diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 130b06d5..f228695d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -21,12 +21,16 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade pip
           pip install -e .[dev]
-      - name: Install Playwright browsers
-        if: matrix.tier == 'e2e'
-        uses: microsoft/playwright-github-action@v1
       - name: Prepare repo-local temp directories
         run: |
           mkdir -p dev/test-runs/{tmp,pytest-tmp,artifacts,downloads,pw-browsers}
+      - name: Install Playwright browsers (repo-local, no root)
+        if: matrix.tier == 'e2e'
+        env:
+          PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH: ${{ github.workspace }}/dev/test-runs/pw-browsers
+          TMPDIR: ${{ github.workspace }}/dev/test-runs/tmp
+        run: |
+          python -m playwright install chromium
       - name: Run tests by tier
         env:
           SCIDK_E2E: ${{ matrix.tier == 'e2e' && '1' || '0' }}