diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index c5accc5e0..7aaaf1da4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -111,16 +111,26 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           sudo apt -y update
           sudo apt install -y libpng-dev \
-                              libmpich-dev \
                               libnetcdf-dev \
                               libpnetcdf-dev \
                               libhdf5-serial-dev \
-                              libhdf5-mpich-dev \
                               libeigen3-dev
+
+      - name: Optional apt dependencies for MPI
+        shell: bash
+        if: ${{ matrix.mpi == 'y' }}
+        run: |
+          sudo apt install -y libhdf5-mpich-dev \
+                              libmpich-dev
           sudo update-alternatives --set mpi /usr/bin/mpicc.mpich
           sudo update-alternatives --set mpirun /usr/bin/mpirun.mpich
           sudo update-alternatives --set mpi-x86_64-linux-gnu /usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu/mpich
 
+      - name: Optional apt dependencies for vectfit
+        shell: bash
+        if: ${{ matrix.vectfit == 'y' }}
+        run: sudo apt install -y libblas-dev liblapack-dev
+
       - name: install
         shell: bash
         run: |
diff --git a/tools/ci/gha-install-vectfit.sh b/tools/ci/gha-install-vectfit.sh
index 8444c3036..bd38e1ea8 100755
--- a/tools/ci/gha-install-vectfit.sh
+++ b/tools/ci/gha-install-vectfit.sh
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@ XTENSOR_PYTHON_REPO='https://github.com/xtensor-stack/xtensor-python'
 XTENSOR_BLAS_BRANCH='0.17.1'
 XTENSOR_BLAS_REPO='https://github.com/xtensor-stack/xtensor-blas'
 
-sudo apt-get install -y libblas-dev liblapack-dev
-
 cd $HOME
 git clone -b $PYBIND_BRANCH $PYBIND_REPO
 cd pybind11 && mkdir build && cd build && cmake .. && sudo make install