diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index f107732..1a69ca2 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -36,19 +36,19 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - checkout
       - set_up_node_modules
-      - run: yarn test
+      - run: yarn test --ci
   test_full:
     executor: node12
     steps:
       - checkout
       - set_up_node_modules
-      - run: yarn test --full
+      - run: yarn test --full --ci
   test_full_10:
     executor: node10
     steps:
       - checkout
       - set_up_node_modules
-      - run: yarn test --full
+      - run: yarn test --full --ci
 
 workflows:
   version: 2
@@ -60,13 +60,13 @@ workflows:
             branches:
               only:
                 - master
-                - ci-test
+                - /ci-.*/
       - test_full_10:
           filters:
             branches:
               only:
                 - master
-                - ci-test
+                - /ci-.*/
   nightly:
     triggers:
       - schedule:
diff --git a/config/env.js b/config/env.js
index 8355a94..c703f86 100644
--- a/config/env.js
+++ b/config/env.js
@@ -68,6 +68,10 @@ process.env.NODE_PATH = (process.env.NODE_PATH || "")
 // this optional. However, note that this computation is performed at
 // build time, so end users of SourceCred as a library or application
 // should not need this dependency.
+//
+// Note: Calling `getGitState` inside test code seems to increase memory usage,
+// potentially leading to CI out-of-memory failures. We should investigate
+// this, and consider making `getGitState` a compile step for test code.
 function getGitState() /*: GitState */ {
   const env = {
     GIT_ATTR_NOSYSTEM: "1",
diff --git a/config/test.js b/config/test.js
index 3f83a65..5a73afd 100644
--- a/config/test.js
+++ b/config/test.js
@@ -10,18 +10,20 @@ function main() {
   const options = parseArgs();
   const printVerboseResults = options.mode === "FULL";
   const runOptions = {printVerboseResults};
-  const tasks = makeTasks(options.mode);
+  const tasks = makeTasks(options.mode, options.limitMemoryUsage);
   execDependencyGraph(tasks, runOptions).then(({success}) => {
     process.exitCode = success ? 0 : 1;
   });
 }
 
 function parseArgs() {
-  const options = {mode: "BASIC"};
+  const options = {mode: "BASIC", limitMemoryUsage: false};
   const args = process.argv.slice(2);
   for (const arg of args) {
     if (arg === "--full") {
       options.mode = "FULL";
+    } else if (arg === "--ci") {
+      options.limitMemoryUsage = true;
     } else {
       throw new Error("unknown argument: " + JSON.stringify(arg));
     }
@@ -29,7 +31,10 @@ function parseArgs() {
   return options;
 }
 
-function makeTasks(mode /*: "BASIC" | "FULL" */) {
+function makeTasks(
+  mode /*: "BASIC" | "FULL" */,
+  limitMemoryUsage /*: boolean */
+) {
   const backendOutput = tmp.dirSync({
     unsafeCleanup: true,
     prefix: "sourcecred-test-",
@@ -72,7 +77,7 @@ function makeTasks(mode /*: "BASIC" | "FULL" */) {
     },
     {
       id: "unit",
-      cmd: ["yarn", "run", "--silent", "unit", "--ci", "--maxWorkers=4"],
+      cmd: ["yarn", "run", "--silent", "unit", "--ci"],
       deps: [],
     },
     {
@@ -129,12 +134,30 @@ function makeTasks(mode /*: "BASIC" | "FULL" */) {
       deps: ["backend"],
     },
   ];
-  switch (mode) {
-    case "BASIC":
-      return basicTasks;
-    case "FULL":
-      return [].concat(basicTasks, extraTasks);
-    default:
-      /*:: (mode: empty); */ throw new Error(mode);
+  const tasks = (function() {
+    switch (mode) {
+      case "BASIC":
+        return basicTasks;
+      case "FULL":
+        return [].concat(basicTasks, extraTasks);
+      default:
+        /*:: (mode: empty); */ throw new Error(mode);
+    }
+  })();
+  if (limitMemoryUsage) {
+    // We've had issues with our tests flakily failing in CI, due to apparent
+    // memory issues. I've found that if we both limit the maxWorkers to 2, and
+    // ensure that nothing else runs at the same time as jest, then it stops
+    // flakily failing.
+    tasks.forEach((task) => {
+      if (task.id === "unit") {
+        task.cmd.push("--maxWorkers=2");
+      } else {
+        // Ensure that everything else depends on unit tests, so unit tests
+        // will run first and run alone.
+        task.deps.push("unit");
+      }
+    });
   }
+  return tasks;
 }