diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index dd1e9e6675..c7a5f38c4e 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ ext {
   scapegoatVersion = '3.2.3'
 
   junitVersion = '6.0.1'
-  testContainerVersion = '0.43.6'
+  testContainerVersion = '0.44.0'
 
   scriptsLocation = 'gradle' + File.separator + 'scripts' + File.separator // location of script plugins
 
diff --git a/src/test/scala/edu/ie3/simona/test/KafkaSpecLike.scala b/src/test/scala/edu/ie3/simona/test/KafkaSpecLike.scala
index 4267fa9e29..82bed2a0f3 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/edu/ie3/simona/test/KafkaSpecLike.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/edu/ie3/simona/test/KafkaSpecLike.scala
@@ -14,41 +14,48 @@ import org.testcontainers.utility.DockerImageName
 
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
 import scala.jdk.CollectionConverters.*
+import scala.util.{Failure, Success, Try}
 
 /** Adapted from
   * https://kafka-tutorials.confluent.io/produce-consume-lang/scala.html
   */
-trait KafkaSpecLike extends BeforeAndAfterAll {
-  this: TestSuite =>
+trait KafkaSpecLike extends BeforeAndAfterAll { this: TestSuite =>
 
+  /** Topics that should exist in the test broker */
   protected val testTopics: Seq[Topic]
 
-  protected val kafka: KafkaContainer = KafkaContainer(
-    DockerImageName.parse("confluentinc/cp-kafka:7.3.1")
-  )
-  protected lazy val admin: Admin = Admin.create(
-    Map[String, AnyRef]("bootstrap.servers" -> kafka.bootstrapServers).asJava
-  )
+  /** Kafka container definition; started in [[beforeAll]] */
+  protected lazy val kafka: KafkaContainer =
+    KafkaContainer(DockerImageName.parse("apache/kafka:3.7.0"))
+
+  /** Create an Admin client once the container is running */
+  protected def createAdmin(): Admin =
+    Admin.create(Map("bootstrap.servers" -> kafka.bootstrapServers).asJava)
 
   override def beforeAll(): Unit = {
     super.beforeAll()
     kafka.start()
-    val result = admin.createTopics(
-      testTopics.map { topic =>
-        new NewTopic(
-          topic.name,
-          topic.partitions,
-          topic.replicationFactor,
-        )
-      }.asJava
-    )
-
-    // wait for result, throw exception if applicable
-    result.all().get(1, TimeUnit.MINUTES)
+
+    val result = Try {
+      val admin = createAdmin()
+      try {
+        val topics = testTopics
+          .map(t => new NewTopic(t.name, t.partitions, t.replicationFactor))
+          .asJava
+        admin.createTopics(topics).all().get(15, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+      } finally {
+        admin.close()
+      }
+    }
+
+    result match {
+      case Success(_) =>
+      case Failure(ex) =>
+        throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to create Kafka topics", ex)
+    }
   }
 
   override def afterAll(): Unit = {
-    admin.close()
     kafka.stop()
     super.afterAll()
   }