diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index f5772c6..6c939d5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         node_version: [
-            16.x, # EOL: April 2024
             18.x, # EOL: April 2025
             20.x, # EOL: April 2026
           ]
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index db4f55f..7b43ffb 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ Version: 4.4.1
 Section: net
 Priority: optional
 Architecture: all
-Depends: nodejs (>= 16.0.0), bash, init-system-helpers
+Depends: nodejs (>= 18.0.0), bash, init-system-helpers
 Recommends: python3, build-essential
 Maintainer: The Lounge maintainers team <security@thelounge.chat>
 Description: A self-hosted, web-based IRC client
diff --git a/debian/postinst b/debian/postinst
index bab1856..2a7906d 100755
--- a/debian/postinst
+++ b/debian/postinst
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ install -dm 750 "$garbage_folder"
 # in theory the devdir should be enough but let's future proof it
 export npm_config_devdir="$garbage_folder"
 export HOME="$garbage_folder"
-./node_modules/.bin/node-pre-gyp clean
-./node_modules/.bin/node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build
+yarn run install # download or build the c dep
 ret=$?
 rm -rf "$garbage_folder"
 popd || exit 1