diff --git a/tests/Dockerfile b/tests/Dockerfile
index adbc16924f..0eee205f10 100644
--- a/tests/Dockerfile
+++ b/tests/Dockerfile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # this is here so we can grab the latest version of kind and have dependabot keep it up to date
 FROM kindest/node:v1.28.0
 
-FROM python:3.11
+FROM python:3.12
 
 RUN apt-get update \
 	&& apt-get install -y curl git \
diff --git a/tests/suite/test_transport_server_tcp_load_balance.py b/tests/suite/test_transport_server_tcp_load_balance.py
index 2f6f3e487b..7dcd1871bb 100644
--- a/tests/suite/test_transport_server_tcp_load_balance.py
+++ b/tests/suite/test_transport_server_tcp_load_balance.py
@@ -608,12 +608,14 @@ def test_secure_tcp_request_load_balanced(
 
         host = host.strip("[]")
         with socket.create_connection((host, port)) as sock:
-            with ssl.wrap_socket(sock, ssl_version=ssl.PROTOCOL_TLS) as ssock:
-                print(ssock.version())
-                ssock.sendall(b"connect")
-                response = ssock.recv(4096)
-                endpoint = response.decode()
-                print(f"Connected securely to: {endpoint}")
+            ctx = ssl.SSLContext()
+            ctx.options |= ssl.OP_NO_TLSv1 | ssl.OP_NO_TLSv1_1  # only secure TLSv1_2+ is allowed
+            ssock = ctx.wrap_socket(sock)
+            print(ssock.version())
+            ssock.sendall(b"connect")
+            response = ssock.recv(4096)
+            endpoint = response.decode()
+            print(f"Connected securely to: {endpoint}")
 
         self.restore_ts(kube_apis, transport_server_setup)
         delete_items_from_yaml(kube_apis, src_sec_yaml, transport_server_setup.namespace)