diff --git a/.github/workflows/parallel-unit-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/parallel-unit-tests.yml
index e9b51619fa9..7c44c6f0867 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/parallel-unit-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/parallel-unit-tests.yml
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: debug testfile paths
         run: cat testList.txt
       - name: format gradle args
-        #regex means: first truncate file paths to align with package name, then swap path delimiter with package delimiter,
-        #then drop file extension, then insert --tests option between each.
-        run: cat testList.txt | sed -e 's@.*/src/test/java/@@g' -e 's@/@.@g' -e 's/\.java//g' -e 's/\ /\ --tests\ /g' >> gradleArgs.txt
+        # regex means: truncate file paths to align with package name, replacing with tests switch, then drop file extension,
+        # then swap path delimiter with package delimiter
+        run: cat testList.txt | sed -e 's/[^ ]*src\/test\/java\//--tests\ /g' -e 's/\.java//g' -e 's/\//\./g' >> gradleArgs.txt
       - name: debug test class list
         run: cat gradleArgs.txt
       - name: run unit tests