diff --git a/.github/workflows/builder-unit-test.yml b/.github/workflows/builder-unit-test.yml
index 2f2dfa9d..afc0e466 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/builder-unit-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/builder-unit-test.yml
@@ -2,9 +2,13 @@ name: Open-CE Builder Unit Tests
 
 on:
   push:
-    branches: [main]
+    branches:
+      - 'main'      # matches the main branch
+      - 'r*'        # matches every release branch
   pull_request:
-    branches: [main]
+    branches:
+      - 'main'      # matches the main branch
+      - 'r*'        # matches every release branch
 
 jobs:
   build:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/conda-recipe-test.yml b/.github/workflows/conda-recipe-test.yml
index b310bef4..267c1785 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/conda-recipe-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/conda-recipe-test.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ name: Open-CE PR Tests for Conda recipe
 
 on:
   pull_request:
-    branches: [main]
+    branches:
+      - 'main'      # matches the main branch
+      - 'r*'        # matches every release branch
 
 jobs:
   required_tests:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/xgboost-build.yml b/.github/workflows/xgboost-build.yml
index 74e785fa..181db5fa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/xgboost-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/xgboost-build.yml
@@ -2,9 +2,13 @@ name: Open-CE XGBoost Build
 
 on:
   push:
-    branches: [main]
+    branches:
+      - 'main'      # matches the main branch
+      - 'r*'        # matches every release branch
   pull_request:
-    branches: [main]
+    branches:
+      - 'main'      # matches the main branch
+      - 'r*'        # matches every release branch
 
 jobs:
   build:
@@ -29,7 +33,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash -l {0}
         # yamllint disable rule:line-length
         run: |
-          open-ce build env xgboost-env \
+          open-ce build env https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-ce/open-ce/open-ce-r1.9/envs/xgboost-env.yaml \
                             --container_build \
                             --python_versions ${{ matrix.python-version }} \
                             --build_types cpu