diff --git a/gnu/packages/linux.scm b/gnu/packages/linux.scm
index 906303175d..85a848dbde 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/linux.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/linux.scm
@@ -6748,7 +6748,9 @@ (define-public mtd-utils
      (list #:configure-flags
            (if (%current-target-system) ; When cross-compiling.
              #~(list)
-             #~(list "--enable-unit-tests"))))
+             #~(list "--enable-unit-tests"))
+
+           #:parallel-tests? #f))     ;tests may fail when running in parallel
     (native-inputs
      (list cmocka pkg-config))
     (inputs