b6ea844a..c354832ff 100644
--- a/modules/db2/tests/test_db2.py
+++ b/modules/db2/tests/test_db2.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ def test_docker_run_db2(version: str):
 # - sqlserver
 # - mongodb
 # - db2
+@pytest.mark.skipif(is_arm(), reason="db2 container not available for ARM")
 def test_quoted_password():
     user = "db2inst1"
     dbname = "testdb"
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/tests/test_elasticsearch.py b/modules/elasticsearch/tests/test_elasticsearch.py
index 661a550c6..5108bb40f 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/tests/test_elasticsearch.py
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/tests/test_elasticsearch.py
@@ -3,11 +3,13 @@
 
 import pytest
 
+from testcontainers.core.utils import is_arm
 from testcontainers.elasticsearch import ElasticSearchContainer
 
 
 # The versions below should reflect the latest stable releases
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("version", ["7.17.18", "8.12.2"])
+@pytest.mark.skipif(is_arm(), reason="db2 container not available for ARM")
 def test_docker_run_elasticsearch(version):
     with ElasticSearchContainer(f"elasticsearch:{version}", mem_limit="3G") as es:
         resp = urllib.request.urlopen(es.get_url())
diff --git a/modules/google/tests/test_google.py b/modules/google/tests/test_google.py
index c91793741..e2dd55014 100644
--- a/modules/google/tests/test_google.py
+++ b/modules/google/tests/test_google.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from queue import Queue
 from google.cloud.datastore import Entity
 
+import time
 from testcontainers.core.waiting_utils import wait_for_logs
 from testcontainers.google import PubSubContainer, DatastoreContainer
 
@@ -25,7 +26,8 @@ def test_pubsub_container():
         # Receive the message
         queue = Queue()
         subscriber.subscribe(subscription_path, queue.put)
-        message = queue.get(timeout=1)
+        # timeout 10 is needed to account for slower arm machines
+        message = queue.get(timeout=10)
         assert message.data == b"Hello world!"
         message.ack()
 
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index d80fa130a..653a13e2d 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -1907,7 +1907,7 @@ description = "Python DBI driver for DB2 (LUW, zOS, i5) and IDS"
 optional = true
 python-versions = "*"
 groups = ["main"]
-markers = "extra == \"db2\""
+markers = "platform_machine != \"aarch64\" and platform_machine != \"arm64\" and extra == \"db2\""
 files = [
     {file = "ibm_db-3.2.3-cp310-cp310-macosx_10_15_x86_64.whl", hash = "sha256:3399466141c29704f4e8ba709a67ba27ab413239c0244c3c4510126e946ff603"},
     {file = "ibm_db-3.2.3-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_17_i686.manylinux2014_i686.whl", hash = "sha256:e12ff6426d4f718e1ff6615e64a2880bd570826f19a031c82dbf296714cafd7d"},
@@ -1954,7 +1954,7 @@ description = "SQLAlchemy support for IBM Data Servers"
 optional = true
 python-versions = "*"
 groups = ["main"]
-markers = "extra == \"db2\""
+markers = "platform_machine != \"aarch64\" and platform_machine != \"arm64\" and extra == \"db2\""
 files = [
     {file = "ibm_db_sa-0.4.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:49926ba9799e6ebd9ddd847141537c83d179ecf32fe24b7e997ac4614d3f616a"},
     {file = "ibm_db_sa-0.4.1.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:a46df130a3681646490925cf4e1bca12b46283f71eea39b70b4f9a56e95341ac"},
@@ -5951,4 +5951,4 @@ weaviate = ["weaviate-client"]
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "2.1"
 python-versions = ">=3.9,<4.0"
-content-hash = "bacae2cc8c7947dae5d1f6f05bc1a98d488470a5947f95479edabe75cf036f41"
+content-hash = "24c7e4335574e67bef9fac3bbb2b17a3199449734010d7931a60efa679529235"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 1ec495d02..219a1e171 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ httpx = { version = "*", optional = true }
 azure-cosmos = { version = "*", optional = true }
 cryptography = { version = "*", optional = true }
 trino = { version = "*", optional = true }
-ibm_db_sa = { version = "*", optional = true }
+ibm_db_sa = { version = "*", optional = true, markers = "platform_machine != 'aarch64' and platform_machine != 'arm64'" }
 
 [tool.poetry.extras]
 arangodb = ["python-arango"]