diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-openvino.yml b/.github/workflows/build-openvino.yml
index a5ed167fa..571db993c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-openvino.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-openvino.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@ name: CI (openvino)
 
 on:
   workflow_dispatch: # allows manual triggering
+    inputs:
+      force_self_hosted:
+        description: 'Also run the GPU matrix variant on the self-hosted Intel OpenVINO runner'
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
   push:
     branches:
       - master
@@ -39,6 +45,12 @@ jobs:
   ubuntu-24-openvino:
     name: ubuntu-24-openvino-${{ matrix.openvino_device }}
 
+    # The GPU variant targets [self-hosted, Linux, Intel, OpenVINO], which is
+    # not currently registered in the elizaOS org — every push/PR left it
+    # queued indefinitely. Skip it on automatic triggers; surface it only
+    # when explicitly opted in via `workflow_dispatch -f force_self_hosted=true`.
+    if: ${{ matrix.variant != 'gpu' || (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && inputs.force_self_hosted) }}
+
     concurrency:
       group: openvino-${{ matrix.variant }}-${{ github.head_ref || github.ref }}
       cancel-in-progress: false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-self-hosted.yml b/.github/workflows/build-self-hosted.yml
index fd6d2a06e..0b0747e4a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-self-hosted.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-self-hosted.yml
@@ -1,49 +1,15 @@
 name: CI (self-hosted)
 
+# This workflow targets self-hosted runners with labels like
+# [self-hosted, Linux, NVIDIA], [self-hosted, macOS, ARM64], etc. The
+# elizaOS org currently has zero self-hosted runners registered
+# (`gh api repos/elizaOS/llama.cpp/actions/runners` → total_count: 0),
+# so every push and PR left these jobs queued indefinitely. Restrict
+# the trigger to workflow_dispatch only — manual triggers will surface
+# the missing-runner state immediately instead of silently hanging.
+# Re-enable push/pull_request once a self-hosted fleet exists.
 on:
   workflow_dispatch: # allows manual triggering
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - master
-      - main
-      - 'eliza/**'
-    paths: [
-      '.github/workflows/build.yml',
-      '**/CMakeLists.txt',
-      '**/.cmake',
-      '**/*.h',
-      '**/*.hpp',
-      '**/*.c',
-      '**/*.cpp',
-      '**/*.cu',
-      '**/*.cuh',
-      '**/*.swift',
-      '**/*.m',
-      '**/*.metal',
-      '**/*.comp',
-      '**/*.glsl',
-      '**/*.wgsl'
-    ]
-
-  pull_request:
-    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]
-    paths: [
-      '.github/workflows/build-self-hosted.yml',
-      '**/CMakeLists.txt',
-      '**/.cmake',
-      '**/*.h',
-      '**/*.hpp',
-      '**/*.c',
-      '**/*.cpp',
-      '**/*.cu',
-      '**/*.cuh',
-      '**/*.swift',
-      '**/*.m',
-      '**/*.metal',
-      '**/*.comp',
-      '**/*.glsl',
-      '**/*.wgsl'
-    ]
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.head_ref && github.ref || github.run_id }}