diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-macos-compat.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-macos-compat.yml
index 96c3ba2ff86..43285cffd18 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-macos-compat.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-macos-compat.yml
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ jobs:
 
           BASE_SHA="${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}"
           HEAD_SHA="${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}"
-          git fetch --no-tags --depth=1 origin "${BASE_SHA}" "${HEAD_SHA}"
+          git fetch --no-tags origin "${BASE_SHA}" "${HEAD_SHA}"
           CHANGED_FILES="$(git diff --name-only "${BASE_SHA}...${HEAD_SHA}")"
           RUN_COMPAT_TESTS=false
           if [[ -z "${CHANGED_FILES}" ]]; then
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run unit tests
         env:
           PROGRAMA_SKIP_ZIG_BUILD: ${{ matrix.skip_zig && '1' || '0' }}
-          PROGRAMA_UNIT_TEST_SCOPE: split-stateful
+          PROGRAMA_UNIT_TEST_SCOPE: serial
         run: |
           ./scripts/ci-run-unit-tests.sh
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 2dc43cbcd88..f3636e6ecd5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ jobs:
 
           BASE_SHA="${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}"
           HEAD_SHA="${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}"
-          git fetch --no-tags --depth=1 origin "${BASE_SHA}" "${HEAD_SHA}"
+          git fetch --no-tags origin "${BASE_SHA}" "${HEAD_SHA}"
           CHANGED_FILES="$(git diff --name-only "${BASE_SHA}...${HEAD_SHA}")"
           RUN_APP_JOBS=false
           RUN_REMOTE_DAEMON_JOBS=false
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Run unit tests
         env:
-          PROGRAMA_UNIT_TEST_SCOPE: split-stateful
+          PROGRAMA_UNIT_TEST_SCOPE: serial
         run: ./scripts/ci-run-unit-tests.sh
 
       - name: Run bundled Ghostty theme picker helper regression
diff --git a/scripts/ci-run-unit-tests.sh b/scripts/ci-run-unit-tests.sh
index 83056107c5c..cee891db623 100755
--- a/scripts/ci-run-unit-tests.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci-run-unit-tests.sh
@@ -76,15 +76,16 @@ run_unit_tests_with_retry() {
 run_suite() {
   local mode="${1:-serial}"
   local label="${2:-Unit tests}"
+  local exit_code=0
 
-  if run_unit_tests_with_retry "$mode"; then
-    return 0
-  fi
+  # Capture the status directly; `$?` after a branchless `if` is always 0,
+  # which silently turned test failures into successes.
+  run_unit_tests_with_retry "$mode" || exit_code=$?
 
-  local exit_code=$?
-  # run_unit_tests_with_retry failures can carry non-zero statuses; keep that signal.
-  echo "${label} failed with exit code $exit_code"
-  exit "$exit_code"
+  if [[ "$exit_code" -ne 0 ]]; then
+    echo "${label} failed with exit code $exit_code"
+    exit "$exit_code"
+  fi
 }
 
 if [[ "$TEST_SCOPE" == "split-stateful" ]]; then
diff --git a/tests/test_ci_unit_test_runner_behavior.sh b/tests/test_ci_unit_test_runner_behavior.sh
index 2cd959a0c61..62eb8babdaf 100755
--- a/tests/test_ci_unit_test_runner_behavior.sh
+++ b/tests/test_ci_unit_test_runner_behavior.sh
@@ -33,8 +33,9 @@ log_call() {
 
 case "${TEST_SCENARIO:?}" in
   split-stateful)
-    log_call "$0 -skip-testing:${STATEFUL_TEST_CLASS} -parallel-testing-enabled YES"
-    log_call "$0 -only-testing:${STATEFUL_TEST_CLASS} -skip-testing:${STATEFUL_TEST_SKIP} -parallel-testing-enabled NO"
+    # Log the arguments the runner actually passed; the runner is expected to
+    # invoke xcodebuild once per pass (parallel, then stateful).
+    log_call "$0 $*"
     echo "Test Suite 'All tests' passed"
     exit 0
     ;;