diff --git a/.github/workflows/toranj.yml b/.github/workflows/toranj.yml
index cf576b67..1dbf9ec2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/toranj.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/toranj.yml
@@ -41,11 +41,11 @@ jobs:
       if: "github.ref != 'refs/heads/master'"
 
   toranj-ncp:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
     env:
       TORANJ_RADIO : 15.4
     steps:
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+    - uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11 # v4.1.1
     - name: Bootstrap
       env:
         GITHUB_TOKEN: "${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
@@ -53,11 +53,12 @@ jobs:
         sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/* && sudo apt-get update
         sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install -y dbus libdbus-1-dev
         sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install -y autoconf-archive
-        sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install -y bsdtar
+        sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install -y libarchive-tools
         sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install -y libtool
         sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install -y libglib2.0-dev
-        sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install -y libboost-dev libboost-signals-dev
+        sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install -y libboost-dev
         sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install -y lcov
+        sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install -y ninja-build
 
     - name: Build & Run
       run: |
@@ -68,5 +69,6 @@ jobs:
 
         git clone --depth=1 --branch=main https://github.com/openthread/openthread.git
         cd openthread
+        python3 -m pip install -r tests/scripts/thread-cert/requirements.txt
         ./tests/toranj/start.sh