diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-e2e.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-e2e.yml
index eb14cb94..5ca6a437 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-e2e.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-e2e.yml
@@ -32,19 +32,10 @@ jobs:
           dotnet-version: 6.0.x
 
       - name: Get Machine
-        run: cd .. && git clone https://github.com/sillsdev/machine.git && cd machine && dotnet build && cd ../serval && dotnet build
-
-      - name: Restore dotnet tools
-        run: dotnet tool restore
-
-      - name: Restore dependencies
-        run: dotnet restore
-
-      - name: Build
-        run: dotnet build --no-restore
+        run: cd .. && mkdir machine_testing_dir && cd machine_testing_dir && git clone https://github.com/sillsdev/machine.git && cd machine && dotnet build && cd ../../serval && dotnet build #separate repos to guarantee failures when grpc or data access is not up to date
 
       - name: Start containers
-        run: docker compose -f "docker-compose.yml" up -d && sleep 20 #allow time for mongo to start up properly
+        run: export MACHINE_TESTING_DIR="../machine_testing_dir/machine" && docker compose -f "docker-compose.yml" up -d && sleep 20 #allow time for mongo to start up properly
 
       - name: Debug network
         run: docker ps -a && docker logs --since 10m serval_cntr && docker logs --since 10m echo_cntr && docker logs --since 10m machine-engine-cntr && docker logs --since 10m serval-mongo-1 && docker logs --since 10m machine-job-cntr
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 61d8a9a9..c176320f 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ services:
     hostname: machine-engine
     container_name: machine-engine-cntr
     build:
-      context: ../machine
+      context: ${MACHINE_TESTING_DIR:-../machine}
       dockerfile: ../machine/dockerfile.development
 
     environment:
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ services:
       - mongo
       - serval-api
     volumes:
-      - ../machine:/app:ro
+      - ${MACHINE_TESTING_DIR:-../machine}:/app:ro
       - ~/.nuget/packages:/root/.nuget/packages:ro
       - /var/lib/machine:/var/lib/machine
       - /var/lib/serval:/var/lib/serval
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ services:
     hostname: machine-job-server
     container_name: machine-job-cntr
     build:
-      context: ../machine
+      context: ${MACHINE_TESTING_DIR:-../machine}
       dockerfile: ../machine/dockerfile.development
     environment:
       - ASPNETCORE_ConnectionStrings__Hangfire=mongodb://mongo:27017/machine_jobs?replicaSet=myRS
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ services:
       - machine-engine
       - serval-api
     volumes:
-      - ../machine:/app:ro
+      - ${MACHINE_TESTING_DIR:-../machine}:/app:ro
       - ~/.nuget/packages:/root/.nuget/packages:ro
       - /var/lib/machine:/var/lib/machine
       - /var/lib/serval:/var/lib/serval