diff --git a/fdb-record-layer-core/src/test/java/com/apple/foundationdb/record/provider/foundationdb/SynchronizedSessionTest.java b/fdb-record-layer-core/src/test/java/com/apple/foundationdb/record/provider/foundationdb/SynchronizedSessionTest.java
index 4c6cfb193b..2656ad6140 100644
--- a/fdb-record-layer-core/src/test/java/com/apple/foundationdb/record/provider/foundationdb/SynchronizedSessionTest.java
+++ b/fdb-record-layer-core/src/test/java/com/apple/foundationdb/record/provider/foundationdb/SynchronizedSessionTest.java
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ private void assertFailedContinueSession(SynchronizedSessionRunner synchronizedS
     private static Thread createThread(Collection<? super Throwable> uncaughtExceptions, Runnable task) {
         Thread t = new Thread(task);
         t.setName("synchronized-session-test-" + threadCounter.getAndIncrement());
-        t.setDaemon(true);
+        t.setDaemon(false);
         t.setUncaughtExceptionHandler((thread, exception) -> {
             LOGGER.error(KeyValueLogMessage.of("Uncaught exception in thread",
                     "thread", thread.getName()
diff --git a/fdb-record-layer-core/src/test/java/com/apple/foundationdb/record/query/plan/cascades/BooleanValueTest.java b/fdb-record-layer-core/src/test/java/com/apple/foundationdb/record/query/plan/cascades/BooleanValueTest.java
index 67b60e23cf..b848ed3faa 100644
--- a/fdb-record-layer-core/src/test/java/com/apple/foundationdb/record/query/plan/cascades/BooleanValueTest.java
+++ b/fdb-record-layer-core/src/test/java/com/apple/foundationdb/record/query/plan/cascades/BooleanValueTest.java
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtensionContext;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.parallel.Execution;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.parallel.ExecutionMode;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.Arguments;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.ArgumentsProvider;
@@ -71,6 +73,7 @@
  *   <li>Nullability tests.</li>
  * </ul>
  */
+@Execution(ExecutionMode.SAME_THREAD) // necessary as the debugger can do weird things with the current quantifier if run in multiple threads
 class BooleanValueTest {
     private static final FieldValue F = FieldValue.ofFieldName(QuantifiedObjectValue.of(Quantifier.current(), Type.Record.fromFields(true, ImmutableList.of(Type.Record.Field.of(Type.primitiveType(Type.TypeCode.INT), Optional.of("f"))))), "f");
     private static final LiteralValue<Boolean> BOOL_TRUE = new LiteralValue<>(Type.primitiveType(Type.TypeCode.BOOLEAN), true);
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index a26ba490ba..84550c3d90 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -35,6 +35,6 @@ apiVersion=710
 
 mavenLocalEnabled=false
 org.gradle.daemon=true
-testConcurrency=10
+testConcurrency=5
 
 url = 'https://github.com/FoundationDB/fdb-record-layer/'
diff --git a/gradle/testing.gradle b/gradle/testing.gradle
index 78f1965493..6900c24bae 100644
--- a/gradle/testing.gradle
+++ b/gradle/testing.gradle
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ tasks.withType(Test).configureEach { task ->
         }
         task.testFramework.options.excludeTags.add('Performance')
 
-        if (task.name == 'test') {
+        if (task.name == 'test' && project.name in ['fdb-extensions', 'fdb-record-layer-core', 'fdb-record-layer-lucene', 'fdb-record-layer-icu', 'fdb-record-layer-spatial']) {
             task.systemProperty('junit.jupiter.execution.parallel.enabled', 'true')
             task.systemProperty('junit.jupiter.execution.parallel.mode.default', 'concurrent')
             task.systemProperty('junit.jupiter.execution.parallel.mode.classes.default', 'concurrent')