diff --git a/.github/workflows/checks.yml b/.github/workflows/checks.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index c62349a0ef..0000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/checks.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
----
-name: Checks
-
-on:
-  push:
-    branches: [main]
-  pull_request:
-    branches: [main]
-
-permissions:
-  contents: read
-
-jobs:
-  rake_checks:
-    name: AIO Package Rake Checks
-    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
-    steps:
-      # needs fetch-depth because the packaging dem reads old git tags
-      - name: Checkout current PR
-        uses: actions/checkout@v5
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-      - name: Install Ruby version 3.3
-        uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
-        with:
-          ruby-version: 3.3
-          bundler-cache: true
-      - name: Validate code
-        run: |
-          cd packaging
-          bundle exec rake rubocop
-          bundle exec rake -T | grep vox:build
-          bundle exec rake -T | grep vox:promote
-          bundle exec rake -T | grep vox:upload
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
index fb081b5a4d..0e4bc2f9ce 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
@@ -63,7 +63,12 @@ jobs:
           bundler-cache: true
       - name: Output Ruby Environment
         run: bundle env
-
+      - name: Build gem for all platforms
+        run: bundle exec rake pl_ci:gem_build
+      # Windows tests fail if the gem is in the filesystem
+      - name: Cleanup builds
+        if: runner.os == 'Windows'
+        run: Remove-Item -Path *.gem
       - name: Run tests on Windows
         if: runner.os == 'Windows'
         run: |
@@ -85,7 +90,7 @@ jobs:
           ruby -ropenssl -e 'puts "OpenSSL Version - #{OpenSSL::OPENSSL_VERSION}"; puts "OpenSSL Library Version - #{OpenSSL::OPENSSL_LIBRARY_VERSION}"'
 
           # Run tests
-          bundle exec rake parallel:spec[2]
+          bundle exec rake parallel:spec
 
       - name: Run tests on Linux
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
@@ -102,11 +107,34 @@ jobs:
 
           bundle exec rake parallel:spec
 
+  rake_checks:
+    name: AIO Package Rake Checks
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    steps:
+      # needs fetch-depth because the packaging dem reads old git tags
+      - name: Checkout current PR
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Install Ruby version 3.3
+        uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
+        with:
+          ruby-version: 3.3
+          bundler-cache: true
+      - name: Validate code
+        run: |
+          bundle exec rake rubocop
+          bundle exec rake -T | grep vox:build
+          bundle exec rake -T | grep vox:promote
+          bundle exec rake -T | grep vox:upload
+        working-directory: packaging
+
   tests:
     if: always()
     needs:
       - checks
       - rspec_tests
+      - rake_checks
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     name: Test suite
     steps:
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index d0f85faf68..78ac84d47a 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -61,10 +61,10 @@ namespace :pl_ci do
   task :gem_build, [:gemspec] do |t, args|
     args.with_defaults(gemspec: 'openvox.gemspec')
     stdout, stderr, status = Open3.capture3(<<~END)
-      gem build #{args.gemspec} --platform x86-mingw32 && \
-      gem build #{args.gemspec} --platform x64-mingw32 && \
-      gem build #{args.gemspec} --platform universal-darwin && \
-      gem build #{args.gemspec}
+      gem build #{args.gemspec} --verbose --strict --platform x86-mingw32 && \
+      gem build #{args.gemspec} --verbose --strict --platform x64-mingw32 && \
+      gem build #{args.gemspec} --verbose --strict --platform universal-darwin && \
+      gem build #{args.gemspec} --verbose --strict
     END
     if !status.exitstatus.zero?
       puts "Error building #{args.gemspec}\n#{stdout} \n#{stderr}"