diff --git a/contrib/cirrus/lib.sh b/contrib/cirrus/lib.sh
index d47b310532..ea6d8a0de5 100644
--- a/contrib/cirrus/lib.sh
+++ b/contrib/cirrus/lib.sh
@@ -150,6 +150,9 @@ setup_rootless() {
     showrun groupadd -g $rootless_gid $ROOTLESS_USER
     showrun useradd -g $rootless_gid -u $rootless_uid --no-user-group --create-home $ROOTLESS_USER
 
+    # use tmpfs to speed up IO
+    mount -t tmpfs -o size=75%,mode=0700,uid=$rootless_uid,gid=$rootless_gid none /home/$ROOTLESS_USER
+
     echo "$ROOTLESS_USER ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: ALL" > /etc/sudoers.d/ci-rootless
 
     mkdir -p "$HOME/.ssh" "/home/$ROOTLESS_USER/.ssh"
diff --git a/contrib/cirrus/setup_environment.sh b/contrib/cirrus/setup_environment.sh
index ae773c1270..f703ab32eb 100755
--- a/contrib/cirrus/setup_environment.sh
+++ b/contrib/cirrus/setup_environment.sh
@@ -167,10 +167,10 @@ runroot = "/run/containers/storage"
 graphroot = "/var/lib/containers/storage"
 EOF
 
-# Since we've potentially changed important config settings, reset.
-# This prevents `database graph driver "" does not match "overlay"`
-# on Debian.
-rm -rf /var/lib/containers/storage
+
+# mount a tmpfs for the container storage to speed up the IO
+# side effect is we clear all potentially pre existing data so we know we always start "clean"
+mount -t tmpfs -o size=75%,mode=0700 none /var/lib/containers
 
 # shellcheck disable=SC2154
 showrun echo "Setting CI_DESIRED_STORAGE [=$CI_DESIRED_STORAGE] for *e2e* tests"