diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index a81b5be..9a29df6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Install dependencies
       run: |
         DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -y --allow-unauthenticated --allow-downgrades --allow-remove-essential --allow-change-held-packages \
-          install make gcc libevent-dev libmsgpack-dev curl nodejs python3 python3-pip
+          install make gcc libevent-dev libmsgpack-dev curl uuid nodejs python3 python3-pip
 
     - name: Fix pip3 on Ubuntu 23.04
       if: matrix.os_name == 'ubuntu-23.04'
diff --git a/tests/curl-tests.sh b/tests/curl-tests.sh
index bac9114..1c50856 100755
--- a/tests/curl-tests.sh
+++ b/tests/curl-tests.sh
@@ -3,19 +3,37 @@
 # exit on first error
 set -e
 
+function send_delete() {
+    curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:7379/DEL/$1" > /dev/null
+}
+
+function fail_with_error() {
+    local message=$1
+    local key=$2
+    >&2 echo "${message}"
+    send_delete "${key}"
+    exit 1
+}
+
 # GitHub issue #194 (connection: close + HTTP 100)
 function test_large_put_upload() {
-    echo 'Testing large PUT upload: generating the key...'
+    echo -n 'Test 1/2: Large PUT upload: generating the key... '
     if [[ $(command -v uuidgen) ]]; then # macOS
         key=$(uuidgen)
+    elif [[ $(command -v uuid) ]]; then # Ubuntu
+        key=$(uuid)
     else
-        key=$(cat /dev/urandom | LC_ALL=C tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9' | fold -w 32 | head -n 1)
+        >&2 echo 'failed: neither uuidgen or uuid was available'
+        exit 1
     fi
+    echo 'OK'
+
+    send_delete "${key}" # initial cleanup
+
     echo -n 'Sending a PUT request with a large payload... '
     put_output=$(printf 'A%.0s' $(seq 1 10000) | curl -s -H 'Connection: close' -XPUT "http://127.0.0.1:7379/SET/${key}" -d @-)
     if [[ ${PIPESTATUS[1]} -ne 0 || "${put_output}" != '{"SET":[true,"OK"]}' ]]; then
-        echo "failed! Response was: ${put_output}"
-        exit 1
+        fail_with_error "failed! Response was: ${put_output}" "${key}"
     else
         echo 'OK'
     fi
@@ -23,20 +41,21 @@ function test_large_put_upload() {
     echo -n 'Verifying the upload... '
     strlen_output=$(curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:7379/STRLEN/${key}.txt")
     if [[ $strlen_output != '10000' ]]; then
-        echo "failed! Unexpected value for STRLEN: ${strlen_output}"
-        exit 1;
+        fail_with_error "failed! Unexpected value for STRLEN: ${strlen_output}" "${key}"
     else
         echo 'OK'
     fi
+
+    send_delete "${key}" # cleanup
 }
 
 # GitHub issue #217 (empty header ":" returned for OPTIONS)
 function test_options_headers() {
-    echo -n 'Sending an OPTIONS request... '
+    echo -n 'Test 2/2: Sending an OPTIONS request... '
     empty_header_present=$(curl -v -X OPTIONS "http://127.0.0.1:7379/" 2>&1 | grep -cE '^< : ' || true) # || true to avoid false-positive exit code from grep
 
     if [[ $empty_header_present != 0 ]]; then
-        echo "failed! Found an empty header entry"
+        >&2 echo "failed! Found an empty header entry"
         exit 1
     else
         echo 'OK'
@@ -44,4 +63,5 @@ function test_options_headers() {
 }
 
 test_large_put_upload
+echo
 test_options_headers