diff --git a/.azure/gpu-pipeline.yml b/.azure/gpu-pipeline.yml
index b07ca430195..dd40baf7176 100644
--- a/.azure/gpu-pipeline.yml
+++ b/.azure/gpu-pipeline.yml
@@ -101,11 +101,13 @@ jobs:
       displayName: 'Sanity check'
 
     - bash: |
+        printf "cache location: $(TORCH_HOME)\n"
+        mkdir -p $(TORCH_HOME)  # in case cache was void
+        ls -lh $(TORCH_HOME)
         printf "cache location: $(TRANSFORMERS_CACHE)\n"
-        # printf "hit the HF cache: $(variables.HF_CACHE_RESTORED)\n"
         mkdir -p $(TRANSFORMERS_CACHE)  # in case cache was void
-        ls -lh $(TRANSFORMERS_CACHE)  # show what was restored...
-      displayName: 'Show HF cache'
+        ls -lh $(TRANSFORMERS_CACHE)
+      displayName: 'Show caches'
 
     - bash: python -m pytest torchmetrics --timeout=180 --durations=50
       env:
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 25e8822c73a..254bbdb6a8f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ ______________________________________________________________________
 ![Conda](https://img.shields.io/conda/dn/conda-forge/torchmetrics)
 [![license](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Apache%202.0-blue.svg)](https://github.com/Lightning-AI/metrics/blob/master/LICENSE)
 
-[![CI testing - complete](https://github.com/Lightning-AI/metrics/actions/workflows/ci_test-full.yml/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/Lightning-AI/metrics/actions/workflows/ci_test-full.yml)
+[![CI testing - complete](https://github.com/Lightning-AI/metrics/actions/workflows/ci-tests-full.yml/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/Lightning-AI/metrics/actions/workflows/ci-tests-full.yml)
 [![Build Status](https://dev.azure.com/Lightning-AI/Metrics/_apis/build/status/Lightning-AI.metrics?branchName=master)](https://dev.azure.com/Lightning-AI/Metrics/_build/latest?definitionId=3&branchName=master)
 [![codecov](https://codecov.io/gh/Lightning-AI/metrics/branch/master/graph/badge.svg?token=NER6LPI3HS)](https://codecov.io/gh/Lightning-AI/metrics)
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index d73c0cf3f31..0c63ade6bd5 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ def _parse_requirements(strs: Union[str, Iterable[str]]) -> Iterator[_Requiremen
                 line += next(lines)
             except StopIteration:
                 return
+        if "@" in line or re.search("https?://", line):
+            # skip lines with links like `pesq @ git+https://github.com/ludlows/python-pesq`
+            continue
         # If there's a pip argument, save it
         if line.startswith("--"):
             pip_argument = line