diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-docker.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-docker.yml
index 30aa511e29..71dedd65aa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-docker.yml
@@ -182,8 +182,8 @@ jobs:
       contents: read  # actions/checkout to load the test configs
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
-      # Cap concurrency so this smoke test doesn't hog all the shared runners.
-      max-parallel: 2
+      # Modest cap so this smoke test leaves room on the shared runner pool.
+      max-parallel: 8
       matrix:
         # One entry per distinct toolchain. ESP32 variants (c3/c6/s2/s3/p4)
         # share a toolchain bundle, so esp32 is exercised on the base variant
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 388ef3d37b..735ba73c99 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -516,7 +516,6 @@ jobs:
       ESPHOME_SDK_NRF_PREFIX: ~/.esphome-sdk-nrf
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
-      max-parallel: 2
       matrix:
         include:
           - id: clang-tidy
@@ -707,7 +706,6 @@ jobs:
       ESPHOME_ESP_IDF_PREFIX: ~/.esphome-idf
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
-      max-parallel: 3
       matrix:
         include:
           - id: clang-tidy
@@ -787,7 +785,6 @@ jobs:
       ESPHOME_ESP_IDF_PREFIX: ~/.esphome-idf
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
-      max-parallel: 3
       matrix:
         include:
           - id: clang-tidy
@@ -874,7 +871,7 @@ jobs:
       ESPHOME_SDK_NRF_PREFIX: ~/.esphome-sdk-nrf
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
-      max-parallel: ${{ (startsWith(github.base_ref, 'beta') || startsWith(github.base_ref, 'release')) && 8 || 4 }}
+      max-parallel: ${{ (startsWith(github.base_ref, 'beta') || startsWith(github.base_ref, 'release')) && 32 || 16 }}
       matrix:
         batch: ${{ fromJson(needs.determine-jobs.outputs.component-test-batches) }}
     steps: