diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit-and-integration-tests-unified.yml b/.github/workflows/unit-and-integration-tests-unified.yml
index 11a7d17944be..6f33276e9555 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit-and-integration-tests-unified.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit-and-integration-tests-unified.yml
@@ -157,6 +157,55 @@ jobs:
           echo ${{ needs.set-env-var.outputs.DRUID_PREVIOUS_IT_IMAGE_NAME }}
           docker save "${{ needs.set-env-var.outputs.DRUID_PREVIOUS_IT_IMAGE_NAME }}" | gzip > druid-container-jdk${{ matrix.jdk }}-version${{ needs.set-env-var.outputs.DRUID_PREVIOUS_VERSION }}.tar.gz    
 
+  # check if it is a PR and if it is approved. For approved PRs, we do not want to run tests sequentially
+  check-approval:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      approved: ${{ steps.check.outputs.isApproved }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Check if Triggered by a PR
+        id: determine-trigger
+        run: |
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" == "pull_request" ]; then
+            echo "isPR=true" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          else
+            echo "isPR=false" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - name: Check PR Approval (if applicable)
+        id: check
+        if: ${{ env.isPR == 'true' }}
+        uses: actions/github-script@v7
+        with:
+          script: |
+            const reviews = await github.rest.pulls.listReviews({
+              owner: context.repo.owner,
+              repo: context.repo.repo,
+              pull_number: context.payload.pull_request.number
+            });
+            const approved = reviews.data.some(review => review.state === 'APPROVED');
+            core.setOutput("isApproved", approved);
+
+      - name: Default to Approved for Branch
+        id: default-check
+        if: ${{ env.isPR == 'false' }}
+        run: echo "::set-output name=isApproved::true"
+
+  unit-tests-unapproved:
+    name: "unit tests - PR unapproved - (jdk17)"
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
+    needs: [build, check-approval]
+    if: ${{ needs.check-approval.outputs.approved != 'true' }}
+    with:
+      jdk: 17
+
+  unit-tests-approved:
+    name: "unit tests - PR approved - (jdk17)"
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
+    needs: [build, check-approval]
+    if: ${{ needs.check-approval.outputs.approved == 'true' }}
+    with:
+      jdk: 17
+
   unit-tests-phase2:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
@@ -165,26 +214,19 @@ jobs:
         jdk: [ '11', '21.0.4' ]
     name: "unit tests (jdk${{ matrix.jdk }})"
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
-    needs: unit-tests
-    if: ${{ always() && (needs.unit-tests.result == 'success' || needs.unit-tests.outputs.continue_tests) }}
+    needs: [unit-tests-unapproved, check-approval]
+    if: ${{ always() && (needs.check-approval.outputs.approved == 'true' || needs.unit-tests-unapproved.result == 'success' || needs.unit-tests-unapproved.outputs.continue_tests) }}
     with:
       jdk: ${{ matrix.jdk }}
 
-  unit-tests:
-    name: "unit tests (jdk17)"
-    uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-tests.yml
-    needs: build
-    with:
-      jdk: 17
-
   standard-its:
-    needs: unit-tests
-    if: ${{ always() && (needs.unit-tests.result == 'success' || needs.unit-tests.outputs.continue_tests) }}
+    needs: [unit-tests-unapproved, check-approval]
+    if: ${{ always() && (needs.check-approval.outputs.approved == 'true' || needs.unit-tests-unapproved.result == 'success' || needs.unit-tests-unapproved.outputs.continue_tests) }}
     uses: ./.github/workflows/standard-its.yml
 
   revised-its:
-    needs: [unit-tests, set-env-var]
-    if: ${{ always() && (needs.unit-tests.result == 'success' || needs.unit-tests.outputs.continue_tests) }}
+    needs: [unit-tests-unapproved, check-approval, set-env-var]
+    if: ${{ always() && (needs.check-approval.outputs.approved == 'true' || needs.unit-tests-unapproved.result == 'success' || needs.unit-tests-unapproved.outputs.continue_tests) }}
     uses: ./.github/workflows/revised-its.yml
     with:
       BACKWARD_COMPATIBILITY_IT_ENABLED: ${{ needs.set-env-var.outputs.BACKWARD_COMPATIBILITY_IT_ENABLED }}
diff --git a/codestyle/checkstyle.xml b/codestyle/checkstyle.xml
index da70ddfad3ae..696f18016836 100644
--- a/codestyle/checkstyle.xml
+++ b/codestyle/checkstyle.xml
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@
   -->
 
 <!DOCTYPE module PUBLIC
-    "-//Puppy Crawl//DTD Check Configuration 1.2//EN"
-    "http://www.puppycrawl.com/dtds/configuration_1_2.dtd">
+    "-//Puppy Crawl//DTD Check Configuration 1.3//EN"
+    "http://www.puppycrawl.com/dtds/configuration_1_3.dtd">
 
 <module name="Checker">
   <module name="Header">
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index b5d2a25cd662..cc7cdaddb2f3 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -1508,7 +1508,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-checkstyle-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.0.0</version>
+                <version>3.6.0</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <sourceDirectories>
                         <sourceDirectory>${project.build.sourceDirectory}</sourceDirectory>
@@ -1517,7 +1517,6 @@
                     <configLocation>codestyle/checkstyle.xml</configLocation>
                     <suppressionsLocation>codestyle/checkstyle-suppressions.xml</suppressionsLocation>
                     <suppressionsFileExpression>checkstyle.suppressions.file</suppressionsFileExpression>
-                    <encoding>UTF-8</encoding>
                     <headerLocation>codestyle/LICENSE.txt</headerLocation>
                     <consoleOutput>true</consoleOutput>
                     <failsOnError>true</failsOnError>
@@ -1529,7 +1528,7 @@
                     <dependency>
                         <groupId>com.puppycrawl.tools</groupId>
                         <artifactId>checkstyle</artifactId>
-                        <version>8.21</version>
+                        <version>10.20.1</version>
                     </dependency>
                 </dependencies>
                 <executions>