diff --git a/.github/workflows/benchmarks.yaml b/.github/workflows/benchmarks.yaml
index c668b85db..a9a38bcfb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/benchmarks.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/benchmarks.yaml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ on:
         default: ""
   schedule:
     - cron: "37 */6 * * *"
-  
+
 
 jobs:
   benchmarks:
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ jobs:
           pytest \
             -vv \
             --log-cli-level=INFO \
-            "${filter_args[@]}" \
+            -k '[max_ndvi]' \
             --html report/report.html --self-contained-html \
             --track-metrics-json=report/metrics.json \
             --track-metrics-parquet-s3-bucket="apex-benchmarks" \
diff --git a/algorithm_catalog/vito/max_ndvi/benchmark_scenarios/max_ndvi.json b/algorithm_catalog/vito/max_ndvi/benchmark_scenarios/max_ndvi.json
index 5a0522f70..0e3076087 100644
--- a/algorithm_catalog/vito/max_ndvi/benchmark_scenarios/max_ndvi.json
+++ b/algorithm_catalog/vito/max_ndvi/benchmark_scenarios/max_ndvi.json
@@ -23,9 +23,15 @@
         "result": true
       }
     },
+    "job_options": {
+      "stac-version": "1.1"
+    },
     "reference_data": {
       "job-results.json": "https://s3.waw3-1.cloudferro.com/apex-benchmarks/gh-22559915879!tests_test_benchmarks.py__test_run_benchmark_max_ndvi_!actual/job-results.json",
       "openEO.tif": "https://s3.waw3-1.cloudferro.com/apex-benchmarks/gh-22559915879!tests_test_benchmarks.py__test_run_benchmark_max_ndvi_!actual/openEO.tif"
+    },
+    "reference_options": {
+      "download_as_collection": true
     }
   },
   {
@@ -52,9 +58,15 @@
         "result": true
       }
     },
+    "job_options": {
+      "stac-version": "1.1"
+    },
     "reference_data": {
       "job-results.json": "https://s3.waw3-1.cloudferro.com/apex-benchmarks/gh-22671803853!tests_test_benchmarks.py__test_run_benchmark_max_ndvi_large_!actual/job-results.json",
       "openEO.tif": "https://s3.waw3-1.cloudferro.com/apex-benchmarks/gh-22671803853!tests_test_benchmarks.py__test_run_benchmark_max_ndvi_large_!actual/openEO.tif"
+    },
+    "reference_options": {
+      "download_as_collection": true
     }
   }
 ]
diff --git a/qa/benchmarks/requirements.txt b/qa/benchmarks/requirements.txt
index c786a3612..e3899e81c 100644
--- a/qa/benchmarks/requirements.txt
+++ b/qa/benchmarks/requirements.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 apex-algorithm-qa-tools
 httpx>=0.27.0
-openeo>=0.48.0.dev
+# openeo>=0.52.0 is not released yet, so install straight from github:
+git+https://github.com/Open-EO/openeo-python-client.git@9e9646c45b8b31d65bd081b2b0d89bc0114fe3a7
 ogc-api-processes-client>=0.6.0
 pytest>=8.2.0
 requests>=2.32.0
diff --git a/qa/tools/apex_algorithm_qa_tools/benchmarks/openeo.py b/qa/tools/apex_algorithm_qa_tools/benchmarks/openeo.py
index 1ba48fc5c..4e535df1c 100644
--- a/qa/tools/apex_algorithm_qa_tools/benchmarks/openeo.py
+++ b/qa/tools/apex_algorithm_qa_tools/benchmarks/openeo.py
@@ -122,6 +122,3 @@ def _timeout_handler(signum, frame):
 def collect_openeo_metadata(*, job):
     return job.get_results()
 
-
-def download_openeo_results(*, results, actual_dir: Path):
-    return results.download_files(target=actual_dir, include_stac_metadata=True)
diff --git a/qa/tools/apex_algorithm_qa_tools/benchmarks/runners/openeo.py b/qa/tools/apex_algorithm_qa_tools/benchmarks/runners/openeo.py
index acc151a5c..146ab900b 100644
--- a/qa/tools/apex_algorithm_qa_tools/benchmarks/runners/openeo.py
+++ b/qa/tools/apex_algorithm_qa_tools/benchmarks/runners/openeo.py
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import logging
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from apex_algorithm_qa_tools.benchmarks.openeo import (
     collect_openeo_metadata,
     create_openeo_connection,
     create_openeo_job,
-    download_openeo_results,
     get_openeo_backend,
     run_openeo_job,
 )
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
 from apex_algorithm_qa_tools.scenarios.openeo import openEOBenchmarkScenario
 
 
+_log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
 class OpenEOBenchmarkRunner(BenchmarkRunner):
     def __init__(self, *, scenario: openEOBenchmarkScenario, request):
         super().__init__(scenario=scenario, request=request)
@@ -68,4 +71,16 @@ def collect_artifacts(self) -> BenchmarkRunnerArtifacts:
     def download_actual(self, *, actual_dir: Path) -> list[Path]:
         if self._results is None:
             raise RuntimeError("Cannot download openEO results before collect_artifacts().")
-        return download_openeo_results(results=self._results, actual_dir=actual_dir)
+
+        if self.scenario.reference_options.get("download_as_collection"):
+            _log.info(f"Downloading results from {self._job.job_id} as STAC collection")
+            paths = self._results.download_as_collection(
+                target=actual_dir,
+                download_derived_from=True,
+                # path_templates=...
+            )
+        else:
+            _log.info(f"Downloading results from {self._job.job_id} the old-school way")
+            paths = self._results.download_files(target=actual_dir, include_stac_metadata=True)
+
+        return paths