diff --git a/.github/workflows/run-tests-comment-v2.yml b/.github/workflows/run-tests-comment-v2.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 2cf8564694..0000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/run-tests-comment-v2.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,61 +0,0 @@
-# this workflow was tuned using this resource
-# https://dev.to/zirkelc/trigger-github-workflow-for-comment-on-pull-request-45l2
-
-name: Test via PR Comment v2
-on:
-  issue_comment:
-    types: [created]
-
-# Required shell entrypoint to have properly configured bash shell
-defaults:
-  run:
-    shell: bash -l {0}
-
-jobs:
-  linux:
-    # this detects if comment is on a PR and if it contains the trigger word "runGAtests"
-    if: ${{ github.event.issue.pull_request && contains(github.event.comment.body, 'runGAtests') }}
-    runs-on: "ubuntu-latest"
-    strategy:
-      matrix:
-        python-version: ["3.9", "3.10", "3.11"]
-      fail-fast: false
-    name: Linux Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-    steps:
-      # this bit detects what branch the tests should run on
-      # without it tests run amok on all PRs
-      - name: Get correct PR branch
-        uses: xt0rted/pull-request-comment-branch@v1
-        id: comment-branch
-      # this bit will make the test appear on the PR webpage
-      - name: Set latest commit status as pending
-        uses: myrotvorets/set-commit-status-action@master
-        with:
-          sha: ${{ steps.comment-branch.outputs.head_sha }}
-          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          status: pending
-      - name: Checkout correct PR branch
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
-        with:
-          ref: ${{ steps.comment-branch.outputs.head_ref }}
-          fetch-depth: 0
-      - uses: conda-incubator/setup-miniconda@v2
-        with:
-          activate-environment: esmvalcore
-          environment-file: environment.yml
-          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-          miniforge-version: "latest"
-          miniforge-variant: Mambaforge
-          use-mamba: true
-      - run: mkdir -p test_linux_artifacts_python_${{ matrix.python-version }}
-      - run: conda --version 2>&1 | tee test_linux_artifacts_python_${{ matrix.python-version }}/conda_version.txt
-      - run: python -V 2>&1 | tee test_linux_artifacts_python_${{ matrix.python-version }}/python_version.txt
-      - run: pip install -e .[develop] 2>&1 | tee test_linux_artifacts_python_${{ matrix.python-version }}/install.txt
-      - run: flake8
-      - run: pytest
-      - name: Upload artifacts
-        if: ${{ always() }}  # upload artifacts even if fail
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
-        with:
-          name: Test_Linux_python_${{ matrix.python-version }}
-          path: test_linux_artifacts_python_${{ matrix.python-version }}
diff --git a/doc/contributing.rst b/doc/contributing.rst
index 8201fac707..814ab79263 100644
--- a/doc/contributing.rst
+++ b/doc/contributing.rst
@@ -550,18 +550,6 @@ and the result of the tests ran by GitHub Actions can be viewed on the
 of the repository (to learn more about the Github-hosted runners, please have a look
 the `documentation <https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-github-hosted-runners>`__).
 
-When opening a pull request, if you wish to run the Github Actions `Test <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValCore/actions/workflows/run-tests.yml>`__ test,
-you can activate it via a simple comment containing the @runGAtests tag
-(e.g. "@runGAtests" or "@runGAtests please run" - in effect, tagging the runGAtests
-bot that will start the test automatically). This is useful
-to check if a certain feature that you included in the Pull Request, and can be tested
-for via the test suite, works across the supported Python versions, and both on Linux and OSX.
-The test is currently deactivated, so before triggering the test via comment, make sure you activate
-the test in the main `Actions page <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValCore/actions>`__
-(click on Test via PR Comment and activate it); also and be sure to deactivate it afterwards
-(the Github API still needs a bit more development, and currently it triggers
-the test for **each comment** irrespective of PR, that's why this needs to be activated/decativated).
-
 The configuration of the tests run by CircleCI can be found in the directory
 `.circleci <https://github.com/ESMValGroup/ESMValCore/blob/main/.circleci>`__,
 while the configuration of the tests run by GitHub Actions can be found in the