diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 237641963..99810d8a4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -92,8 +92,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Test downstream packages
         if: startsWith(matrix.os, 'ubuntu')
         run: |
-          xvfb-run julia --color=yes ci/downstream.jl GraphRecipes || true
-          xvfb-run julia --color=yes ci/downstream.jl StatsPlots || true
+          xvfb-run julia --color=yes ci/downstream.jl GraphRecipes
+          xvfb-run julia --color=yes ci/downstream.jl StatsPlots
 
       - uses: julia-actions/julia-processcoverage@latest
         if: startsWith(matrix.os, 'ubuntu')
diff --git a/ci/downstream.jl b/ci/downstream.jl
index 070dd9033..02b3c9d36 100644
--- a/ci/downstream.jl
+++ b/ci/downstream.jl
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@ using Pkg
 const LibGit2 = Pkg.GitTools.LibGit2
 const TOML = Pkg.TOML
 
-failsafe_clone_checkout(path, url) = begin
+failsafe_clone_checkout(path, url; branch="master", stable=true) = begin
     local repo
     for i in 1:6
         try
-            repo = Pkg.GitTools.ensure_clone(stdout, path, url)
+            repo = Pkg.GitTools.ensure_clone(stdout, path, url; branch)
             break
         catch err
             @warn err
@@ -27,11 +27,14 @@ failsafe_clone_checkout(path, url) = begin
     end
     @assert isfile(versions)
 
-    version_dict = TOML.parse(read(versions, String))
-    stable = VersionNumber.(keys(version_dict)) |> maximum
-    tag = LibGit2.GitObject(repo, "v$stable")
-    hash = string(LibGit2.target(tag))
-    LibGit2.checkout!(repo, hash)
+    if stable
+        version_dict = TOML.parse(read(versions, String))
+        stable = VersionNumber.(keys(version_dict)) |> maximum
+        tag = LibGit2.GitObject(repo, "v$stable")
+        hash = string(LibGit2.target(tag))
+        LibGit2.checkout!(repo, hash)
+    else
+    end
     nothing
 end
 
@@ -65,7 +68,11 @@ test_stable(pkg::AbstractString) = begin
         end
 
         pkg_dir = joinpath(tmpd, "$pkg.jl")
-        failsafe_clone_checkout(pkg_dir, "https://github.com/JuliaPlots/$pkg.jl")
+        if true  # v2, remove when stable
+            failsafe_clone_checkout(pkg_dir, "https://github.com/JuliaPlots/$pkg.jl"; branch="v2", stable=false)
+        else
+            failsafe_clone_checkout(pkg_dir, "https://github.com/JuliaPlots/$pkg.jl")
+        end
         fake_supported_versions!(pkg_dir)
 
         Pkg.develop(; path = pkg_dir)
diff --git a/docs/ci_build.sh b/docs/ci_build.sh
index 7104249a2..ae704213d 100644
--- a/docs/ci_build.sh
+++ b/docs/ci_build.sh
@@ -54,10 +54,7 @@ export JULIA_CONDAPKG_BACKEND=MicroMamba
 
 julia='xvfb-run -a julia --color=yes --project=docs'
 
-# $julia -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.add(PackageSpec(url="https://github.com/JuliaPlots/Plots.jl", rev=split(ENV["GITHUB_REF"], "/", limit=3)[3], subdir="RecipesBase"));' #FIXME: not needed when registered
-# $julia -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.add(PackageSpec(url="https://github.com/JuliaPlots/Plots.jl", rev=split(ENV["GITHUB_REF"], "/", limit=3)[3], subdir="RecipesPipeline"));' #FIXME: not needed when registered
-# $julia -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.add(PackageSpec(url="https://github.com/JuliaPlots/Plots.jl", rev=split(ENV["GITHUB_REF"], "/", limit=3)[3], subdir="PlotsBase"));' #FIXME: not needed when registered
-$julia -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.develop([(;path="."), (;path="./RecipesBase"), (;path="./RecipesPipeline"), (;path="./PlotsBase")]);' #FIXME: not needed when registered
+$julia -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.develop([(; path="."), (; path="./RecipesBase"), (; path="./RecipesPipeline"), (; path="./PlotsBase")]);'  # FIXME: not needed when registered
 $julia -e '
   using Pkg; Pkg.add("CondaPkg")
   using CondaPkg; CondaPkg.resolve()
@@ -79,6 +76,9 @@ $julia -e '
   CondaPkg.status()
 '
 
+$julia -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.add(PackageSpec(name="StatsPlots", rev="v2"))'  # FIXME: remove when StatsPlots v2 is out
+$julia -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.add(PackageSpec(name="GraphRecipes", rev="v2"))'  # FIXME: remove when StatsPlots v2 is out
+
 echo "== build documentation for $GITHUB_REPOSITORY@$GITHUB_REF, triggered by $GITHUB_ACTOR on $GITHUB_EVENT_NAME =="
 if [ "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" == 'JuliaPlots/PlotDocs.jl' ]; then
   $julia -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.add(PackageSpec(name="Plots", rev="master"))'