diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index 5cde76c..a18c1fb 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -133,24 +133,40 @@ jobs:
     timeout-minutes: 10
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        runner-index: ${{ fromJSON(needs.discover-runners.outputs.runner-indices) }}
+        runner-index: [1, 2, 3]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - name: Set up environment
         run: make setup
       - name: Discover assigned test pairs
+        env:
+          RUNNER_INDEX: ${{ matrix.runner-index }}
+          MAX_RUNNERS: ${{ needs.discover-runners.outputs.runner-count }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           . .venv/bin/activate
-          RUNNER_INDEX="${{ matrix.runner-index }}"
-          MAX_RUNNERS="${{ needs.discover-runners.outputs.runner-count }}"
+          echo "Runner index: $RUNNER_INDEX"
+          echo "Max runners: $MAX_RUNNERS"
+          # Skip if runner index exceeds available runners
+          if [ "$RUNNER_INDEX" -gt "$MAX_RUNNERS" ]; then
+            echo "Skipping — runner index $RUNNER_INDEX > max runners $MAX_RUNNERS"
+            echo "TEST_PAIRS=" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+            echo "SKIP=true" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+            exit 0
+          fi
           PAIRS=$(python3 scripts/ci/distribute_molecule.py --runner-index "$RUNNER_INDEX" --max-runners "$MAX_RUNNERS")
           echo "Assigned pairs: $PAIRS"
           echo "TEST_PAIRS=$PAIRS" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "SKIP=false" >> $GITHUB_ENV
       - name: Run molecule tests
+        if: env.SKIP != 'true'
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           . .venv/bin/activate
+          if [ -z "$TEST_PAIRS" ]; then
+            echo "No test pairs assigned — skipping"
+            exit 0
+          fi
           python3 scripts/ci/molecule_ci_guard.py $TEST_PAIRS
         env:
           GITEA_URL: ${{ github.server_url }}
diff --git a/scripts/ci/molecule_ci_guard.py b/scripts/ci/molecule_ci_guard.py
index c2b01db..2529a38 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/molecule_ci_guard.py
+++ b/scripts/ci/molecule_ci_guard.py
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ def cli(pairs: tuple[str, ...]) -> None:
     if not all([gitea_url, token, run_id]):
         click.echo(_("GITEA_URL/REPO_TOKEN/RUN_ID not set; running without cross-runner cancellation."))
 
-    repo_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+    repo_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent.parent
     role_dir = repo_root / "ansible" / "roles" / "gitea-runner"
 
     base_env = os.environ.copy()