diff --git a/.github/workflows/go_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/go_tests.yml
index 6818e92bc677..e85c4eba866b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/go_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/go_tests.yml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ on:
   pull_request:
     branches: ['master', 'release-*']
     tags: ['v*']
-    paths: ['sdks/go/pkg/**', 'sdks/go.mod', 'sdks/go.sum', 'sdks/go/container/*', 'sdks/java/container/*', 'sdks/python/container/*', 'sdks/typescript/container/*']
+    paths: ['sdks/go/pkg/**', 'sdks/go.mod', 'sdks/go.sum', 'sdks/go/container/*', 'sdks/java/container/*', 'sdks/python/container/*', 'sdks/typescript/container/*', '.github/workflows/go_test.yml']
   workflow_dispatch:
 # This allows a subsequently queued workflow run to interrupt previous runs
 concurrency:
@@ -64,6 +64,6 @@ jobs:
           go vet --copylocks=false --unsafeptr=false ./...
       - name: Run Staticcheck
         run: |
-          go install "honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck@2023.1.7"
+          go install "honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck@2024.1.1"
           cd sdks/go/pkg/beam
           $(go env GOPATH)/bin/staticcheck ./...
diff --git a/sdks/go.mod b/sdks/go.mod
index 93f82acc2eec..48939706866d 100644
--- a/sdks/go.mod
+++ b/sdks/go.mod
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ require (
 require (
 	github.com/avast/retry-go/v4 v4.6.0
 	github.com/fsouza/fake-gcs-server v1.49.2
+	github.com/golang/protobuf v1.5.4
 	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20231006140011-7918f672742d
 )
 
diff --git a/sdks/go/pkg/beam/core/runtime/harness/harness.go b/sdks/go/pkg/beam/core/runtime/harness/harness.go
index 08e7f6ddaa7f..20aad81c1237 100644
--- a/sdks/go/pkg/beam/core/runtime/harness/harness.go
+++ b/sdks/go/pkg/beam/core/runtime/harness/harness.go
@@ -607,7 +607,7 @@ func (c *control) handleInstruction(ctx context.Context, req *fnpb.InstructionRe
 
 		var pRoots []*fnpb.BundleApplication
 		var rRoots []*fnpb.DelayedBundleApplication
-		if sr.PS != nil && len(sr.PS) > 0 && sr.RS != nil && len(sr.RS) > 0 {
+		if len(sr.PS) > 0 && len(sr.RS) > 0 {
 			pRoots = make([]*fnpb.BundleApplication, len(sr.PS))
 			for i, p := range sr.PS {
 				pRoots[i] = &fnpb.BundleApplication{