diff --git a/.github/workflows/files-changed.yml b/.github/workflows/files-changed.yml
index 55d206bb0f6..b1d6fbe9d8e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/files-changed.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/files-changed.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ on:
         value: ${{ jobs.detect.outputs.yaml }}
       json:
         value: ${{ jobs.detect.outputs.json }}
+      e2e:
+        value: ${{ jobs.detect.outputs.e2e }}
 
 jobs:
   detect:
@@ -38,6 +40,7 @@ jobs:
       swagger: ${{ steps.changes.outputs.swagger }}
       yaml: ${{ steps.changes.outputs.yaml }}
       json: ${{ steps.changes.outputs.json }}
+      e2e: ${{ steps.changes.outputs.e2e }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: dorny/paths-filter@v4
@@ -107,3 +110,8 @@ jobs:
 
             json:
               - "**/*.json"
+
+            e2e:
+              - "tests/e2e/**"
+              - "tools/test-e2e.sh"
+              - "playwright.config.ts"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pull-e2e-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/pull-e2e-tests.yml
index 3472d517c15..fde36383b93 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pull-e2e-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pull-e2e-tests.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
       contents: read
 
   test-e2e:
-    if: needs.files-changed.outputs.backend == 'true' || needs.files-changed.outputs.frontend == 'true'
+    if: needs.files-changed.outputs.backend == 'true' || needs.files-changed.outputs.frontend == 'true' || needs.files-changed.outputs.e2e == 'true'
     needs: files-changed
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index aea31640b32..3f0c548dcb4 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ Here's how to run the test suite:
 | :-------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------- |
 | ``GITEA_TEST_E2E_DEBUG``          | When set, show Gitea server output                          |
 | ``GITEA_TEST_E2E_FLAGS``          | Additional flags passed to Playwright, for example ``--ui`` |
-| ``GITEA_TEST_E2E_TIMEOUT_FACTOR`` | Timeout multiplier (default: 3 on CI, 1 locally)            |
+| ``GITEA_TEST_E2E_TIMEOUT_FACTOR`` | Timeout multiplier (default: 4 on CI, 1 locally)            |
 
 ## Translation
 
diff --git a/tests/e2e/issue-project.test.ts b/tests/e2e/issue-project.test.ts
index 451006c3f02..c5249c0cdf7 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/issue-project.test.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/issue-project.test.ts
@@ -1,67 +1,30 @@
 import {env} from 'node:process';
 import {test, expect} from '@playwright/test';
-import {login, apiCreateRepo, apiCreateIssue, apiDeleteRepo, createProjectColumn, randomString, timeoutFactor} from './utils.ts';
+import {login, apiCreateRepo, apiCreateIssue, apiDeleteRepo, createProjectColumn, randomString} from './utils.ts';
 
 test('assign issue to project and change column', async ({page}) => {
   const repoName = `e2e-issue-project-${randomString(8)}`;
   const user = env.GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER;
   await Promise.all([login(page), apiCreateRepo(page.request, {name: repoName})]);
-
   await page.goto(`/${user}/${repoName}/projects/new`);
   await page.locator('input[name="title"]').fill('Kanban Board');
   await page.getByRole('button', {name: 'Create Project'}).click();
-
   const projectLink = page.locator('.milestone-list a', {hasText: 'Kanban Board'}).first();
   await expect(projectLink).toBeVisible();
   const href = await projectLink.getAttribute('href');
-  const projectID = href!.split('/').pop();
-
+  const projectID = href!.split('/').pop()!;
   // columns created via POST because the web UI uses modals that are hard to drive
-  await Promise.all(['Backlog', 'In Progress', 'Done'].map((title) =>
-    createProjectColumn(page.request, user, repoName, projectID!, title),
-  ));
-
-  await apiCreateIssue(page.request, user, repoName, {title: 'Column picker test'});
-
-  // Same ceiling as tests/e2e/events.test.ts; Playwright defaults are 5000*factor (see playwright.config.ts).
-  const slowTimeout = 15_000 * timeoutFactor;
-
+  await Promise.all([
+    ...['Backlog', 'In Progress', 'Done'].map((title) => createProjectColumn(page.request, user, repoName, projectID, title)),
+    apiCreateIssue(page.request, user, repoName, {title: 'Column picker test'}),
+  ]);
   await page.goto(`/${user}/${repoName}/issues/1`);
   await page.locator('.sidebar-project-combo .ui.dropdown').click();
-  await Promise.all([
-    page.waitForResponse(
-      (resp) => resp.url().includes('/issues/projects') && resp.status() === 200,
-      {timeout: slowTimeout},
-    ),
-    page.locator('.sidebar-project-combo .menu .item', {hasText: 'Kanban Board'}).click(),
-  ]);
-
+  await page.locator('.sidebar-project-combo .menu a.item', {hasText: 'Kanban Board'}).click();
   const columnCombo = page.locator('.sidebar-project-column-combo');
-  await expect(columnCombo).toBeVisible({timeout: slowTimeout});
+  await expect(columnCombo).toBeVisible();
   await columnCombo.locator('.ui.dropdown').click();
-  await columnCombo.locator('.menu').waitFor({state: 'visible', timeout: slowTimeout});
-
-  const inProgressItem = columnCombo.locator('a.item', {hasText: 'In Progress'});
-  await expect(inProgressItem).toBeVisible({timeout: slowTimeout});
-  await inProgressItem.scrollIntoViewIfNeeded();
-
-  await Promise.all([
-    page.waitForResponse(
-      (resp) =>
-        resp.request().method() === 'POST' &&
-        resp.url().includes('/issues/projects/column') &&
-        resp.ok(),
-      {timeout: slowTimeout},
-    ),
-    inProgressItem.click(),
-  ]);
-
-  await expect(columnCombo.getByTestId('sidebar-project-column-text')).toContainText('In Progress', {
-    timeout: slowTimeout,
-  });
-  await expect(page.locator('.timeline-item', {hasText: 'moved this to In Progress'})).toBeVisible({
-    timeout: slowTimeout,
-  });
-
+  await columnCombo.locator('.menu a.item', {hasText: 'In Progress'}).click();
+  await expect(columnCombo.getByTestId('sidebar-project-column-text')).toHaveText('In Progress');
   await apiDeleteRepo(page.request, user, repoName);
 });
diff --git a/tools/test-e2e.sh b/tools/test-e2e.sh
index b8bf6718392..39405387b5b 100755
--- a/tools/test-e2e.sh
+++ b/tools/test-e2e.sh
@@ -95,10 +95,11 @@ GITEA_TEST_E2E_EMAIL="$GITEA_TEST_E2E_USER@$GITEA_TEST_E2E_DOMAIN"
   --must-change-password=false \
   --admin
 
-# timeout multiplier, CI runners are slower
+# timeout multiplier to make the tests pass on slow CI runners while using
+# factor 1 on a fast local machine like a MacBook Pro M1+
 if [ -z "${GITEA_TEST_E2E_TIMEOUT_FACTOR:-}" ]; then
   if [ -n "${CI:-}" ]; then
-    GITEA_TEST_E2E_TIMEOUT_FACTOR=3
+    GITEA_TEST_E2E_TIMEOUT_FACTOR=4
   else
     GITEA_TEST_E2E_TIMEOUT_FACTOR=1
   fi