diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index df6e0b46..dcd83501 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ repos:
                   - --fix
                   - --rapids-version=24.12
       - repo: https://github.com/rapidsai/dependency-file-generator
-        rev: v1.13.11
+        rev: v1.16.0
         hooks:
               - id: rapids-dependency-file-generator
                 args: ["--clean"]
diff --git a/ci/build_python.sh b/ci/build_python.sh
index 1e423cc1..2fdcd640 100755
--- a/ci/build_python.sh
+++ b/ci/build_python.sh
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 rapids-configure-conda-channels
 
-source rapids-configure-sccache
-
 source rapids-date-string
 
 rapids-print-env
diff --git a/ci/build_wheel.sh b/ci/build_wheel.sh
index 7db292dd..f3f69ddd 100755
--- a/ci/build_wheel.sh
+++ b/ci/build_wheel.sh
@@ -3,17 +3,19 @@
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
-package_name="ucx-py"
-underscore_package_name=$(echo "${package_name}" | tr "-" "_")
-
-source rapids-configure-sccache
 source rapids-date-string
 
 rapids-generate-version > ./VERSION
 
 RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX="$(rapids-wheel-ctk-name-gen ${RAPIDS_CUDA_VERSION})"
 
-python -m pip wheel . -w dist --no-deps --disable-pip-version-check --config-settings rapidsai.disable-cuda=false
+python -m pip wheel \
+    -v \
+    -w dist \
+    --no-deps \
+    --disable-pip-version-check \
+    --config-settings rapidsai.disable-cuda=false \
+    .
 
 mkdir -p final_dist
 python -m auditwheel repair \
@@ -25,4 +27,4 @@ python -m auditwheel repair \
     --exclude "libuct.so.0" \
     dist/*
 
-RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="${underscore_package_name}_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-upload-wheels-to-s3 final_dist
+RAPIDS_PY_WHEEL_NAME="ucx_py_${RAPIDS_PY_CUDA_SUFFIX}" rapids-upload-wheels-to-s3 python final_dist
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 654091b6..c616b71a 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ skip = [
 
 [tool.pytest.ini_options]
 xfail_strict = true
+addopts = "--tb=native"
 
 [tool.rapids-build-backend]
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
diff --git a/ucp/_libs/arr.pyx b/ucp/_libs/arr.pyx
index 1f2130f1..635d897c 100644
--- a/ucp/_libs/arr.pyx
+++ b/ucp/_libs/arr.pyx
@@ -4,13 +4,12 @@
 # cython: language_level=3
 
 
-from cpython.array cimport array, newarrayobject
 from cpython.buffer cimport PyBuffer_IsContiguous
+from cpython.mem cimport PyMem_Free, PyMem_Malloc
 from cpython.memoryview cimport (
     PyMemoryView_FromObject,
     PyMemoryView_GET_BUFFER,
 )
-from cpython.object cimport PyObject
 from cpython.ref cimport Py_INCREF
 from cpython.tuple cimport PyTuple_New, PyTuple_SET_ITEM
 from cython cimport (
@@ -20,6 +19,7 @@ from cython cimport (
     nonecheck,
     wraparound,
 )
+from cython.view cimport array
 from libc.stdint cimport uintptr_t
 from libc.string cimport memcpy
 
@@ -62,13 +62,14 @@ cdef dict itemsize_mapping = {
 }
 
 
-cdef array array_Py_ssize_t = array("q")
+cdef sizeof_Py_ssize_t = sizeof(Py_ssize_t)
 
 
-cdef inline Py_ssize_t[::1] new_Py_ssize_t_array(Py_ssize_t n):
-    return newarrayobject(
-        (<PyObject*>array_Py_ssize_t).ob_type, n, array_Py_ssize_t.ob_descr
-    )
+cdef Py_ssize_t[::1] new_Py_ssize_t_array(Py_ssize_t n):
+    cdef array a = array((n,), sizeof_Py_ssize_t, b"q", "c", False)
+    a.data = <char*>PyMem_Malloc(n * sizeof(Py_ssize_t))
+    a.callback_free_data = PyMem_Free
+    return a
 
 
 @auto_pickle(False)