diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration-tests-against-emulator.yaml b/.github/workflows/integration-tests-against-emulator.yaml
index 63999ea5e..146eacfc2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/integration-tests-against-emulator.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/integration-tests-against-emulator.yaml
@@ -114,13 +114,19 @@ jobs:
       - run: mysql -v -P 3306 --protocol=tcp -u root -proot < test_data/mysql_foreignkeyaction_dump.test.out
 
       # init sql server with test_data
+      # since we use ubuntu-latest container, we should ensure that the path matches the latest from  https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/
+      # while its possible to infer the latest from the path in the run script, it will make the run section more complex and hard to maintian.
       - name: Install sqlcmd required for loading .sql files
         run: |
           curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | sudo apt-key add -
-          curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/16.04/prod.list | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/msprod.list
-          sudo apt-get update 
-          sudo apt-get install mssql-tools unixodbc-dev
-          echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/opt/mssql-tools/bin"' >> ~/.bash_profile
+          curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/24.04/prod.list | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/msprod.list
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo ACCEPT_EULA=Y apt-get install -y msodbcsql18
+          sudo apt-get install mssql-tools18 unixodbc-dev
+          set -x
+          ls /opt/mssql-tools18/
+          set +x
+          echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/opt/mssql-tools18/bin"' >> ~/.bashrc
       - run: sqlcmd -?
       - run: sqlcmd -U sa -P ${MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD} -i test_data/sqlserver.test.out