diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 76bfa975e54d..fc9c60bc4245 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
           fetch-depth: 0
+          fetch-tags: true
 
       - name: Rebase
         # We can't rebase if we're on master already.
@@ -94,6 +95,9 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          fetch-tags: true
 
       - name: Set up Python 3.8
         uses: actions/setup-python@v4
diff --git a/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/db.py b/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/db.py
index 96abc7a5c5b4..5de0309952f7 100644
--- a/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/db.py
+++ b/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/db.py
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ def stop(self):
         cur = conn.cursor()
         cur.execute("DROP DATABASE {};".format(self.dbname))
         cur.close()
+        conn.close()
 
     def wipe_db(self):
         cur = self.conn.cursor()
@@ -240,3 +241,49 @@ def stop(self):
         self.proc.send_signal(signal.SIGINT)
         self.proc.wait()
         shutil.rmtree(self.pgdir)
+
+
+class SystemPostgresProvider(PostgresDbProvider):
+    """A Postgres DB variant that uses an existing instance on the system.
+
+    The specifics of the DB admin connection are passed in via
+    `CLN_TEST_POSTGRES_DSN`, or uses `dbname=template1 user=postgres
+    host=localhost port=5432` by default. The DSN must have permission
+    to create new roles and schemas.
+
+    Currently only supports postgres instances running on the default
+    port (5432).
+
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, directory):
+        self.directory = directory
+        self.dbs: List[str] = []
+        self.admin_dsn = os.environ.get(
+            "CLN_TEST_POSTGRES_DSN",
+            "dbname=template1 user=postgres host=127.0.0.1 port=5432"
+        )
+        self.port = 5432
+
+    def start(self):
+        """We assume the postgres instance is already running, so this is a no-op. """
+
+    def connect(self):
+        return psycopg2.connect(self.admin_dsn)
+
+    def get_db(self, node_directory, testname, node_id):
+        # Random suffix to avoid collisions on repeated tests
+        nonce = ''.join(random.choice(string.ascii_lowercase + string.digits) for _ in range(8))
+        dbname = "{}_{}_{}".format(testname, node_id, nonce)
+
+        conn = self.connect()
+        conn.set_isolation_level(psycopg2.extensions.ISOLATION_LEVEL_AUTOCOMMIT)
+        cur = conn.cursor()
+        cur.execute("CREATE DATABASE {} TEMPLATE template0;".format(dbname))
+        cur.close()
+        conn.close()
+        db = PostgresDb(dbname, self.port)
+        return db
+
+    def stop(self):
+        """Cleanup the schemas we created. """
diff --git a/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/fixtures.py b/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/fixtures.py
index 7b89de6ee7fc..8650cc2ca9be 100644
--- a/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/fixtures.py
+++ b/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/fixtures.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from concurrent import futures
-from pyln.testing.db import SqliteDbProvider, PostgresDbProvider
+from pyln.testing.db import SqliteDbProvider, PostgresDbProvider, SystemPostgresProvider
 from pyln.testing.utils import NodeFactory, BitcoinD, ElementsD, env, LightningNode, TEST_DEBUG, TEST_NETWORK
 from pyln.client import Millisatoshi
 from typing import Dict
@@ -618,6 +618,7 @@ def checkMemleak(node):
 providers = {
     'sqlite3': SqliteDbProvider,
     'postgres': PostgresDbProvider,
+    'system-postgres': SystemPostgresProvider
 }
 
 
diff --git a/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/utils.py b/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/utils.py
index f0a4e2336bb6..6be9f8057921 100644
--- a/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/utils.py
+++ b/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/utils.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from pyln.client import RpcError
 from pyln.testing.btcproxy import BitcoinRpcProxy
 from pyln.testing.gossip import GossipStore
+from pyln.testing.version import Version
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from decimal import Decimal
 from pyln.client import LightningRpc
@@ -598,6 +599,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.rpcproxy = bitcoindproxy
         self.env['CLN_PLUGIN_LOG'] = "cln_plugin=trace,cln_rpc=trace,cln_grpc=trace,debug"
 
+        self.early_opts = {}
         self.opts = LIGHTNINGD_CONFIG.copy()
         opts = {
             'lightning-dir': lightning_dir,
@@ -613,6 +615,11 @@ def __init__(
             'bitcoin-datadir': lightning_dir,
         }
 
+        # Options that must be early in the command line can be stored
+        # in `early_args`. They will be passed first to the
+        # executable.
+        self.early_opts = {}
+
         if grpc_port is not None:
             opts['grpc-port'] = grpc_port
 
@@ -633,8 +640,11 @@ def __init__(
         # Log to stdout so we see it in failure cases, and log file for TailableProc.
         self.opts['log-file'] = ['-', os.path.join(lightning_dir, "log")]
         self.opts['log-prefix'] = self.prefix + ' '
-        # In case you want specific ordering!
-        self.early_opts = ['--developer']
+
+    @property
+    def version(self) -> Version:
+        v = subprocess.check_output([self.executable, "--version"]).decode('ASCII')
+        return Version.from_str(v)
 
     def cleanup(self):
         # To force blackhole to exit, disconnect file must be truncated!
@@ -644,9 +654,12 @@ def cleanup(self):
 
     @property
     def cmd_line(self):
+        if self.version >= Version.from_str('v23.11'):
+            # Starting with v23.11 we ahve the `--developer` flag
+            self.early_opts = {'developer': None}
 
         opts = []
-        for k, v in self.opts.items():
+        for k, v in list(self.early_opts.items()) + list(self.opts.items()):
             if v is None:
                 opts.append("--{}".format(k))
             elif isinstance(v, list):
@@ -655,7 +668,7 @@ def cmd_line(self):
             else:
                 opts.append("--{}={}".format(k, v))
 
-        return self.cmd_prefix + [self.executable] + self.early_opts + opts
+        return self.cmd_prefix + [self.executable] + opts
 
     def start(self, stdin=None, wait_for_initialized=True, stderr_redir=False):
         self.opts['bitcoin-rpcport'] = self.rpcproxy.rpcport
diff --git a/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/version.py b/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/version.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0309800a70d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/pyln-testing/pyln/testing/version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+import re
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Version:
+    year: int
+    month: int
+    patch: int = 0
+
+    def __lt__(self, other):
+        return [self.year, self.month, self.patch] < [other.year, other.month, other.patch]
+
+    def __gt__(self, other):
+        return other < self
+
+    def __le__(self, other):
+        return [self.year, self.month, self.patch] <= [other.year, other.month, other.patch]
+
+    def __ge__(self, other):
+        return other <= self
+
+    def __eq__(self, other):
+        return [self.year, self.month] == [other.year, other.month]
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_str(cls, s: str) -> "Version":
+        m = re.search(r'^v(\d+).(\d+).?(\d+)?(rc\d+)?', s)
+        if m is None:
+            raise ValueError(f"Could not parse version {s}")
+        parts = [int(m.group(i)) for i in range(1, 4) if m.group(i) is not None]
+        year, month = parts[0], parts[1]
+        if len(parts) == 3:
+            patch = parts[2]
+        else:
+            patch = 0
+
+        return Version(year=year, month=month, patch=patch)
diff --git a/contrib/pyln-testing/tests/test_fixtures.py b/contrib/pyln-testing/tests/test_fixtures.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..60c8d3f771b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/pyln-testing/tests/test_fixtures.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+from pyln.testing.version import Version
+
+
+def test_version_parsing():
+    cases = [
+        ("v24.02", Version(24, 2)),
+        ("v23.11.2", Version(23, 11, 2)),
+    ]
+
+    for test_in, test_out in cases:
+        v = Version.from_str(test_in)
+        assert test_out == v
diff --git a/tests/fixtures.py b/tests/fixtures.py
index ea23f10ad0a9..09f8d0f70f1f 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures.py
@@ -16,6 +16,12 @@ def node_cls():
 
 class LightningNode(utils.LightningNode):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        # Yes, we really want to test the local development version, not
+        # something in out path.
+        self.old_path = os.environ['PATH']
+        binpath = Path(__file__).parent / ".." / "lightningd"
+        os.environ['PATH'] = f"{binpath}:{self.old_path}"
+
         utils.LightningNode.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
 
         # We have some valgrind suppressions in the `tests/`
@@ -47,9 +53,8 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
             accts_db = self.db.provider.get_db('', 'accounts', 0)
             self.daemon.opts['bookkeeper-db'] = accts_db.get_dsn()
 
-        # Yes, we really want to test the local development version, not
-        # something in out path.
-        self.daemon.executable = 'lightningd/lightningd'
+    def __del__(self):
+        os.environ['PATH'] = self.old_path
 
 
 class CompatLevel(object):