diff --git a/ci/manylinux_2_28_aarch64-vcpkg-gdal.Dockerfile b/ci/manylinux_2_28_aarch64-vcpkg-gdal.Dockerfile
index dea4a0df..7313be3e 100644
--- a/ci/manylinux_2_28_aarch64-vcpkg-gdal.Dockerfile
+++ b/ci/manylinux_2_28_aarch64-vcpkg-gdal.Dockerfile
@@ -3,9 +3,6 @@ FROM quay.io/pypa/manylinux_2_28_aarch64:2024-01-23-12ffabc
 # building openssl needs IPC-Cmd (https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg/issues/24988)
 RUN dnf -y install curl zip unzip tar ninja-build perl-IPC-Cmd
 
-# require python >= 3.7 (python 3.6 is default on base image) for meson 
-RUN ln -s /opt/python/cp38-cp38/bin/python3 /usr/bin/python3
-
 RUN git clone https://github.com/Microsoft/vcpkg.git /opt/vcpkg && \
     git -C /opt/vcpkg checkout 6df4d4f49866212aa00fcd85fde5356503dafed1
 
@@ -30,6 +27,10 @@ COPY ci/custom-triplets/arm64-linux-dynamic-release.cmake opt/vcpkg/custom-tripl
 COPY ci/vcpkg-custom-ports/ opt/vcpkg/custom-ports/
 COPY ci/vcpkg.json opt/vcpkg/
 
+# temporary workaround for https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg/issues/36094
+COPY ci/vcpkg_linux_crosscompiling.patch opt/vcpkg/
+RUN git -C /opt/vcpkg apply vcpkg_linux_crosscompiling.patch
+
 ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH="${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}:/opt/vcpkg/installed/arm64-linux-dynamic-release/lib"
 RUN vcpkg install --overlay-triplets=opt/vcpkg/custom-triplets \
     --overlay-ports=opt/vcpkg/custom-ports \
diff --git a/ci/requirements-wheel-test.txt b/ci/requirements-wheel-test.txt
index c0f172b8..35704e3a 100644
--- a/ci/requirements-wheel-test.txt
+++ b/ci/requirements-wheel-test.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-pytest
+# pytest 8.0 gives permission error (https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/issues/11904)
+pytest<8
 # dependencies of geopandas (installed separately with --no-deps to avoid fiona)
 pandas
 pyproj ; (python_version < '3.12') or (python_full_version >= '3.12.1')
diff --git a/ci/vcpkg_linux_crosscompiling.patch b/ci/vcpkg_linux_crosscompiling.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..53a7a5fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/vcpkg_linux_crosscompiling.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+diff --git a/scripts/toolchains/linux.cmake b/scripts/toolchains/linux.cmake
+index f22c71076..a68d6cbe8 100644
+--- a/scripts/toolchains/linux.cmake
++++ b/scripts/toolchains/linux.cmake
+@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ elseif(VCPKG_TARGET_ARCHITECTURE STREQUAL "x86")
+    string(APPEND VCPKG_LINKER_FLAGS " -m32")
+ elseif(VCPKG_TARGET_ARCHITECTURE STREQUAL "arm")
+     set(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR armv7l CACHE STRING "")
+-    if(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Linux")
++    if(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Linux" AND CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86_64")
+         if(NOT DEFINED CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER)
+             set(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER "arm-linux-gnueabihf-g++")
+         endif()
+@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ elseif(VCPKG_TARGET_ARCHITECTURE STREQUAL "arm")
+     endif()
+ elseif(VCPKG_TARGET_ARCHITECTURE STREQUAL "arm64")
+     set(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR aarch64 CACHE STRING "")
+-    if(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Linux")
++    if(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Linux" AND CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86_64")
+         if(NOT DEFINED CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER)
+             set(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER "aarch64-linux-gnu-g++")
+         endif()