diff --git a/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_build_submodule_at_head.sh b/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_build_submodule_at_head.sh
index ea96edca589..58aa5e7aa9d 100755
--- a/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_build_submodule_at_head.sh
+++ b/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_build_submodule_at_head.sh
@@ -55,4 +55,4 @@ fi
 # commit so that changes are passed to Docker
 git -c user.name='foo' -c user.email='foo@google.com' commit -a -m 'Update submodule' --allow-empty
 
-tools/run_tests/run_tests_matrix.py -f linux --inner_jobs 4 -j 4 --internal_ci --build_only
+tools/run_tests/run_tests_matrix.py -f linux --inner_jobs 8 -j 4 --internal_ci --build_only
diff --git a/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_portability_build_only.cfg b/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_portability_build_only.cfg
index fab9dde3e58..c4fa6c605b1 100644
--- a/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_portability_build_only.cfg
+++ b/tools/internal_ci/linux/grpc_portability_build_only.cfg
@@ -26,5 +26,5 @@ action {
 
 env_vars {
   key: "RUN_TESTS_FLAGS"
-  value: "-f portability linux --inner_jobs 4 -j 4 --internal_ci --build_only"
+  value: "-f portability linux --inner_jobs 8 -j 4 --internal_ci --build_only"
 }