diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/build/gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci/build/gitlab-ci.yml
index 8655b8c231c..312d658daa4 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci/build/gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/build/gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
     # instead timeout so that the retry mechanism can kick in.
     # A few exception are made, see overrides in the rest of this file.
     BUILD_JOB_TIMEOUT: 15m
+    RUN_MESON_TESTS: "true"
   timeout: 1h
   # We don't want to download any previous job's artifacts
   dependencies: []
@@ -118,6 +119,7 @@ debian-testing:
       -D tools=drm-shim
     S3_ARTIFACT_NAME: mesa-x86_64-default-${BUILDTYPE}
     LLVM_VERSION: 15
+    RUN_MESON_TESTS: "false" # debian-build-testing already runs these
   script:
     - *meson-build
     - .gitlab-ci/prepare-artifacts.sh
@@ -140,6 +142,7 @@ debian-testing-asan:
       -D mesa-clc=system
     S3_ARTIFACT_NAME: ""
     ARTIFACTS_DEBUG_SYMBOLS: 1
+    RUN_MESON_TESTS: "false" # just too slow
     # Do a host build for mesa-clc (asan complains not being loaded as
     # the first library)
     HOST_BUILD_OPTIONS: >
@@ -175,6 +178,7 @@ debian-testing-msan:
     MESON_TEST_ARGS: "--suite glcpp --suite format"
     GALLIUM_DRIVERS: "freedreno,iris,nouveau,r300,r600,llvmpipe,softpipe,svga,v3d,vc4,virgl,etnaviv,panfrost,lima,zink,radeonsi,tegra,d3d12,crocus"
     VULKAN_DRIVERS: intel,amd,broadcom,virtio
+    RUN_MESON_TESTS: "false" # just too slow
     # Do a host build for mesa-clc (msan complains about uninitialized
     # values in the LLVM libs)
     HOST_BUILD_OPTIONS: >
@@ -205,6 +209,7 @@ debian-testing-ubsan:
       -D mesa-clc=system
     S3_ARTIFACT_NAME: ""
     ARTIFACTS_DEBUG_SYMBOLS: 1
+    RUN_MESON_TESTS: "false" # just too slow
     HOST_BUILD_OPTIONS: >
       -D build-tests=false
       -D enable-glcpp-tests=false
@@ -547,6 +552,7 @@ debian-arm32-asan:
       -D valgrind=disabled
       -D tools=dlclose-skip
     ARTIFACTS_DEBUG_SYMBOLS: 1
+    RUN_MESON_TESTS: "false" # just too slow
     S3_ARTIFACT_NAME: mesa-arm32-asan-${BUILDTYPE}
     MESON_TEST_ARGS: "--no-suite mesa:compiler --no-suite mesa:util"
 
@@ -570,6 +576,7 @@ debian-arm64:
       -D teflon=true
     GALLIUM_ST:
       -D gallium-rusticl=true
+    RUN_MESON_TESTS: "false" # run by debian-arm64-build-testing
     S3_ARTIFACT_NAME: mesa-arm64-default-${BUILDTYPE}
   script:
     - *meson-build
@@ -587,8 +594,8 @@ debian-arm64-asan:
       -D valgrind=disabled
       -D tools=dlclose-skip
     ARTIFACTS_DEBUG_SYMBOLS: 1
+    RUN_MESON_TESTS: "false" # just too slow
     S3_ARTIFACT_NAME: mesa-arm64-asan-${BUILDTYPE}
-    MESON_TEST_ARGS: "--no-suite mesa:compiler"
 
 debian-arm64-ubsan:
   extends:
@@ -607,8 +614,8 @@ debian-arm64-ubsan:
     EXTRA_OPTION: >
       -D b_sanitize=undefined
     ARTIFACTS_DEBUG_SYMBOLS: 1
+    RUN_MESON_TESTS: "false" # just too slow
     S3_ARTIFACT_NAME: mesa-arm64-ubsan-${BUILDTYPE}
-    MESON_TEST_ARGS: "--no-suite mesa:compiler"
 
 debian-arm64-build-test:
   extends:
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/meson/build.sh b/.gitlab-ci/meson/build.sh
index 5279e180e76..03373ae8727 100755
--- a/.gitlab-ci/meson/build.sh
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/meson/build.sh
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ meson setup _build \
       -D prefix=$PWD/install \
       -D libdir=lib \
       -D buildtype=${BUILDTYPE:?} \
-      -D build-tests=true \
+      -D build-tests=${RUN_MESON_TESTS} \
       -D c_args="$(echo -n $C_ARGS)" \
       -D c_link_args="$(echo -n $C_LINK_ARGS)" \
       -D cpp_args="$(echo -n $CPP_ARGS)" \
@@ -182,9 +182,11 @@ uncollapsed_section_switch meson-build "meson: build"
 
 ninja
 
+if [ "${RUN_MESON_TESTS}" = "true" ]; then
+    uncollapsed_section_switch meson-test "meson: test"
+    LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 meson test --num-processes "${FDO_CI_CONCURRENT:-4}" --print-errorlogs ${MESON_TEST_ARGS}
+fi
 
-uncollapsed_section_switch meson-test "meson: test"
-LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 meson test --num-processes "${FDO_CI_CONCURRENT:-4}" --print-errorlogs ${MESON_TEST_ARGS}
 section_switch meson-install "meson: install"
 ninja install
 cd ..