diff --git a/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml b/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
index 7f5bd6356..4e90e609d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
@@ -33,11 +33,7 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         config:
-          - {os: macOS-latest,   r: 'release', rtools: ''}
           - {os: windows-latest, r: 'release', rtools: '42'}
-          - {os: ubuntu-latest,   r: 'release', rtools: ''}
-          - {os: ubuntu-latest,   r: 'oldrel-1', rtools: ''}
-          - {os: ubuntu-latest,   r: 'devel', rtools: ''}
 
     env:
       GITHUB_PAT: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
@@ -56,6 +52,12 @@ jobs:
           use-public-rspm: true
           rtools-version: ${{ matrix.config.rtools }}
 
+      - name: check build config
+        run: |
+          install.packages("pkgbuild")
+          pkgbuild::check_build_tools(debug = TRUE)
+        shell: Rscript {0}
+
       - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2
         with:
           dependencies: NA
@@ -63,9 +65,18 @@ jobs:
             dplyr
             rmarkdown
             rcmdcheck
-            stan-dev/cmdstanr
             testthat
 
+      - name: check build config
+        run: |
+          pkgbuild::check_build_tools(debug = TRUE)
+        shell: Rscript {0}
+
+      - name: Install cmdstanr
+        run: |
+          install.packages("cmdstanr", repos = c("https://mc-stan.org/r-packages/", getOption("repos")))
+        shell: Rscript {0}
+
       - name: Install cmdstan
         if: runner.os != 'Windows'
         run: |