diff --git a/testing/cpm/CMakeLists.txt b/testing/cpm/CMakeLists.txt
index 1120e47f..b8e66ac1 100644
--- a/testing/cpm/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/testing/cpm/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -56,16 +56,16 @@ add_cmake_config_test( cpm_gbench-simple.cmake )
 add_cmake_config_test( cpm_gtest-export.cmake )
 add_cmake_config_test( cpm_gtest-simple.cmake )
 
-add_cmake_config_test( cpm_libcudacxx-after_cpmfind.cmake )
+add_cmake_config_test( cpm_libcudacxx-after_cpmfind.cmake SERIAL)
 add_cmake_config_test( cpm_libcudacxx-export.cmake )
 add_cmake_config_test( cpm_libcudacxx-simple.cmake )
 add_cmake_build_test( cpm_libcudacxx-verify-install-custom-libdir )
 
-add_cmake_config_test( cpm_nvbench-export.cmake )
-add_cmake_config_test( cpm_nvbench-simple.cmake )
-add_cmake_config_test( cpm_nvbench-already-found-fmt.cmake )
-add_cmake_build_test( cpm_nvbench-conda.cmake )
-add_cmake_build_test( cpm_nvbench-conda-fmt.cmake )
+add_cmake_config_test( cpm_nvbench-export.cmake SERIAL )
+add_cmake_config_test( cpm_nvbench-simple.cmake SERIAL)
+add_cmake_config_test( cpm_nvbench-already-found-fmt.cmake SERIAL)
+add_cmake_build_test( cpm_nvbench-conda.cmake SERIAL)
+add_cmake_build_test( cpm_nvbench-conda-fmt.cmake SERIAL)
 
 add_cmake_config_test( cpm_nvcomp-export.cmake )
 add_cmake_config_test( cpm_nvcomp-proprietary-off.cmake )
diff --git a/testing/test/CMakeLists.txt b/testing/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 9953c36e..7466281e 100644
--- a/testing/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/testing/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ if(RAPIDS_CMAKE_TESTING_GPU_COUNT GREATER 0)
   add_cmake_ctest_test(add-allocation-simple)
   add_cmake_ctest_test(add-allocation-throws-runtime-error)
   add_cmake_ctest_test(add-multi-allocations-same-gpu)
-  add_cmake_ctest_test(add-multi-jobs-single-gpu)
+  add_cmake_ctest_test(add-multi-jobs-single-gpu SERIAL)
   add_cmake_ctest_test(no_add-with-cpp-handler-from-docs)
   add_cmake_ctest_test(no_add-with-no-resource-spec)
 endif()
diff --git a/testing/utils/cmake_test.cmake b/testing/utils/cmake_test.cmake
index 6d6b1d0d..61c87567 100644
--- a/testing/utils/cmake_test.cmake
+++ b/testing/utils/cmake_test.cmake
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ adds a test for each generator:
 
   add_cmake_build_test( (config|build|test|install)
                          <SourceOrDir>
+                         [SERIAL]
                          [SHOULD_FAIL <expected error message string>]
                       )
 
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ adds a test for each generator:
 
 #]=======================================================================]
 function(add_cmake_test mode source_or_dir)
-  set(options)
+  set(options SERIAL)
   set(one_value SHOULD_FAIL)
   set(multi_value)
   cmake_parse_arguments(RAPIDS_TEST "${options}" "${one_value}" "${multi_value}" ${ARGN})
@@ -141,6 +142,17 @@ function(add_cmake_test mode source_or_dir)
       message(FATAL_ERROR "${mode} mode not one of the valid modes (config|build|install) by add_cmake_build_test")
     endif()
 
+    if(RAPIDS_TEST_SERIAL)
+      set_tests_properties(${test_name} PROPERTIES RUN_SERIAL ON)
+      if(TEST ${test_name}_configure)
+        message(STATUS "${test_name}_configure is serial")
+        set_tests_properties(${test_name}_configure PROPERTIES RUN_SERIAL ON)
+      endif()
+      if(TEST ${test_name}_build)
+        set_tests_properties(${test_name}_build PROPERTIES RUN_SERIAL ON)
+      endif()
+    endif()
+
     if(RAPIDS_TEST_SHOULD_FAIL)
       # Make sure we have a match
       set_tests_properties(${test_name} PROPERTIES WILL_FAIL ON)