diff --git a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
index 49d41611e4d7..8bf41647221a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
@@ -42,9 +42,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run unit tests
         run: mvn clean test --threads 2C --batch-mode --no-transfer-progress --update-snapshots --file ./dhis-2/pom.xml --activate-profiles unit-test
         timeout-minutes: 30
-      - name: Run dependency analysis
-        run: mvn dependency:analyze --file ./dhis-2/pom.xml
-        timeout-minutes: 2
       - name: Report coverage to codecov
         uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
         with:
@@ -75,6 +72,24 @@ jobs:
             surefire_reports.tar
           retention-days: 5
 
+  # dependency:analyze used to run inside unit-test, but the goal forks its own build up
+  # to test-compile, so it bolted a second full reactor compile onto the unit-test job
+  # (~1m35s) for a check unrelated to unit tests. It runs here in its own job instead, in
+  # parallel and off the critical path, with the same fail-on-warning behaviour.
+  dependency-analysis:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - name: Set up JDK 17
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v5
+        with:
+          java-version: 17
+          distribution: temurin
+          cache: maven
+      - name: Run dependency analysis
+        run: mvn dependency:analyze --threads 2C --batch-mode --no-transfer-progress --update-snapshots --file ./dhis-2/pom.xml
+        timeout-minutes: 10
+
   # The integration-test suite is the slowest part of CI, so it is split across a
   # matrix of shards that run in parallel, each on its own runner with its own
   # Testcontainers Postgres. Each shard runs a disjoint, interleaved slice of the
@@ -253,7 +268,7 @@ jobs:
       contains(needs.*.result, 'failure') &&
       github.ref == 'refs/heads/master'
 
-    needs: [unit-test, integration-test, integration-h2-test]
+    needs: [unit-test, integration-test, integration-h2-test, dependency-analysis]
     steps:
       - uses: rtCamp/action-slack-notify@v2
         env: