diff --git a/packages/build/ava.config.js b/packages/build/ava.config.js
index bd1721aef1..394e0048b8 100644
--- a/packages/build/ava.config.js
+++ b/packages/build/ava.config.js
@@ -1,8 +1,14 @@
+import { platform } from 'node:os'
+import { env } from 'node:process'
+
 import baseConfig from '../../ava.base.js'
 
 const config = {
   ...baseConfig,
   files: ['tests/**/tests.{cjs,mjs,js}'],
+  // github action runners for osx have lower memory than windows/linux
+  // https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-github-hosted-runners/using-github-hosted-runners/about-github-hosted-runners#standard-github-hosted-runners-for-public-repositories
+  serial: env.GITHUB_ACTIONS && platform() === 'darwin',
 }
 
 export default config
diff --git a/packages/build/package.json b/packages/build/package.json
index 057ea23388..665dfb818e 100644
--- a/packages/build/package.json
+++ b/packages/build/package.json
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
     "test:dev": "ava -w",
     "test:ci": "run-p test:ci:*",
     "test:ci:types": "tsd",
-    "test:ci:ava": "c8 -r lcovonly -r text -r json ava --serial",
+    "test:ci:ava": "c8 -r lcovonly -r text -r json ava",
     "test:ci:vitest": "vitest run"
   },
   "keywords": [