diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/self-deploy.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/self-deploy.yml
index fdc69c79a..212dd98c9 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/self-deploy.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/self-deploy.yml
@@ -63,14 +63,14 @@ jobs:
       - name: Typecheck extensions
         run: npm run typecheck:extensions
 
-      - name: Unit tests
-        continue-on-error: true
-        # Tests are advisory on the CI runner for now: rust-engine native
-        # addon isn't precompiled for the alpine pod (JS fallback works,
-        # but some tests assert the native path), and a few app tests need
-        # source fixes. Don't block the deploy chain on these — the image
-        # build (next step) is the source of truth for what ships.
-        run: npm run test:unit
+      # test:unit removed from the deploy workflow: it takes 10+ min on
+      # the alpine runner because the rust-engine native addon isn't
+      # precompiled, so every test that uses the native parser/text path
+      # falls back to JS and is slow. Tests still run in:
+      #   - dev machines (`npm run test:unit`)
+      #   - the docker image build itself (Dockerfile runs them)
+      # Re-enable here when prebuilt @singularity-forge/engine-linux-x64-*
+      # ships in the npm tarball.
 
       - name: Resolve image name
         id: image