diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index ff3fa4c..7217c0c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ env:
 
 jobs:
   lint:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-26.04
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v7
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ jobs:
         run: hatch fmt
 
   unit-test:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-26.04
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v7
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ jobs:
 
 
   build:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-26.04
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v7
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ jobs:
     if: ${{ inputs.version != '' }}
     needs:
       - build
-    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-26.04
     steps:
       - name: Download Sdist and Wheel from GitHub
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ jobs:
     # The simple docs tool we're using doesn't support versions, so our docs
     # will only reflect what's in main.
     if: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' }}
-    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    runs-on: ubuntu-26.04
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v7
diff --git a/crossplane/function/cli.py b/crossplane/function/cli.py
index ee22bdf..e18967c 100644
--- a/crossplane/function/cli.py
+++ b/crossplane/function/cli.py
@@ -56,12 +56,21 @@ def cli(cache_size, **kwargs):
 def standard_options(func: F) -> F:
     """Apply the standard Composition Function CLI options to a Click command."""
 
+    @click.option(
+        "--max-send-message-size",
+        type=int,
+        default=None,
+        envvar="MAX_SEND_MESSAGE_SIZE",
+        help="Maximum size of sent gRPC messages in MB. "
+        "Defaults to --max-recv-message-size.",
+    )
     @click.option(
         "--max-recv-message-size",
+        "--max-grpc-message-size",
         type=int,
         default=DEFAULT_MAX_RECV_MESSAGE_SIZE,
         show_default=True,
-        envvar="MAX_RECV_MESSAGE_SIZE",
+        envvar=["MAX_RECV_MESSAGE_SIZE", "MAX_GRPC_MESSAGE_SIZE"],
         help="Maximum size of received gRPC messages in MB.",
     )
     @click.option(
@@ -107,15 +116,18 @@ def run(  # noqa: PLR0913
     tls_certs_dir: str | None,
     insecure: bool,
     max_recv_message_size: int,
+    max_send_message_size: int | None,
 ) -> None:
     """Start a composition function gRPC server with standard options."""
     level = logging.Level.DEBUG if debug else logging.Level.INFO
     logging.configure(level=level)
 
-    size_bytes = max_recv_message_size * 1024 * 1024
+    if max_send_message_size is None:
+        max_send_message_size = max_recv_message_size
+
     options = [
-        ("grpc.max_receive_message_length", size_bytes),
-        ("grpc.max_send_message_length", size_bytes),
+        ("grpc.max_receive_message_length", max_recv_message_size * 1024 * 1024),
+        ("grpc.max_send_message_length", max_send_message_size * 1024 * 1024),
     ]
 
     runtime.serve(
diff --git a/crossplane/function/runtime.py b/crossplane/function/runtime.py
index a6e465e..827460a 100644
--- a/crossplane/function/runtime.py
+++ b/crossplane/function/runtime.py
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ def serve(
         loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
     except RuntimeError:
         loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
+        asyncio.set_event_loop(loop)
 
     server = grpc.aio.server(options=options)
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index a2d3368..29866f8 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ dependencies = [
   "click==8.*",
   "grpcio==1.84.0",
   "grpcio-reflection==1.*",
-  "protobuf==7.36.1", # Must be compatible with grpcio-tools.
+  "protobuf==7.36.2", # Must be compatible with grpcio-tools.
   "pydantic==2.*",
   "structlog==26.*",
 ]