diff --git a/.github/workflows/testing.yml b/.github/workflows/testing.yml
index bb55f562..5de4ea19 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/testing.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/testing.yml
@@ -61,14 +61,6 @@
        - name: spatial versions
          run: 'python -c "import geopandas; geopandas.show_versions();"'
 
-       - name: declare doctest run
-         run: |
-           if [[ $matrix.environment-file == 'ci/310-oldest.yaml' ]]; then
-               echo "DOCTEST='--doctest-modules'" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-           else
-               echo "DOCTEST=''" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-           fi
-
        - name: run tests
          run: |
            pytest \
@@ -81,8 +73,17 @@
            --cov-append \
            --cov-report term-missing \
            --cov-report xml \
-           --timeout 60 \
-           ${{ env.DOCTEST }}
+           --timeout 60
+
+       - name: run docstring tests
+         if: contains(matrix.environment-file, 'latest') || contains(matrix.environment-file, 'dev')
+         run: |
+           pytest \
+           -v \
+           -r a \
+           -n auto \
+           --color yes \
+           --doctest-only spaghetti
        
        - name: codecov
          uses: codecov/codecov-action@v4
diff --git a/ci/310-latest.yaml b/ci/310-latest.yaml
index 8b54d28d..a4cf8dbb 100644
--- a/ci/310-latest.yaml
+++ b/ci/310-latest.yaml
@@ -18,5 +18,6 @@ dependencies:
   - codecov
   - pytest
   - pytest-cov
+  - pytest-doctestplus
   - pytest-timeout
   - pytest-xdist
diff --git a/ci/311-latest.yaml b/ci/311-latest.yaml
index 1009c2cd..a5905322 100644
--- a/ci/311-latest.yaml
+++ b/ci/311-latest.yaml
@@ -18,5 +18,6 @@ dependencies:
   - codecov
   - pytest
   - pytest-cov
+  - pytest-doctestplus
   - pytest-timeout
   - pytest-xdist
diff --git a/ci/312-dev.yaml b/ci/312-dev.yaml
index bc08110e..d32b0418 100644
--- a/ci/312-dev.yaml
+++ b/ci/312-dev.yaml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ dependencies:
   - codecov
   - pytest
   - pytest-cov
+  - pytest-doctestplus
   - pytest-timeout
   - pytest-xdist
   - pip:
diff --git a/ci/312-latest.yaml b/ci/312-latest.yaml
index f2dbf802..b862aaf2 100644
--- a/ci/312-latest.yaml
+++ b/ci/312-latest.yaml
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ dependencies:
   - codecov
   - pytest
   - pytest-cov
+  - pytest-doctestplus
   - pytest-timeout
   - pytest-xdist
   # for docs build action (this env only)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ba4dbc30..2906aa0d 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ docs = [
 tests = [
     "pytest",
     "pytest-cov",
+    "pytest-doctestplus",
     "pytest-timeout",
     "pytest-xdist",
     "codecov",