diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 49b3c77cad..7c3fd275f9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ jobs:
       GOPROXY: https://proxy.golang.org
       JDK_VER: ${{ matrix.java }}
       DAPR_CLI_VER: 1.17.0
-      DAPR_RUNTIME_VER: 1.17.0
+      DAPR_RUNTIME_VER: 1.18.0-rc.2
       DAPR_INSTALL_URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dapr/cli/v1.17.0/install/install.sh
       DAPR_CLI_REF:
       DAPR_REF:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/validate.yml b/.github/workflows/validate.yml
index 24effa0fa0..aaa001cd48 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/validate.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/validate.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ jobs:
       GOPROXY: https://proxy.golang.org
       JDK_VER: ${{ matrix.java }}
       DAPR_CLI_VER: 1.17.0
-      DAPR_RUNTIME_VER: 1.17.0
+      DAPR_RUNTIME_VER: 1.18.0-rc.2
       DAPR_INSTALL_URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dapr/cli/v1.17.0/install/install.sh
       DAPR_CLI_REF:
       DAPR_REF:
diff --git a/durabletask-client/pom.xml b/durabletask-client/pom.xml
index 41ac0f9b99..cdceed2aa1 100644
--- a/durabletask-client/pom.xml
+++ b/durabletask-client/pom.xml
@@ -161,6 +161,19 @@
               <outputDirectory>${protobuf.input.directory}</outputDirectory>
             </configuration>
           </execution>
+          <execution>
+            <id>getAttestationProto</id>
+            <phase>initialize</phase>
+            <goals>
+              <goal>wget</goal>
+            </goals>
+            <configuration>
+              <skipCache>true</skipCache>
+              <url>${durabletask.proto.baseurl}/attestation.proto</url>
+              <outputFileName>attestation.proto</outputFileName>
+              <outputDirectory>${protobuf.input.directory}</outputDirectory>
+            </configuration>
+          </execution>
         </executions>
       </plugin>
       <plugin>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index a911e1d7b3..0bbf810001 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
     <grpc.version>1.79.0</grpc.version>
     <protobuf.version>3.25.5</protobuf.version>
-    <dapr.proto.baseurl>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dapr/dapr/v1.17.0/dapr/proto</dapr.proto.baseurl>
+    <dapr.proto.baseurl>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dapr/dapr/v1.18.0-rc.2/dapr/proto</dapr.proto.baseurl>
     <durabletask.proto.baseurl>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dapr/durabletask-protobuf/main/protos</durabletask.proto.baseurl>
     <dapr.sdk.version>1.18.0-SNAPSHOT</dapr.sdk.version>
     <os-maven-plugin.version>1.7.1</os-maven-plugin.version>
diff --git a/sdk-tests/src/test/java/io/dapr/it/testcontainers/workflows/version/full/FullVersioningWorkflowsIT.java b/sdk-tests/src/test/java/io/dapr/it/testcontainers/workflows/version/full/FullVersioningWorkflowsIT.java
index 2816bc46fa..533c802183 100644
--- a/sdk-tests/src/test/java/io/dapr/it/testcontainers/workflows/version/full/FullVersioningWorkflowsIT.java
+++ b/sdk-tests/src/test/java/io/dapr/it/testcontainers/workflows/version/full/FullVersioningWorkflowsIT.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import io.dapr.workflows.client.WorkflowState;
 import io.dapr.workflows.runtime.WorkflowRuntime;
 import io.dapr.workflows.runtime.WorkflowRuntimeBuilder;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterAll;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Tag;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
@@ -222,5 +223,18 @@ public DaprWorkflowClient daprWorkflowClient(
 
     return new DaprWorkflowClient(new Properties(overrides));
   }
+
+  // V2 containers are started manually inside the test and are not managed by @Container,
+  // so we must stop them explicitly to prevent the daprd V2 process from continuing to log
+  // placement/scheduler reconnect failures throughout subsequent tests.
+  @AfterAll
+  static void stopManuallyStartedContainers() {
+    if (workerV2.isRunning()) {
+      workerV2.stop();
+    }
+    if (DAPR_CONTAINER_V2.isRunning()) {
+      DAPR_CONTAINER_V2.stop();
+    }
+  }
 }
 
diff --git a/sdk-tests/src/test/java/io/dapr/it/testcontainers/workflows/version/patch/PatchVersioningWorkflowsIT.java b/sdk-tests/src/test/java/io/dapr/it/testcontainers/workflows/version/patch/PatchVersioningWorkflowsIT.java
index b6e971482c..c1b331aa52 100644
--- a/sdk-tests/src/test/java/io/dapr/it/testcontainers/workflows/version/patch/PatchVersioningWorkflowsIT.java
+++ b/sdk-tests/src/test/java/io/dapr/it/testcontainers/workflows/version/patch/PatchVersioningWorkflowsIT.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import io.dapr.testcontainers.WorkflowDashboardContainer;
 import io.dapr.workflows.client.DaprWorkflowClient;
 import io.dapr.workflows.client.WorkflowState;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterAll;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Tag;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
@@ -221,6 +222,17 @@ public DaprWorkflowClient daprWorkflowClient(
     return new DaprWorkflowClient(new Properties(overrides));
   }
 
-
+  // V2 containers are started manually inside the test and are not managed by @Container,
+  // so we must stop them explicitly to prevent the daprd V2 process from continuing to log
+  // placement/scheduler reconnect failures throughout subsequent tests.
+  @AfterAll
+  static void stopManuallyStartedContainers() {
+    if (workerV2.isRunning()) {
+      workerV2.stop();
+    }
+    if (DAPR_CONTAINER_V2.isRunning()) {
+      DAPR_CONTAINER_V2.stop();
+    }
+  }
 }
 
diff --git a/testcontainers-dapr/src/main/java/io/dapr/testcontainers/DaprContainerConstants.java b/testcontainers-dapr/src/main/java/io/dapr/testcontainers/DaprContainerConstants.java
index 85e379a51e..e3ca649039 100644
--- a/testcontainers-dapr/src/main/java/io/dapr/testcontainers/DaprContainerConstants.java
+++ b/testcontainers-dapr/src/main/java/io/dapr/testcontainers/DaprContainerConstants.java
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 package io.dapr.testcontainers;
 
 public interface DaprContainerConstants {
-  String DAPR_VERSION = "1.17.0";
+  String DAPR_VERSION = "1.18.0-rc.2";
   String DAPR_WORKFLOWS_DASHBOARD_VERSION = "0.0.1";
   String DAPR_RUNTIME_IMAGE_TAG = "daprio/daprd:" + DAPR_VERSION;
   String DAPR_PLACEMENT_IMAGE_TAG = "daprio/placement:" + DAPR_VERSION;