diff --git a/hack/make-rules/test.sh b/hack/make-rules/test.sh
index 7d8e5664a1d..64a16b8fa67 100755
--- a/hack/make-rules/test.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/test.sh
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ isnum() {
   [[ "$1" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]
 }
 
-PARALLEL="${PARALLEL:-1}"
+PARALLEL="${PARALLEL:--1}"
 while getopts "hp:i:" opt ; do
   case ${opt} in
     h)
@@ -175,6 +175,10 @@ if [[ -n "${KUBE_RACE}" ]] ; then
   goflags+=("${KUBE_RACE}")
 fi
 
+if [[ "${PARALLEL}" -gt 0 ]]; then
+  goflags+=(-p "${PARALLEL}")
+fi
+
 junitFilenamePrefix() {
   if [[ -z "${KUBE_JUNIT_REPORT_DIR}" ]]; then
     echo ""