diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-test.yml b/.github/workflows/build-test.yml
index b233bd5ae..7dfa6baa6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-test.yml
@@ -34,3 +34,8 @@ jobs:
         run: podman run -t -v `pwd`:/build packagekit-${{ matrix.distro }}
              ./tests/ci/build-and-test.sh -Dpackaging_backend=zypp
         if: ${{ matrix.distro == 'debian' }}
+
+      - name: Build & Test [ALPM]
+        run: podman run -t -v `pwd`:/build packagekit-${{ matrix.distro }}
+             ./tests/ci/build-and-test.sh -Dpackaging_backend=alpm
+        if: ${{ matrix.distro == 'debian' }}
diff --git a/tests/ci/Dockerfile-debian b/tests/ci/Dockerfile-debian
index 79ee9ae09..d93cb3952 100644
--- a/tests/ci/Dockerfile-debian
+++ b/tests/ci/Dockerfile-debian
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ RUN apt-get install -yq meson appstream
 # install dependencies for 'zypp' backend
 RUN apt-get install -yq libzypp-dev
 
+# install dependencies for 'alpm' backend
+RUN apt-get build-dep -yq pacman-package-manager
+
 # finish
 RUN mkdir /build
 WORKDIR /build