diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index b37f6973..e8153023 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 # Copyright cocotb contributors
 # Licensed under the Revised BSD License, see LICENSE for details.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
 name: Tests
 
 on:
   push:
-    # branches:
-    #   - master
-    #   - 'stable/**'
   pull_request:
     branches:
       - master
@@ -23,7 +21,7 @@ jobs:
     if:
       github.event_name == 'push' || github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name != github.repository
 
-    name: ${{ matrix.extra_name }}${{ matrix.sim }} (${{ matrix.sim-version }}) | ${{ matrix.os }} | Python ${{ matrix.python-version }} ${{ matrix.may_fail && '| May Fail' || '' }}
+    name: ${{ matrix.extra_name }}cocotb ${{matrix.cocotb-version }} | ${{ matrix.sim }} (${{ matrix.sim-version }}) | ${{ matrix.os }} | Python ${{ matrix.python-version }} ${{ matrix.may_fail && '| May Fail' || '' }}
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     env:
       SIM: ${{ matrix.sim }}
@@ -32,14 +30,17 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         python-version: ["3.6", "3.12"]
+        # NOTE: align with versions in noxfile.py:
+        cocotb-version: ["1.6.0", "1.8.1"]
         include:
         - sim: icarus
           sim-version: apt
-          # python-version: "3.6"
           lang: verilog
           os: ubuntu-20.04
+    timeout-minutes: 10
+
     steps:
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
     - uses: actions/setup-python@v4
       with:
         python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ jobs:
         DEBIAN_FRONTEND: noninteractive
       run: |
         sudo apt-get update
-        sudo apt-get install --yes g++ make
+        sudo apt-get install --yes --no-install-recommends g++ make
     - name: Set up Icarus (apt)
       if: matrix.sim == 'icarus' && matrix.sim-version == 'apt'
       env:
@@ -57,8 +58,10 @@ jobs:
         sudo apt-get install --yes --no-install-recommends iverilog
     - name: Install testing requirements
       run: |
-        pip install nox
+        python -m pip install nox
     - name: Run tests
+      env:
+        COCOTB_ANSI_OUTPUT: 1
       continue-on-error: ${{ matrix.may_fail || false }}
       run: |
-        nox -e tests
+        nox --session "tests(cocotb='${{ matrix.cocotb-version }}')"
diff --git a/noxfile.py b/noxfile.py
index 32ded7f0..7b660d5e 100644
--- a/noxfile.py
+++ b/noxfile.py
@@ -2,8 +2,9 @@
 
 
 @nox.session
-def tests(session):
-    session.install("pytest", "coverage")
+@nox.parametrize("cocotb", ["1.6.0", "1.8.1"])
+def tests(session, cocotb):
+    session.install("pytest", "coverage", f"cocotb=={cocotb}")
     session.install(".")
     session.run("make", external=True)