diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/ci_tests.yml
index 896de338ccd..63b2924cfc8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_tests.yml
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ jobs:
             HOST_CONFIG: /spack-generated.cmake
 
           - name: Ubuntu debug (20.04, gcc 10.5.0, open-mpi 4.0.3) - github codespaces
+            BUILD_AND_TEST_CLI_ARGS: "--no-run-unit-tests"
             CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE: Debug
             DOCKER_REPOSITORY: geosx/ubuntu20.04-gcc10
             BUILD_SHARED_LIBS: ON
@@ -235,6 +236,7 @@ jobs:
 
     uses: ./.github/workflows/build_and_test.yml
     with:
+      BUILD_AND_TEST_CLI_ARGS: ${{ matrix.BUILD_AND_TEST_CLI_ARGS || '' }}
       BUILD_SHARED_LIBS: ${{ matrix.BUILD_SHARED_LIBS }}
       CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE: ${{ matrix.CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE }}
       DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG: ${{ needs.is_not_draft_pull_request.outputs.DOCKER_IMAGE_TAG }}