diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-smokes.yml b/.github/workflows/test-smokes.yml
index 6793247b12a..dcf594d59c2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-smokes.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-smokes.yml
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@ jobs:
           quarto install tinytex
 
       - name: Install veraPDF for PDF standard validation
-        if: runner.os == 'Linux' && (format('{0}', inputs.buckets) == '' || contains(inputs.buckets, 'pdf-standard'))
+        if: runner.os != 'Windows' && (format('{0}', inputs.buckets) == '' || contains(inputs.buckets, 'pdf-standard'))
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         run: |
diff --git a/tests/smoke/crossref/figures.test.ts b/tests/smoke/crossref/figures.test.ts
index 5a23b41b7ce..563d3c8dc64 100644
--- a/tests/smoke/crossref/figures.test.ts
+++ b/tests/smoke/crossref/figures.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
  * Copyright (C) 2020-2022 Posit Software, PBC
  */
 
+import { isMac } from "../../../src/deno_ral/platform.ts";
 import { ensureFileRegexMatches, ensureHtmlElements } from "../../verify.ts";
 import { testRender } from "../render/render.ts";
 import { crossref } from "./utils.ts";
@@ -62,6 +63,10 @@ testRender(pythonSubfigQmd.input, "html", false, [
   ]),
 ]);
 
+// GR launches its gksqt GUI from julia-engine workers on macOS, which hangs
+// or crashes Plots renders on headless CI runners.
+const juliaPlotsContext = { ignore: isMac };
+
 for (const file of ["julia.qmd", "julianative.qmd"]) {
   const juliaQmd = crossref(file, "html");
   testRender(juliaQmd.input, "html", false, [
@@ -75,7 +80,7 @@ for (const file of ["julia.qmd", "julianative.qmd"]) {
     ], [
       /\?@fig-/,
     ]),
-  ]);
+  ], juliaPlotsContext);
 }
 
 for (const file of ["julia-subfig.qmd", "julianative-subfig.qmd"]) {
@@ -94,7 +99,7 @@ for (const file of ["julia-subfig.qmd", "julianative-subfig.qmd"]) {
     ], [
       /\?@fig-/,
     ]),
-  ]);
+  ], juliaPlotsContext);
 }
 
 const knitrQmd = crossref("knitr.qmd", "html");