diff --git a/.github/workflows/merge-checks.yml b/.github/workflows/merge-checks.yml
index 6561c429e2..c9f7957389 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/merge-checks.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/merge-checks.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           set -x pipefail
           status_state="pending"
-          if ${{ contains(github.event.*.labels.*.name, 'design-approved') }}; then
+          if ${{ contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'design-approved') && !contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'after-next-version') }}; then
             status_state="success"
           else
             resp="$(curl -sSL --fail-with-body \
diff --git a/cmd/nitro-val/nitro_val.go b/cmd/nitro-val/nitro_val.go
index 6f5f546430..1a7d2e6283 100644
--- a/cmd/nitro-val/nitro_val.go
+++ b/cmd/nitro-val/nitro_val.go
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@ func mainImpl() int {
 	nodeConfig.WS.Apply(&stackConf)
 	nodeConfig.Auth.Apply(&stackConf)
 	nodeConfig.IPC.Apply(&stackConf)
+	stackConf.P2P.ListenAddr = ""
+	stackConf.P2P.NoDial = true
+	stackConf.P2P.NoDiscovery = true
 	vcsRevision, strippedRevision, vcsTime := confighelpers.GetVersion()
 	stackConf.Version = strippedRevision
 
diff --git a/cmd/nitro/nitro.go b/cmd/nitro/nitro.go
index 04bdeb3228..3a34229768 100644
--- a/cmd/nitro/nitro.go
+++ b/cmd/nitro/nitro.go
@@ -183,6 +183,9 @@ func mainImpl() int {
 	if nodeConfig.WS.ExposeAll {
 		stackConf.WSModules = append(stackConf.WSModules, "personal")
 	}
+	stackConf.P2P.ListenAddr = ""
+	stackConf.P2P.NoDial = true
+	stackConf.P2P.NoDiscovery = true
 	vcsRevision, strippedRevision, vcsTime := confighelpers.GetVersion()
 	stackConf.Version = strippedRevision
 
@@ -369,11 +372,6 @@ func mainImpl() int {
 		return 0
 	}
 
-	if nodeConfig.Execution.Caching.Archive && nodeConfig.Execution.TxLookupLimit != 0 {
-		log.Info("retaining ability to lookup full transaction history as archive mode is enabled")
-		nodeConfig.Execution.TxLookupLimit = 0
-	}
-
 	if err := resourcemanager.Init(&nodeConfig.Node.ResourceMgmt); err != nil {
 		flag.Usage()
 		log.Crit("Failed to start resource management module", "err", err)
@@ -909,6 +907,12 @@ func ParseNode(ctx context.Context, args []string) (*NodeConfig, *genericconf.Wa
 	if nodeConfig.Execution.Caching.Archive {
 		nodeConfig.Node.MessagePruner.Enable = false
 	}
+
+	if nodeConfig.Execution.Caching.Archive && nodeConfig.Execution.TxLookupLimit != 0 {
+		log.Info("retaining ability to lookup full transaction history as archive mode is enabled")
+		nodeConfig.Execution.TxLookupLimit = 0
+	}
+
 	err = nodeConfig.Validate()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, err
diff --git a/staker/stateless_block_validator.go b/staker/stateless_block_validator.go
index 1cf3d7a4c3..ec235c4bf5 100644
--- a/staker/stateless_block_validator.go
+++ b/staker/stateless_block_validator.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"net/url"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/offchainlabs/nitro/arbstate/daprovider"
@@ -428,8 +429,13 @@ func (v *StatelessBlockValidator) Start(ctx_in context.Context) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("starting execution spawner: %w", err)
 		}
 	}
-	for _, spawner := range v.execSpawners {
+	for i, spawner := range v.execSpawners {
 		if err := spawner.Start(ctx_in); err != nil {
+			if u, parseErr := url.Parse(v.config.ValidationServerConfigs[i].URL); parseErr == nil {
+				if u.Scheme != "ws" && u.Scheme != "wss" {
+					return fmt.Errorf("validation server's url scheme is unsupported, it should either be ws or wss, url:%s err: %w", v.config.ValidationServerConfigs[i].URL, err)
+				}
+			}
 			return err
 		}
 	}