diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-build-crates.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-build-crates.yml
index e12f6031cb8..eee6992db3a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-build-crates.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-build-crates.yml
@@ -102,6 +102,8 @@ jobs:
     needs: [ matrix, check-matrix ]
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
+      # avoid rate-limit errors by only launching a few of these jobs at a time
+      max-parallel: 2
       fail-fast: true
       matrix: ${{ fromJson(needs.matrix.outputs.matrix) }}