diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 9a164557d203efcfc4a5bf0d5af95a79a56a756f..62ada22ea0a95053973e93ae233bfdea485f6f01 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -43,8 +43,6 @@ jobs:
         SCCACHE_BUCKET: sccache-zed
     - name: steps::cargo_nextest
       run: cargo nextest run --workspace --no-fail-fast --no-tests=warn
-    - name: steps::cargo_build_visual_tests
-      run: cargo build -p zed --bin zed_visual_test_runner --features visual-tests
     - name: steps::show_sccache_stats
       run: sccache --show-stats || true
     - name: steps::cleanup_cargo_config
diff --git a/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
index ce7b789731b8185fee36cb23a7c36371a986e7fb..2fee8b3ae9fe54619639d35f521d4eec946eef37 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
@@ -440,8 +440,6 @@ jobs:
         SCCACHE_BUCKET: sccache-zed
     - name: steps::cargo_nextest
       run: cargo nextest run --workspace --no-fail-fast --no-tests=warn${{ needs.orchestrate.outputs.changed_packages && format(' -E "{0}"', needs.orchestrate.outputs.changed_packages) || '' }}
-    - name: steps::cargo_build_visual_tests
-      run: cargo build -p zed --bin zed_visual_test_runner --features visual-tests
     - name: steps::show_sccache_stats
       run: sccache --show-stats || true
     - name: steps::cleanup_cargo_config
@@ -537,6 +535,31 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         rm -rf ./../.cargo
     timeout-minutes: 60
+  build_visual_tests_binary:
+    needs:
+    - orchestrate
+    if: needs.orchestrate.outputs.run_tests == 'true'
+    runs-on: namespace-profile-mac-large
+    steps:
+    - name: steps::checkout_repo
+      uses: actions/checkout@93cb6efe18208431cddfb8368fd83d5badbf9bfd
+      with:
+        clean: false
+    - name: steps::setup_cargo_config
+      run: |
+        mkdir -p ./../.cargo
+        cp ./.cargo/ci-config.toml ./../.cargo/config.toml
+    - name: steps::cache_rust_dependencies_namespace
+      uses: namespacelabs/nscloud-cache-action@a90bb5d4b27522ce881c6e98eebd7d7e6d1653f9
+      with:
+        cache: rust
+        path: ~/.rustup
+    - name: run_tests::build_visual_tests_binary::cargo_build_visual_tests
+      run: cargo build -p zed --bin zed_visual_test_runner --features visual-tests
+    - name: steps::cleanup_cargo_config
+      if: always()
+      run: |
+        rm -rf ./../.cargo
   check_wasm:
     needs:
     - orchestrate
@@ -780,6 +803,7 @@ jobs:
     - run_tests_mac
     - doctests
     - check_workspace_binaries
+    - build_visual_tests_binary
     - check_wasm
     - check_dependencies
     - check_docs
@@ -810,6 +834,7 @@ jobs:
         check_result "run_tests_mac" "$RESULT_RUN_TESTS_MAC"
         check_result "doctests" "$RESULT_DOCTESTS"
         check_result "check_workspace_binaries" "$RESULT_CHECK_WORKSPACE_BINARIES"
+        check_result "build_visual_tests_binary" "$RESULT_BUILD_VISUAL_TESTS_BINARY"
         check_result "check_wasm" "$RESULT_CHECK_WASM"
         check_result "check_dependencies" "$RESULT_CHECK_DEPENDENCIES"
         check_result "check_docs" "$RESULT_CHECK_DOCS"
@@ -830,6 +855,7 @@ jobs:
         RESULT_RUN_TESTS_MAC: ${{ needs.run_tests_mac.result }}
         RESULT_DOCTESTS: ${{ needs.doctests.result }}
         RESULT_CHECK_WORKSPACE_BINARIES: ${{ needs.check_workspace_binaries.result }}
+        RESULT_BUILD_VISUAL_TESTS_BINARY: ${{ needs.build_visual_tests_binary.result }}
         RESULT_CHECK_WASM: ${{ needs.check_wasm.result }}
         RESULT_CHECK_DEPENDENCIES: ${{ needs.check_dependencies.result }}
         RESULT_CHECK_DOCS: ${{ needs.check_docs.result }}
diff --git a/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/run_tests.rs b/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/run_tests.rs
index 65b44123c7b76f49e7c349318aab1bc2fb856c1f..4d936b89ff7e39c562b5f7e5c89842e55cadf929 100644
--- a/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/run_tests.rs
+++ b/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/run_tests.rs
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ pub(crate) fn run_tests() -> Workflow {
         should_run_tests.guard(run_platform_tests(Platform::Mac)),
         should_run_tests.guard(doctests()),
         should_run_tests.guard(check_workspace_binaries()),
+        should_run_tests.guard(build_visual_tests_binary()),
         should_run_tests.guard(check_wasm()),
         should_run_tests.guard(check_dependencies()), // could be more specific here?
         should_check_docs.guard(check_docs()),
@@ -596,14 +597,27 @@ fn run_platform_tests_impl(platform: Platform, filter_packages: bool) -> NamedJo
             .when(!filter_packages, |job| {
                 job.add_step(steps::cargo_nextest(platform))
             })
-            .when(platform == Platform::Mac, |job| {
-                job.add_step(steps::cargo_build_visual_tests())
-            })
             .add_step(steps::show_sccache_stats(platform))
             .add_step(steps::cleanup_cargo_config(platform)),
     }
 }
 
+fn build_visual_tests_binary() -> NamedJob {
+    pub fn cargo_build_visual_tests() -> Step<Run> {
+        named::bash("cargo build -p zed --bin zed_visual_test_runner --features visual-tests")
+    }
+
+    named::job(
+        Job::default()
+            .runs_on(runners::MAC_DEFAULT)
+            .add_step(steps::checkout_repo())
+            .add_step(steps::setup_cargo_config(Platform::Mac))
+            .add_step(steps::cache_rust_dependencies_namespace())
+            .add_step(cargo_build_visual_tests())
+            .add_step(steps::cleanup_cargo_config(Platform::Mac)),
+    )
+}
+
 pub(crate) fn check_postgres_and_protobuf_migrations() -> NamedJob {
     fn ensure_fresh_merge() -> Step<Run> {
         named::bash(indoc::indoc! {r#"
diff --git a/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/steps.rs b/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/steps.rs
index 81543444ff67b9bb210cd6138eed3d263c89f6d4..7f015c791bbd996ff885b64030bb19e0e902c487 100644
--- a/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/steps.rs
+++ b/tooling/xtask/src/tasks/workflows/steps.rs
@@ -254,10 +254,6 @@ pub fn setup_sccache(platform: Platform) -> Step<Run> {
         .add_env(("SCCACHE_BUCKET", SCCACHE_R2_BUCKET))
 }
 
-pub fn cargo_build_visual_tests() -> Step<Run> {
-    named::bash("cargo build -p zed --bin zed_visual_test_runner --features visual-tests")
-}
-
 pub fn show_sccache_stats(platform: Platform) -> Step<Run> {
     match platform {
         // Use $env:RUSTC_WRAPPER (absolute path) because GITHUB_PATH changes