diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index 67366c7..97c6dae 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -152,7 +152,9 @@ jobs:
   # down): check the mirror, or unset BUILD_ON to build here.
   github:
     if: ${{ vars.BUILD_ON == 'github' }}
-    runs-on: light
+    # Its own runner label with plenty of slots: this job only polls, but holds a slot
+    # for as long as the GitHub build takes, and must not starve the build runners.
+    runs-on: wait
     timeout-minutes: 150
     container:
       image: node:22-bookworm-slim@sha256:48e4b67d85f87bd551df43704e24d252f56cc5f8e9718841aace50f19948f0f9 # 22-bookworm-slim