diff --git a/make_dist b/make_dist
index fb1436e..de6d3f1 100755
--- a/make_dist
+++ b/make_dist
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ if ($run_tests)
 {
     cd($srcdir);
     run("./configure");
+    run("make -j8");
     run("make check");
     cd($pwd);
 }
diff --git a/make_windows_releases b/make_windows_releases
index dff7931..2ea0dbe 100755
--- a/make_windows_releases
+++ b/make_windows_releases
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ PATH=$cwd/libqpdf/build:$PATH
 rm -rf install-mingw* install-msvc*
 
 ./config-mingw64
+make -j8
 make check install
 make distclean
 ./config-mingw32
+make -j8
 make check install
 make distclean
 
diff --git a/make_windows_releases-msvc b/make_windows_releases-msvc
index 40a3979..702ab83 100755
--- a/make_windows_releases-msvc
+++ b/make_windows_releases-msvc
@@ -17,5 +17,6 @@ cwd=`pwd`
 PATH=$cwd/libqpdf/build:$PATH
 
 ./config-msvc $w
+make -j8
 make check install
 make distclean