diff --git a/resource/reapi/bindings/go/src/test/Makefile.am b/resource/reapi/bindings/go/src/test/Makefile.am
index cbfa9e8be..4d647b1fb 100644
--- a/resource/reapi/bindings/go/src/test/Makefile.am
+++ b/resource/reapi/bindings/go/src/test/Makefile.am
@@ -25,10 +25,10 @@ AM_LDFLAGS = \
 
 COMMONENVVAR=GOOS=$(shell uname -s | tr A-Z a-z)
 
-if WITH_GO
+if(DEFINED ENV{WITH_GO})
     TESTS = main$(EXEEXT)
     check_PROGRAMS = $(TESTS)
-endif
+endif()
 
 main_SOURCES = main.go
 
diff --git a/src/test/docker/focal-golang/Dockerfile b/src/test/docker/focal-golang/Dockerfile
index d1d1bcc72..9c0340a28 100644
--- a/src/test/docker/focal-golang/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/test/docker/focal-golang/Dockerfile
@@ -6,13 +6,20 @@ ARG UID=1000
 # Install extra buildrequires for flux-sched:
 RUN sudo apt-get update
 RUN sudo apt-get -qq install -y --no-install-recommends \
-	libboost-graph-dev \
-	libboost-system-dev \
-	libboost-filesystem-dev \
-	libboost-regex-dev \
-	python-yaml \
-	libyaml-cpp-dev \
-	libedit-dev
+    libboost-graph-dev \
+    libboost-system-dev \
+    libboost-filesystem-dev \
+    libboost-regex-dev \
+    python-yaml \
+    libyaml-cpp-dev \
+    ninja-build \
+    curl \
+    libedit-dev
+
+# Install cmake for new build system
+RUN curl -s -L https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases/download/v3.26.4/cmake-3.26.4-linux-$(uname -m).sh > cmake.sh ;\
+  sudo bash cmake.sh --prefix=/usr/local --skip-license ;\
+  rm cmake.sh
 
 # Install Golang 1.19.10 for binding tests
 RUN wget https://go.dev/dl/go1.19.10.linux-amd64.tar.gz
diff --git a/src/test/generate-matrix.py b/src/test/generate-matrix.py
index 54cb0d5d6..3b6131de8 100755
--- a/src/test/generate-matrix.py
+++ b/src/test/generate-matrix.py
@@ -196,13 +196,6 @@ def __str__(self):
     ),
 )
 
-# RHEL7 clone
-matrix.add_build(
-    name="el7",
-    image="el7",
-    docker_tag=True,
-)
-
 # RHEL8 clone
 matrix.add_build(
     name="el8",
diff --git a/t/CMakeLists.txt b/t/CMakeLists.txt
index dbb8559f2..cbe37908f 100644
--- a/t/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/t/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ set(ALL_TESTS
   t6002-graph-hwloc.t
   t7000-shell-datastaging.t
   t8001-util-ion-R.t
+  t9001-golang-basic.t
   )
 foreach(test ${ALL_TESTS})
   flux_add_test(NAME ${test}