diff --git a/.buildkite/longruns/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/longruns/pipeline.yml
index e48c855c3f..8078c2d5ed 100644
--- a/.buildkite/longruns/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/longruns/pipeline.yml
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ steps:
           slurm_ntasks_per_node: 16
           slurm_nodes: 4
           slurm_mem_per_cpu: 16G
+          slurm_reservation: "false"
         soft_fail: true
 
       - label: "TARGET IDEALIZED: new target aqua - fixed ocean T, nocouple, atmos flux calc"
@@ -158,6 +159,7 @@ steps:
           slurm_ntasks_per_node: 16
           slurm_nodes: 4
           slurm_mem_per_cpu: 16G
+          slurm_reservation: "false"
         soft_fail: true
 
       - label: "TARGET IDEALIZED: new target aqua - fixed ocean T, coupler flux calc"
@@ -171,6 +173,7 @@ steps:
           slurm_ntasks_per_node: 16
           slurm_nodes: 4
           slurm_mem_per_cpu: 16G
+          slurm_reservation: "false"
         soft_fail: true
 
       - label: "TARGET IDEALIZED: new target aqua - evolving slab ocean T"
@@ -184,6 +187,7 @@ steps:
           slurm_ntasks_per_node: 16
           slurm_nodes: 4
           slurm_mem_per_cpu: 16G
+          slurm_reservation: "false"
         soft_fail: true
 
       - label: "TARGET IDEALIZED: new target slab - fixed ocean T, bucket"
@@ -197,6 +201,7 @@ steps:
           slurm_ntasks_per_node: 16
           slurm_nodes: 4
           slurm_mem_per_cpu: 16G
+          slurm_reservation: "false"
         soft_fail: true
 
       - label: "TARGET IDEALIZED: new target slab - evolving slab ocean T, bucket"
@@ -210,6 +215,7 @@ steps:
           slurm_ntasks_per_node: 16
           slurm_nodes: 4
           slurm_mem_per_cpu: 16G
+          slurm_reservation: "false"
         soft_fail: true
 
   - group: "Current target tests: AMIP surfaces"
@@ -227,6 +233,7 @@ steps:
           slurm_ntasks_per_node: 16
           slurm_nodes: 4
           slurm_mem_per_cpu: 16G
+          slurm_reservation: "false"
         soft_fail: true
 
       - label: "MPI AMIP FINE: new target amip: topo"
@@ -240,6 +247,7 @@ steps:
           slurm_ntasks_per_node: 16
           slurm_nodes: 4
           slurm_mem_per_cpu: 16G
+          slurm_reservation: "false"
         soft_fail: true
 
       - label: "MPI AMIP FINE: new target amip: topo + diagedmf"
@@ -253,6 +261,7 @@ steps:
           slurm_ntasks_per_node: 16
           slurm_nodes: 4
           slurm_mem_per_cpu: 20G
+          slurm_reservation: "false"
         soft_fail: true
 
   - group: "Current target tests on GPU: AMIP surface"
diff --git a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
index c443ed2381..a3c69fc933 100644
--- a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ steps:
       - "julia --project=experiments/ClimaCore/ -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.add(\"MPI\"); Pkg.add(\"CUDA\")'"
       - "julia --project=experiments/ClimaCore/ -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.precompile()'"
       - "julia --project=experiments/ClimaCore/ -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.status()'"
+      - "julia --project=experiments/ClimaCore/ -e 'using CUDA; CUDA.precompile_runtime()'"
 
       - echo "--- Instantiate ClimaEarth experiments env"
       - "julia --project=experiments/ClimaEarth/ -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.develop(path=\".\")'"
@@ -206,6 +207,7 @@ steps:
         agents:
           slurm_ntasks: 4
           slurm_mem: 48GB
+          slurm_reservation: "false"
 
       # short high-res performance test
       - label: "Unthreaded AMIP FINE" # also reported by longruns with a flame graph