diff --git a/hermes_cli/service_manager.py b/hermes_cli/service_manager.py
index 22aa08c4479..b8c2158b8dc 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/service_manager.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/service_manager.py
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ def _s6_running() -> bool:
     init, or an unrelated process named ``s6-svscan``).
     """
     try:
-        comm = Path("/proc/1/comm").read_text().strip()
+        comm = Path("/proc/1/comm").read_text(encoding="utf-8").strip()
     except OSError:
         return False
     if comm != "s6-svscan":
diff --git a/scripts/run_tests_parallel.py b/scripts/run_tests_parallel.py
index 57178899012..634c6e5e5e9 100755
--- a/scripts/run_tests_parallel.py
+++ b/scripts/run_tests_parallel.py
@@ -55,7 +55,16 @@ _DEFAULT_ROOTS = ["tests"]
 # Directories to skip during discovery — the e2e + integration suites
 # require real services and are run separately. Match exactly the
 # ``--ignore=`` flags the previous CI command used.
-_SKIP_PARTS = {"integration", "e2e"}
+#
+# ``docker`` joined this list in the salvage of PR #30136: the new
+# tests/docker/ harness builds the real Dockerfile in a session
+# fixture and runs ``docker run`` against it. On a CI runner where
+# Docker IS available (ubuntu-latest), the build can exceed
+# pytest-timeout's 180s ceiling and surface as a setup-timeout
+# instead of a real test failure. The harness has its own dedicated
+# action (.github/actions/hermes-smoke-test) plus the docker-lint
+# workflow; it is NOT meant to run in the regular ``test (N)`` shards.
+_SKIP_PARTS = {"integration", "e2e", "docker"}
 
 # Per-file wall-clock cap. Generous default — pytest-timeout still
 # enforces per-test caps inside each subprocess; this is just an outer