diff --git a/.github/workflows/testing.yml b/.github/workflows/testing.yml
index 2c4206b..d042330 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/testing.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/testing.yml
@@ -22,14 +22,14 @@ jobs:
         pip install -r tests-requirements.txt
         pip install -r requirements.txt
         npm install -g remark-cli remark-validate-links
-    - name: Run sequential tests
+    - name: Run with 1 worker
       run: |
         ./tests.sh
       env:
         DOTDROP_FORCE_NODEBUG: yes
         DOTDROP_NOBANNER: yes
         DOTDROP_WORKERS: 1
-    - name: Run parallel tests
+    - name: Run with 4 workers
       run: |
         ./tests.sh
       env:
diff --git a/docs/usage.md b/docs/usage.md
index 7ab489e..75c6d42 100644
--- a/docs/usage.md
+++ b/docs/usage.md
@@ -236,8 +236,8 @@ For more options, see the usage with `dotdrop --help`.
 
 ## Concurrency
 
-The command line switch `-w`/`--workers`, if set to a value greater than one, allowing to use
-multiple concurrent workers to execute an operation. It can be applied to the following
+The command line switch `-w`/`--workers`, if set to a value greater than one, enables the use
+of multiple concurrent workers to execute an operation. It can be applied to the following
 commands:
 
 * `install`
diff --git a/test-ng.sh b/test-ng.sh
index d9d8542..f004a7c 100755
--- a/test-ng.sh
+++ b/test-ng.sh
@@ -36,7 +36,9 @@ if [ -z ${GITHUB_WORKFLOW} ]; then
 else
   ## CI/CD
   export COVERAGE_FILE="${cur}/.coverage"
-  tests-ng/tests-launcher.py
+  # running multiple jobs in parallel sometimes
+  # messes with the results on remote servers
+  tests-ng/tests-launcher.py 1
 fi
 
 # clear workdir
diff --git a/tests-ng/chmod-compare.sh b/tests-ng/chmod-compare.sh
index 035227f..6cf2ac3 100755
--- a/tests-ng/chmod-compare.sh
+++ b/tests-ng/chmod-compare.sh
@@ -128,9 +128,10 @@ chmod 700 ${fnormal}
 chmod 700 ${flink}
 
 set +e
-cnt=`cd ${ddpath} | ${bin} compare -c ${cfg} -p p1 2>&1 | grep 'modes differ' | wc -l`
+out=`cd ${ddpath} | ${bin} compare -c ${cfg} -p p1 2>&1`
+cnt=$(echo "${out}" | grep 'modes differ' | wc -l)
 set -e
-[ "${cnt}" != "5" ] && echo "compare modes failed (${cnt})" && exit 1
+[ "${cnt}" != "5" ] && echo "${out}" && echo "compare modes failed (${cnt}, expecting 5)" && exit 1
 
 echo "OK"
 exit 0
diff --git a/tests-ng/tests-launcher.py b/tests-ng/tests-launcher.py
index d68345a..010e20f 100755
--- a/tests-ng/tests-launcher.py
+++ b/tests-ng/tests-launcher.py
@@ -15,11 +15,12 @@ from halo import Halo
 
 
 LOG_FILE = '/tmp/dotdrop-tests-launcher.log'
+GITHUB_ENV = 'GITHUB_WORKFLOW'
 
 
 def is_cicd():
     """are we in a CICD env (github actions)"""
-    return 'GITHUB_WORKFLOW' in os.environ
+    return GITHUB_ENV in os.environ
 
 
 def run_test(logfd, path):
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ def main():
     if not is_cicd():
         logfd = open(LOG_FILE, 'w', encoding='utf-8')
     if max_jobs:
-        logfd.write(f'start with {max_jobs} parallel worker(s)\n')
+        logfd.write(f'run tests with {max_jobs} parallel job(s)\n')
     logfd.write(f'running {len(tests)} test(s)\n')
     logfd.flush()