diff --git a/.github/workflows/playwright.yml b/.github/workflows/playwright.yml
index b86002f3e2..4b6e1a805f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/playwright.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/playwright.yml
@@ -21,11 +21,22 @@ jobs:
   playwright-tests:
     timeout-minutes: 60
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    # Ships the browsers and the system libraries they need, which is the
+    # `playwright install --with-deps` step this job used to run. The tag
+    # has to match the `playwright-core` version resolved by the lockfile,
+    # or Playwright downloads a second set of browsers at runtime.
+    container:
+      image: mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.62.1-noble
+    env:
+      # The steps run as root while the runner's own /github/home belongs
+      # to the image's pwuser, and Firefox refuses to launch when $HOME is
+      # owned by somebody else
+      HOME: /root
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        shardIndex: [1, 2]
-        shardTotal: [2]
+        shardIndex: [1, 2, 3, 4]
+        shardTotal: [4]
     outputs:
       node-version: ${{ steps.versions.outputs.node-version }}
       package-manager-version: ${{ steps.versions.outputs.package-manager-version }}
@@ -50,9 +61,6 @@ jobs:
     - name: Install dependencies
       run: npm ci
 
-    - name: Install Playwright browsers
-      run: npx playwright install --with-deps
-
     - name: Run Playwright tests
       run: npm run test:component -- --shard='${{ matrix.shardIndex }}/${{ matrix.shardTotal }}'
 
diff --git a/playwright.config.ts b/playwright.config.ts
index c8c0253707..112ff17e6d 100644
--- a/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/playwright.config.ts
@@ -44,8 +44,11 @@ export default defineConfig({
 	forbidOnly: !!process.env.CI,
 	/* Retry on CI only */
 	retries: process.env.CI ? 2 : 0,
-	/* Opt out of parallel tests on CI. */
-	workers: process.env.CI ? 1 : undefined,
+	/* Two of the runner's four cores on CI, which is where the suite stops
+	   scaling: measured over the whole suite, one worker takes 6m19, two
+	   take 4m49 and four take 4m22, and four workers is also where a
+	   second test starts flaking. */
+	workers: process.env.CI ? 2 : undefined,
 
 	// On CI we are using the github annotations + blob which will be merged by workflow to a downloadable HTML report (like the one we receive locally)
 	reporter: process.env.CI ? 'blob' : 'html',