diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index eb5c66cf..a8861610 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -77,12 +77,10 @@ jobs:
 
           # print env vars for debugging
           cat "$GITHUB_ENV"
-
       - name: Build and push runtime image
         uses: docker/build-push-action@v4
         with:
-          # for linux/s390x, maven errors due to missing io.grpc:protoc-gen-grpc-java:exe:linux-s390_64:1.51.1
-          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64/v8,linux/ppc64le
+          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64/v8,linux/ppc64le,linux/s390x
           target: runtime
           push: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' }}
           tags: ${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:${{ env.VERSION }}
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c2c50f95..b55a1aca 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -57,27 +57,28 @@
     <!--suppress UnresolvedMavenProperty -->
     <jenkins-build-tag>${env.BUILD_TAG}</jenkins-build-tag>  <!-- set by jenkins -->
 
-    <grpc-version>1.59.0</grpc-version>
-    <netty-version>4.1.100.Final</netty-version>
+    <grpc-version>1.60.2</grpc-version>
+    <netty-version>4.1.108.Final</netty-version>
     <litelinks-version>1.7.2</litelinks-version>
     <kv-utils-version>0.5.1</kv-utils-version>
     <etcd-java-version>0.0.24</etcd-java-version>
-    <protobuf-version>3.25.0</protobuf-version>
-    <annotation-version>9.0.82</annotation-version>
-    <guava-version>32.1.3-jre</guava-version>
-    <jackson-databind-version>2.16.0</jackson-databind-version>
+    <protobuf-version>3.25.3</protobuf-version>
+    <annotation-version>9.0.87</annotation-version>
+    <guava-version>33.1.0-jre</guava-version>
+    <jackson-databind-version>2.16.2</jackson-databind-version>
     <gson-version>2.10.1</gson-version>
-    <thrift-version>0.19.0</thrift-version>
+    <thrift-version>0.20.0</thrift-version>
     <eclipse-collections-version>11.1.0</eclipse-collections-version>
-    <log4j2-version>2.21.1</log4j2-version>
+    <log4j2-version>2.23.1</log4j2-version>
     <slf4j-version>1.7.36</slf4j-version>
     <!-- Care must be taken when updating the prometheus client lib version
          since we have some custom optimized extensions to this -->
     <prometheus-version>0.9.0</prometheus-version>
-    <bouncycastle-version>1.74</bouncycastle-version>
-    <junit-version>5.10.1</junit-version>
 
-    <zookeeper-version>3.7.2</zookeeper-version>
+    <bouncycastle-version>1.78</bouncycastle-version>
+    <junit-version>5.10.2</junit-version>
+
+    <zookeeper-version>3.8.4</zookeeper-version>
     <curator-version>5.3.0</curator-version>
 
     <dockerhome>${project.build.directory}/dockerhome</dockerhome>
@@ -532,6 +533,12 @@
         <groupId>org.apache.zookeeper</groupId>
         <artifactId>zookeeper</artifactId>
         <version>${zookeeper-version}</version>
+        <exclusions>
+          <exclusion>
+            <groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>
+            <artifactId>logback-classic</artifactId>
+          </exclusion>
+        </exclusions>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>org.apache.curator</groupId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ibm/watson/modelmesh/ModelMesh.java b/src/main/java/com/ibm/watson/modelmesh/ModelMesh.java
index fefa4a5e..f8779651 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ibm/watson/modelmesh/ModelMesh.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ibm/watson/modelmesh/ModelMesh.java
@@ -1309,6 +1309,7 @@ boolean isLeader() {
     @Override
     protected boolean isReady() {
         if (abortStartup) {
+            logger.info("Returning NOT READY to readiness probe due to unexpected model loading failures");
             return false;
         }
         // called only post-initialization