diff --git a/run-nitro-test-node/action.yml b/run-nitro-test-node/action.yml
index e9984f5..0c2f620 100644
--- a/run-nitro-test-node/action.yml
+++ b/run-nitro-test-node/action.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ inputs:
     description: "Additional args that can be supplied to the test node script"
   nitro-testnode-ref:
     required: false
-    default: "gz-debug"
+    default: "release"
     description: "The nitro-testnode branch to use"
   l3-node:
     required: false