diff --git a/.github/workflows/go_app_pull_requests.yml b/.github/workflows/go_app_pull_requests.yml
index 7d2e77d..4f34892 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/go_app_pull_requests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/go_app_pull_requests.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ on:
         description: 'GOPRIVATE env for go commands'
         required: false
         type: string
+      APTGET_PACKAGES:
+        description: 'packages for apt-get to install'
+        required: false
+        type: string
     secrets:
       GH_CI_PAT:
         description: 'Token password for GitHub auth'
@@ -82,6 +86,12 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
           go-version: ${{ matrix.go }}
+      # apt-get install packages that might be needed by CGO
+      - name: Install packages
+        if: ${{ inputs.APTGET_PACKAGES }}
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install -y ${{ inputs.APTGET_PACKAGES }}
       # Use auth to get access to private Git repos for Go code dependencies.
       - name: Configure git for private modules
         env: