diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 4f1d7d4..434fe9b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -25,13 +25,40 @@ jobs:
         python -m pip install -v ".[dev]"
         mypy neat_ml
         ruff check neat_ml
-    - name: install fonts
+    - name: cache fonts
+      id: cache-fonts
       if: runner.os == 'Linux'
+      uses: actions/cache@27d5ce7f107fe9357f9df03efb73ab90386fccae #v5.0.5
+      with:
+        path: ~/.cache/msttcorefonts/
+        key: ${{ runner.os }}-msttcorefonts-v1
+    - name: install fonts
+      if: runner.os == 'Linux' && steps.cache-fonts.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
       run: |
         echo ttf-mscorefonts-installer msttcorefonts/accepted-mscorefonts-eula select true | sudo debconf-set-selections
         sudo apt-get update
         sudo apt-get install -y ttf-mscorefonts-installer || true
-        sudo fc-cache -f -v
+        # before making the user storage directory, check if the font(s) we need
+        # (i.e. `Arial.ttf` and `Arial_Bold.ttf`) exist/were successfully downloaded
+        # to the root directory to avoid loading an empty directory on a successful
+        # ``cache-hit``
+        if [[ ! -f "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/Arial.ttf" || \
+            ! -f "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/Arial_Bold.ttf" ]]; then
+            echo "Fonts not downloaded successfully."
+            exit 1
+        else
+            echo "Fonts downloaded successfully. Caching fonts..."
+            mkdir -p ~/.cache/msttcorefonts/
+            cp /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/*.ttf ~/.cache/msttcorefonts/
+        fi
+    - name: install fonts from cache
+      if: runner.os == 'Linux' && steps.cache-fonts.outputs.cache-hit == 'true'
+      run: |
+        sudo mkdir -p /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/
+        sudo cp ~/.cache/msttcorefonts/*.ttf /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/
+    - name: refresh font cache
+      if: runner.os == 'Linux'
+      run: sudo fc-cache -f -v
     - name: test
       run: |
         cd /tmp && python -m pytest --pyargs neat_ml --cov=neat_ml --cov-report=term-missing