diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 799ca84390..3cdae32101 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -688,7 +688,8 @@ localmachine:
 localsystem:
 	# Wipe existing config, database, and cache: start with clean slate.
 	$(RM) -rf ${HOME}/.local/share/containers ${HOME}/.config/containers
-	if timeout -v 1 true; then PODMAN=$(CURDIR)/bin/podman QUADLET=$(CURDIR)/bin/quadlet bats -T test/system/; else echo "Skipping $@: 'timeout -v' unavailable'"; fi
+	PODMAN=$(CURDIR)/bin/podman QUADLET=$(CURDIR)/bin/quadlet bats -T --filter-tags '!ci:parallel' test/system/
+	PODMAN=$(CURDIR)/bin/podman QUADLET=$(CURDIR)/bin/quadlet bats -T --filter-tags ci:parallel -j $$(nproc) test/system/
 
 .PHONY: remotesystem
 remotesystem:
@@ -717,7 +718,8 @@ remotesystem:
 			echo "Error: ./bin/podman system service did not come up" >&2;\
 			exit 1;\
 		fi;\
-		env PODMAN="$(CURDIR)/bin/podman-remote" bats -T test/system/ ;\
+		env PODMAN="$(CURDIR)/bin/podman-remote" bats -T --filter-tags '!ci:parallel' test/system/ ;\
+		env PODMAN="$(CURDIR)/bin/podman-remote" bats -T --filter-tags ci:parallel -j $$(nproc) test/system/ ;\
 		rc=$$?;\
 		kill %1;\
 	else \
diff --git a/hack/bats b/hack/bats
index 3002c0199b..3184c95b76 100755
--- a/hack/bats
+++ b/hack/bats
@@ -83,7 +83,10 @@ for i;do
         --rootless) TEST_ROOT= ;;
         --remote)   REMOTE=remote ;;
         --ts|-T)    bats_opts+=("-T") ;;
-        --tag=*)    bats_filter=("--filter-tags" "$value") ;;
+        --tag=*)    bats_filter=("--filter-tags" "$value")
+                    if [[ "$value" = "ci:parallel" ]]; then
+                        bats_opts+=("--jobs" $(nproc))
+                    fi;;
         */*.bats)   TESTS=$i ;;
         *)
             if [[ $i =~ : ]]; then
@@ -130,7 +133,7 @@ export PODMAN_BATS_LEAK_CHECK=1
 
 # Root
 if [[ "$TEST_ROOT" ]]; then
-    echo "# bats ${bats_filter[*]} $TESTS"
+    echo "# bats ${bats_opts[*]} ${bats_filter[*]} $TESTS"
     sudo    --preserve-env=PODMAN \
             --preserve-env=QUADLET \
             --preserve-env=PODMAN_TEST_DEBUG \
@@ -144,7 +147,7 @@ fi
 # Rootless. (Only if we're not already root)
 if [[ "$TEST_ROOTLESS" && "$(id -u)" != 0 ]]; then
     echo "--------------------------------------------------"
-    echo "\$ bats ${bats_filter[*]} $TESTS"
+    echo "\$ bats ${bats_opts[*]} ${bats_filter[*]} $TESTS"
     bats "${bats_opts[@]}" "${bats_filter[@]}" $TESTS
     rc=$((rc | $?))
 fi
diff --git a/test/system/helpers.bash b/test/system/helpers.bash
index 665c192105..280729c5ab 100644
--- a/test/system/helpers.bash
+++ b/test/system/helpers.bash
@@ -222,22 +222,34 @@ function basic_teardown() {
     # This must be directly after immediate-assertion-failures to capture the error code
     local exit_code=$?
 
-    # Only checks for leaks on a successful run (BATS_TEST_COMPLETED is set 1),
-    # immediate-assertion-failures didn't fail (exit_code -eq 0)
-    # and PODMAN_BATS_LEAK_CHECK is set.
-    # As these podman commands are slow we do not want to do this by default
-    # and only provide this as opt in option. (#22909)
-    if [[ "$BATS_TEST_COMPLETED" -eq 1 ]] && [ $exit_code -eq 0 ] && [ -n "$PODMAN_BATS_LEAK_CHECK" ]; then
-        leak_check
-        exit_code=$((exit_code + $?))
+    # Leak check and state reset. Only run these when running tests serially!
+    # (For parallel tests, we run a leak check only at the very end of all tests)
+    if [[ -z "$PARALLEL_JOBSLOT" ]]; then
+        # Check for leaks, but only if:
+        #  1) test was successful (BATS_TEST_COMPLETED is set 1); and
+        #  2) immediate-assertion-failures didn't fail (exit_code -eq 0); and
+        #  3) PODMAN_BATS_LEAK_CHECK is set (usually only in cron).
+        # As these podman commands are slow we do not want to do this by default
+        # and only provide this as opt-in option. (#22909)
+        if [[ "$BATS_TEST_COMPLETED" -eq 1 ]] && [[ $exit_code -eq 0 ]] && [[ -n "$PODMAN_BATS_LEAK_CHECK" ]]; then
+            leak_check
+            exit_code=$((exit_code + $?))
+        fi
+
+        # Some error happened (either in teardown itself or the actual test failed)
+        # so do a full cleanup to ensure following tests start with a clean env.
+        if [ $exit_code -gt 0 ] || [ -z "$BATS_TEST_COMPLETED" ]; then
+            clean_setup
+            exit_code=$((exit_code + $?))
+        fi
     fi
 
-    # Some error happened (either in teardown itself or the actual test failed)
-    # so do a full cleanup to ensure following tests start with a clean env.
-    if [ $exit_code -gt 0 ] || [ -z "$BATS_TEST_COMPLETED" ]; then
-        clean_setup
-        exit_code=$((exit_code + $?))
+    # Status file used in teardown_suite() to decide whether or not
+    # to check for leaks
+    if [[ "$BATS_TEST_COMPLETED" -ne 1 ]]; then
+        rm -f "$BATS_SUITE_TMPDIR/all-tests-passed"
     fi
+
     command rm -rf $PODMAN_TMPDIR
     exit_code=$((exit_code + $?))
     return $exit_code
@@ -426,12 +438,12 @@ function clean_setup() {
         else
             # Always remove image that doesn't match by name
             echo "# setup(): removing stray image $1" >&3
-            run_podman rmi --force "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+            _run_podman_quiet rmi --force "$1"
 
             # Tagged image will have same IID as our test image; don't rmi it.
             if [[ $2 != "$PODMAN_TEST_IMAGE_ID" ]]; then
                 echo "# setup(): removing stray image $2" >&3
-                run_podman rmi --force "$2" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+                _run_podman_quiet rmi --force "$2"
             fi
         fi
     done
diff --git a/test/system/setup_suite.bash b/test/system/setup_suite.bash
index 4dd59981db..8a3f910839 100644
--- a/test/system/setup_suite.bash
+++ b/test/system/setup_suite.bash
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ function setup_suite() {
            "Unable to set PODMAN_LOGIN_REGISTRY_PORT"
 
     clean_setup
+
+    # Canary file. Will be removed if any individual test fails.
+    touch "$BATS_SUITE_TMPDIR/all-tests-passed"
 }
 
 # Run at the very end of all tests. Useful for cleanup of non-BATS tmpdirs.
@@ -39,11 +42,13 @@ function teardown_suite() {
     stop_registry
     local exit_code=$?
 
-    # After all tests make sure there are no leaks and cleanup if there are
-    leak_check
-    if [ $? -gt 0 ]; then
-        exit_code=$((exit_code + 1))
-        clean_setup
+    # At end, if all tests have passed, check for leaks.
+    # Don't do this if there were errors: failing tests may not clean up.
+    if [[ -e "$BATS_SUITE_TMPDIR/all-tests-passed" ]]; then
+        leak_check
+        if [ $? -gt 0 ]; then
+            exit_code=$((exit_code + 1))
+        fi
     fi
 
     return $exit_code