diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-test.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-test.yaml
index ef428b6f243..e2402c921a3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-test.yaml
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Install dependencies and yt
       shell: bash
       env:
-        dependencies: ''
+        dependencies: 'cartopy'
       run: |
         source ./tests/ci_install.sh
         python -m pip install 'cartopy>=0.22'
diff --git a/tests/ci_install.sh b/tests/ci_install.sh
index 5e6a26b2d11..e8ab5ad029e 100644
--- a/tests/ci_install.sh
+++ b/tests/ci_install.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ set -x   # Show which command is being run
 cp tests/matplotlibrc .
 
 # Step 1: pre-install required packages
-if [[ ${dependencies} == "full" ]]; then
+if [[ ${dependencies} == "full" || ${dependencies} == "cartopy" ]]; then
     # upgrading pip to guarantee installing extra dependencies with [full] is supported
     # this is only necessary for some versions of Python 3.8 and 3.9
     # see https://github.com/yt-project/yt/issues/4270
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ fi
 if [[ ${dependencies} == "minimal" ]]; then
     # test with minimal versions of runtime dependencies
     python -m pip install -e ".[test,minimal]"
+elif [[ ${dependencies} == "cartopy" ]]; then
+    python -m pip install 'cartopy>=0.22'
+    python -m pip install -e ".[test]"
 elif [[ ${dependencies} == "full" ]]; then
     # test with all optional runtime dependencies
     python -m pip install 'cartopy>=0.22'