diff --git a/benchmarks/linear_programming/utils/get_datasets.py b/benchmarks/linear_programming/utils/get_datasets.py
index 2879cff2b..b89a16f54 100644
--- a/benchmarks/linear_programming/utils/get_datasets.py
+++ b/benchmarks/linear_programming/utils/get_datasets.py
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 import os
 import argparse
 import urllib.request
+import urllib.parse
+import ssl
 import subprocess
 
 
@@ -662,7 +664,14 @@ def download(url, dst):
     if os.path.exists(dst):
         return
     print(f"Downloading {url} into {dst}...")
-    response = urllib.request.urlopen(url)
+    # Bypass SSL verification for plato.asu.edu URLs
+    if "plato.asu.edu" in url:
+        context = ssl.create_default_context()
+        context.check_hostname = False
+        context.verify_mode = ssl.CERT_NONE
+        response = urllib.request.urlopen(url, context=context)
+    else:
+        response = urllib.request.urlopen(url)
     data = response.read()
     with open(dst, "wb") as fp:
         fp.write(data)
diff --git a/ci/thirdparty-testing/run_cvxpy_tests.sh b/ci/thirdparty-testing/run_cvxpy_tests.sh
index 523b2fea3..6c5662877 100755
--- a/ci/thirdparty-testing/run_cvxpy_tests.sh
+++ b/ci/thirdparty-testing/run_cvxpy_tests.sh
@@ -17,6 +17,16 @@
 set -e -u -o pipefail
 
 echo "building 'cvxpy' from source"
+
+PYTHON_VERSION=$(python -c 'import sys; print(f"{sys.version_info.major}.{sys.version_info.minor}")')
+PYTHON_MAJOR=$(echo "$PYTHON_VERSION" | cut -d. -f1)
+PYTHON_MINOR=$(echo "$PYTHON_VERSION" | cut -d. -f2)
+
+if [ "$PYTHON_MAJOR" -lt 3 ] || { [ "$PYTHON_MAJOR" -eq 3 ] && [ "$PYTHON_MINOR" -lt 11 ]; }; then
+    echo "Skipping cvxpy tests: Python version is less than 3.11 (found $PYTHON_VERSION)"
+    exit 0
+fi
+
 git clone https://github.com/cvxpy/cvxpy.git
 pushd ./cvxpy || exit 1
 pip wheel \