diff --git a/.github/workflows/github-actions-essential-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/github-actions-essential-ci.yml
index b8243b7bbba2..6bb8490b87e4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/github-actions-essential-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/github-actions-essential-ci.yml
@@ -347,6 +347,8 @@ jobs:
         if: always()
   cockroach-microbench-ci:
     runs-on: [ self-hosted, basic_runner_group ]
+    # TODO(sambhav-jain-16): enable this for pull requests also
+    if: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' }}
     timeout-minutes: 60
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
diff --git a/build/github/cockroach-microbench-ci.sh b/build/github/cockroach-microbench-ci.sh
index 477e62071bcd..2f6d9cbbaea9 100755
--- a/build/github/cockroach-microbench-ci.sh
+++ b/build/github/cockroach-microbench-ci.sh
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ bazel test //pkg/sql/tests:tests_test \
   --test_sharding_strategy=disabled \
   --test_arg=-test.cpu --test_arg=1 \
   --test_arg=-test.v \
-  --test_arg=-test.count=4 \
+  --test_arg=-test.count=10 \
   --test_arg=-test.benchmem \
   --crdb_test_off \
   --test_output=all > "$log_output_file_path"