diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-test.yml b/.github/workflows/build-test.yml
index d41840857..07d32022b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-test.yml
@@ -29,3 +29,8 @@ jobs:
         run: podman run -t -v `pwd`:/build packagekit-${{ matrix.distro }}
              ./tests/ci/build-and-test.sh -Dpackaging_backend=apt
         if: ${{ matrix.distro == 'debian' }}
+
+      - name: Build & Test [Zypp]
+        run: podman run -t -v `pwd`:/build packagekit-${{ matrix.distro }}
+             ./tests/ci/build-and-test.sh -Dpackaging_backend=zypp
+        if: ${{ matrix.distro == 'debian' }}
diff --git a/tests/ci/Dockerfile-debian b/tests/ci/Dockerfile-debian
index 623ecbe4f..badf8573a 100644
--- a/tests/ci/Dockerfile-debian
+++ b/tests/ci/Dockerfile-debian
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ RUN apt-get install -yq build-essential
 RUN apt-get build-dep -yq packagekit
 RUN apt-get install -yq meson appstream
 
+# install PackageKit dependencies for zypp backend
+RUN apt-get install -yq libzypp-dev
+
 # finish
 RUN mkdir /build
 WORKDIR /build