diff --git a/.github/scripts/package.json b/.github/scripts/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2c2e5207d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+{
+    "name": "tests",
+    "private": true,
+    "description": "tests for script",
+    "scripts": {
+        "test": "mocha tests/close-invalid-link.test.cjs && mocha tests/close-or-remove-response-label.test.cjs"
+    },
+    "author": "Google Inc.",
+    "license": "Apache-2.0",
+    "engines": {
+        "node": ">=18"
+    },
+    "dependencies": {
+        "js-yaml": "^4.1.0"
+    },
+    "devDependencies": {
+        "@octokit/rest": "^19.0.0",
+        "mocha": "^10.0.0",
+        "sinon": "^18.0.0"
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index f547520d5..bdcb1f9b1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -26,6 +26,20 @@ jobs:
       - run: npm test
         env:
           MOCHA_THROW_DEPRECATION: false
+  test-script:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: 18
+      - run: node --version
+      - run: npm install --engine-strict
+        working-directory: .github/scripts
+      - run: npm test
+        working-directory: .github/scripts
+        env:
+          MOCHA_THROW_DEPRECATION: false
   windows:
     runs-on: windows-latest
     steps:
diff --git a/.kokoro/samples-test.sh b/.kokoro/samples-test.sh
index d195fbf7c..4cd43e748 100755
--- a/.kokoro/samples-test.sh
+++ b/.kokoro/samples-test.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@
 
 set -eo pipefail
 
-export NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX=${HOME}/.npm-global
+# Ensure the npm global directory is writable, otherwise rebuild `npm`
+mkdir -p $NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX
+npm config -g ls || npm i -g npm@`npm --version`
 
 # Ensure the npm global directory is writable, otherwise rebuild `npm`
 mkdir -p $NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX