diff --git a/internal/database/export_test.go b/internal/database/export_test.go
index 5c10271..7ad4280 100644
--- a/internal/database/export_test.go
+++ b/internal/database/export_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"log/slog"
 	"os"
+	"testing"
 	"time"
 
 	"go.uber.org/fx"
@@ -79,3 +80,14 @@ func (d *Database) ExportSetBannerOut(w io.Writer) {
 func DummyPasswordHashForTest() string {
 	return dummyPasswordHash()
 }
+
+// HashAtShippedCostForTest makes HashPassword hash at the shipped
+// memory cost until t ends. t must not run in parallel with other
+// tests, which would hash at that cost alongside it.
+func HashAtShippedCostForTest(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	hashAtShippedCostInTest = true
+
+	t.Cleanup(func() { hashAtShippedCostInTest = false })
+}
diff --git a/internal/database/password.go b/internal/database/password.go
index 92ce50a..e114cb6 100644
--- a/internal/database/password.go
+++ b/internal/database/password.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"math/big"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
+	"testing"
 
 	"golang.org/x/crypto/argon2"
 )
@@ -63,10 +64,30 @@ func DefaultPasswordConfig() *PasswordConfig {
 	}
 }
 
-// HashPassword generates an Argon2id hash of the password
+// testArgon2Memory is the Argon2id memory cost, in KiB, that a test
+// binary hashes with: 1 MB instead of the shipped 64 MB. Every test
+// that starts a database hashes the bootstrap admin password, dozens
+// of them run in parallel, and under the race detector each 64 MB hash
+// holds about 150 MB. VerifyPassword reads the cost from the hash it
+// checks, so verification follows.
+const testArgon2Memory = 1024
+
+// hashAtShippedCostInTest makes a test binary hash at the shipped
+// memory cost. Only TestHashPassword_ShippedParameters sets it.
+//
+//nolint:gochecknoglobals // set by one test, see above
+var hashAtShippedCostInTest bool
+
+// HashPassword generates an Argon2id hash of the password. A binary
+// built by go test hashes at testArgon2Memory; one built by go build
+// always hashes at the defaults.
 func HashPassword(password string) (string, error) {
 	config := DefaultPasswordConfig()
 
+	if testing.Testing() && !hashAtShippedCostInTest {
+		config.Memory = testArgon2Memory
+	}
+
 	// Generate a salt
 	salt := make([]byte, config.SaltLen)
 
diff --git a/internal/database/password_test.go b/internal/database/password_test.go
index e3f4726..d7f9448 100644
--- a/internal/database/password_test.go
+++ b/internal/database/password_test.go
@@ -192,6 +192,39 @@ func TestHashPasswordUniqueness(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestHashPassword_ShippedParameters hashes and verifies through
+// HashPassword at the shipped Argon2id parameters. Every other test
+// hashes at the lower memory cost a test binary uses, so this is the
+// one that keeps production hashing covered. One hash and one
+// verification: each costs 64 MB.
+//
+//nolint:paralleltest // changes the hashing cost for the whole binary
+func TestHashPassword_ShippedParameters(t *testing.T) {
+	database.HashAtShippedCostForTest(t)
+
+	password := "correct horse battery staple"
+
+	hash, err := database.HashPassword(password)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("hashing with the shipped parameters: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	const shipped = "$argon2id$v=19$m=65536,t=1,p=4$"
+
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(hash, shipped) {
+		t.Errorf("hash = %q, want prefix %q", hash, shipped)
+	}
+
+	valid, err := database.VerifyPassword(password, hash)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("VerifyPassword() error = %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if !valid {
+		t.Error("VerifyPassword() returned false for correct password")
+	}
+}
+
 // TestVerifyDummyPassword_DoesRealWork covers the anti-enumeration
 // path. Login charges an unknown username a verification against a
 // dummy hash so that a nonexistent account is not answered in
diff --git a/internal/resetpw/resetpw_test.go b/internal/resetpw/resetpw_test.go
index cca9107..495dfc4 100644
--- a/internal/resetpw/resetpw_test.go
+++ b/internal/resetpw/resetpw_test.go
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ func (n *noopEvictor) EvictWebhook(string) {}
 // and the database, exactly as internal/handlers builds them.
 //
 // One application per test function, not per case: every start that
-// finds no account seeds one at 64 MB of Argon2id, and this package's
+// finds no account seeds one with an Argon2id hash, and this package's
 // budget is not the place to spend that repeatedly.
 func newServerApp(
 	t *testing.T, dir string,
diff --git a/script/test b/script/test
index 44f0308..301ae21 100755
--- a/script/test
+++ b/script/test
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@
 # The one figure above 90s is GOMAXPROCS 1, a synthetic core floor rather than
 # a condition CI runs under. If a CPU-limited runner ever puts a real run near
 # 67s, that is the datum to revisit the org figure with.
+#
+# -p 4 -parallel 8 keep the run under 2 GB of memory: at most four test
+# binaries build or run at once, each with at most eight parallel tests. Under
+# -race every test binary and every link costs a few hundred MB, so the
+# defaults (one per core) add up to several GB on a many-core host.
 set -eu
 
 ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd -P)"
@@ -29,7 +34,7 @@ ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd -P)"
 main() {
     cd "$ROOT"
     "$ROOT/script/assets"
-    go test -v -race -timeout 90s ./...
+    go test -v -race -p 4 -parallel 8 -timeout 90s ./...
 }
 
 main "$@"