diff --git a/.github/actions/fetch_ctk/action.yml b/.github/actions/fetch_ctk/action.yml
index 403cb423bd..f6b78701a5 100644
--- a/.github/actions/fetch_ctk/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/fetch_ctk/action.yml
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ runs:
             unzip $1 -d $_TEMP_DIR_
             cp -r $_TEMP_DIR_/*/* $CACHE_TMP_DIR
             rm -rf $_TEMP_DIR_
+            # see commit NVIDIA/cuda-python@69410f1d9228e775845ef6c8b4a9c7f37ffc68a5
+            chmod 644 $CACHE_TMP_DIR/LICENSE
           }
         fi
         function populate_cuda_path() {
@@ -146,8 +148,17 @@ runs:
     - name: Set output environment variables
       shell: bash --noprofile --norc -xeuo pipefail {0}
       run: |
-        CUDA_PATH=$(realpath "./cuda_toolkit")
+        # mimics actual CTK installation
+        if [[ "${{ inputs.host-platform }}" == linux* ]]; then
+          CUDA_PATH=$(realpath "./cuda_toolkit")
+          echo "LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:-}:${CUDA_PATH}/lib:${CUDA_PATH}/nvvm/lib64" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        elif [[ "${{ inputs.host-platform }}" == win* ]]; then
+          function normpath() {
+            echo "$(echo $(cygpath -w $1) | sed 's/\\/\\\\/g')"
+          }
+          CUDA_PATH=$(normpath $(realpath "./cuda_toolkit"))
+          echo "$(normpath ${CUDA_PATH}/bin)" >> $GITHUB_PATH
+          echo "$(normpath $CUDA_PATH/nvvm/bin)" >> $GITHUB_PATH
+        fi
         echo "CUDA_PATH=${CUDA_PATH}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
         echo "CUDA_HOME=${CUDA_PATH}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "${CUDA_PATH}/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH
-        echo "LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:-}:${CUDA_PATH}/lib:${CUDA_PATH}/nvvm/lib64" >> $GITHUB_ENV
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-and-test.yml b/.github/workflows/build-and-test.yml
index a00a940286..b6d3ce5497 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-and-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-and-test.yml
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ jobs:
             LIBRARY_PATH=/host/${{ env.CUDA_PATH }}/lib
             CUDA_BINDINGS_PARALLEL_LEVEL=${{ env.CUDA_BINDINGS_PARALLEL_LEVEL }}
           CIBW_ENVIRONMENT_WINDOWS: >
-            CUDA_HOME="$(cygpath -w ${{ env.CUDA_PATH }})"
+            CUDA_HOME=${{ env.CUDA_PATH }}
             LIB="${CUDA_HOME}\\lib\\x64;${LIB}"
             CUDA_BINDINGS_PARALLEL_LEVEL=${{ env.CUDA_BINDINGS_PARALLEL_LEVEL }}
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-wheel-windows.yml b/.github/workflows/test-wheel-windows.yml
index 95a9cbe6f8..c741fe1616 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-wheel-windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-wheel-windows.yml
@@ -57,14 +57,6 @@ jobs:
             $SKIP_CUDA_BINDINGS_TEST = 0
           }
 
-          if ('${{ inputs.local-ctk }}' -eq '1') {
-            if ($TEST_CUDA_MAJOR -eq '12') {
-              $MINI_CTK_DEPS = '["nvcc", "nvrtc", "nvjitlink", "thrust"]'
-            } else {
-              $MINI_CTK_DEPS = '["nvcc", "nvrtc", "thrust"]'
-            }
-          }
-
           # Make outputs from the previous job as env vars
           $CUDA_CORE_ARTIFACT_BASENAME = "cuda-core-python${PYTHON_VERSION_FORMATTED}-${{ inputs.host-platform }}"
           "PYTHON_VERSION_FORMATTED=${PYTHON_VERSION_FORMATTED}" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
@@ -76,7 +68,6 @@ jobs:
           "CUDA_BINDINGS_ARTIFACT_NAME=${CUDA_BINDINGS_ARTIFACT_BASENAME}-${{ github.sha }}" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
           "CUDA_BINDINGS_ARTIFACTS_DIR=$($ExecutionContext.SessionState.Path.GetUnresolvedProviderPathFromPSPath("$REPO_DIR\cuda_bindings\dist"))" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
           "SKIP_CUDA_BINDINGS_TEST=${SKIP_CUDA_BINDINGS_TEST}" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
-          "MINI_CTK_DEPS=${MINI_CTK_DEPS}" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
 
       - name: Download cuda-python build artifacts
         if: ${{ env.SKIP_CUDA_BINDINGS_TEST == '0'}}
@@ -107,6 +98,36 @@ jobs:
           }
           gh --version
 
+      - name: Install Git for Windows
+        # the GPU runner image does not have Git Bash pre-installed...
+        if: ${{ inputs.local-ctk == '1' }}
+        env:
+          # doesn't seem there's an easy way to avoid hard-coding it?
+          GFW_EXE_URL: https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/releases/download/v2.49.0.windows.1/PortableGit-2.49.0-64-bit.7z.exe
+        run: |
+          Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "$env:GFW_EXE_URL" -OutFile "PortableGit.7z.exe"
+          # Self-extracting, see https://gitforwindows.org/zip-archives-extracting-the-released-archives.html
+          Start-Process .\PortableGit.7z.exe -Wait -Verbose -ArgumentList '-y -gm2'
+          ls -l PortableGit
+          echo "$((Get-Location).Path)\\PortableGit\\bin" >> $env:GITHUB_PATH
+          $env:Path += ";$((Get-Location).Path)\\PortableGit\\bin"
+          bash --version
+
+      - name: Install zstd
+        # the GPU runner image does not have zstd pre-installed... and it's needed by actions/cache
+        if: ${{ inputs.local-ctk == '1' }}
+        env:
+          # doesn't seem there's an easy way to avoid hard-coding it?
+          ZSTD_URL: https://github.com/facebook/zstd/releases/download/v1.5.7/zstd-v1.5.7-win64.zip
+          ZSTD_DIR: zstd-v1.5.7-win64
+        run: |
+          Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "$env:ZSTD_URL" -OutFile "zstd-win64.zip"
+          Expand-Archive -Path "zstd-win64.zip" -DestinationPath .
+          ls -l $env:ZSTD_DIR
+          echo "$((Get-Location).Path)\\$env:ZSTD_DIR" >> $env:GITHUB_PATH
+          $env:Path += ";$((Get-Location).Path)\\$env:ZSTD_DIR"
+          zstd --version
+
       - name: Download cuda-python & cuda.bindings build artifacts from the prior branch
         if: ${{ env.SKIP_CUDA_BINDINGS_TEST == '1'}}
         env:
@@ -160,20 +181,11 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Set up mini CTK
         if: ${{ inputs.local-ctk == '1' }}
-        # Note: The GH-hosted Windows GPU runner does not have Git for Windows pre-installed,
-        # so we cannot use our own fetch_ctk action unfortunately...
-        uses: Jimver/cuda-toolkit@v0.2.21
+        uses: ./.github/actions/fetch_ctk
+        continue-on-error: false
         with:
-          cuda: ${{ inputs.cuda-version }}
-          method: 'network'
-          sub-packages: ${{ env.MINI_CTK_DEPS }}
-
-      - name: Update PATH
-        if: ${{ inputs.local-ctk == '1' }}
-        run: |
-          # mimics actual CTK installation
-          echo $PATH
-          echo "$env:CUDA_PATH\nvvm\bin" >> $env:GITHUB_PATH
+          host-platform: ${{ inputs.host-platform }}
+          cuda-version: ${{ inputs.cuda-version }}
 
       - name: Run cuda.bindings tests
         if: ${{ env.SKIP_CUDA_BINDINGS_TEST == '0' }}