diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/gpu-tests.yml b/.azure-pipelines/gpu-tests.yml
index c0074adf4e81c..ee4f7c2474687 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/gpu-tests.yml
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/gpu-tests.yml
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ jobs:
 
     - bash: |
         python -m coverage run --source pytorch_lightning -m pytest pytorch_lightning tests --ignore tests/benchmarks -v --junitxml=$(Build.StagingDirectory)/test-results.xml --durations=50
+      env:
+        PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION: "python"
       displayName: 'Testing: standard'
 
     - bash: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_pkg-install.yml b/.github/workflows/ci_pkg-install.yml
index 9937a0eb73e87..1c19d6ab63775 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci_pkg-install.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_pkg-install.yml
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ jobs:
           pip install -r requirements.txt --find-links https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu/torch_stable.html
 
       - name: Install | Uninstall package - archive
+        env:
+          PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION: "python"
         run: |
           # install as archive
           pip install dist/*.tar.gz
@@ -57,6 +59,8 @@ jobs:
           pip uninstall -y pytorch-lightning
 
       - name: Install | Uninstall package - wheel
+        env:
+          PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION: "python"
         run: |
           # install as wheel
           pip install dist/*.whl
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_test-base.yml b/.github/workflows/ci_test-base.yml
index 221f92d26ad5e..65310ed6899d0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci_test-base.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_test-base.yml
@@ -59,8 +59,9 @@ jobs:
       shell: bash
 
     - name: Test Package [only]
-      run: |
-        coverage run --source pytorch_lightning -m pytest pytorch_lightning -v
+      env:
+        PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION: "python"
+      run: coverage run --source pytorch_lightning -m pytest pytorch_lightning -v
 
     - name: Statistics
       if: success()
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_test-conda.yml b/.github/workflows/ci_test-conda.yml
index c907e13b4ac23..881bf680f844c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci_test-conda.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_test-conda.yml
@@ -64,8 +64,9 @@ jobs:
         ls -l checkpoints/
 
     - name: Tests
-      run: |
-        coverage run --source pytorch_lightning -m pytest --timeout 150 pytorch_lightning tests -v --durations=50 --junitxml=junit/test-results-${{ runner.os }}-torch${{ matrix.pytorch-version }}.xml
+      env:
+        PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION: "python"
+      run: coverage run --source pytorch_lightning -m pytest --timeout 150 pytorch_lightning tests -v --durations=50 --junitxml=junit/test-results-${{ runner.os }}-torch${{ matrix.pytorch-version }}.xml
 
     - name: Upload pytest results
       uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_test-full.yml b/.github/workflows/ci_test-full.yml
index f260c67069912..45e952eefb754 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci_test-full.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_test-full.yml
@@ -133,13 +133,15 @@ jobs:
         python requirements/check-avail-extras.py
 
     - name: Tests
-      run: |
-        # NOTE: do not include coverage report here, see: https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/issues/1003
-        coverage run --source pytorch_lightning -m pytest pytorch_lightning tests -v --durations=50 --junitxml=junit/test-results-${{ runner.os }}-py${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ matrix.requires }}-${{ matrix.release }}.xml
+      env:
+        PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION: "python"
+      # NOTE: do not include coverage report here, see: https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/issues/1003
+      run: coverage run --source pytorch_lightning -m pytest pytorch_lightning tests -v --durations=50 --junitxml=junit/test-results-${{ runner.os }}-py${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ matrix.requires }}-${{ matrix.release }}.xml
 
     - name: Examples
-      run: |
-        python -m pytest pl_examples -v --durations=10
+      env:
+        PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION: "python"
+      run: python -m pytest pl_examples -v --durations=10
 
     - name: Upload pytest results
       uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_test-slow.yml b/.github/workflows/ci_test-slow.yml
index e2b5ca20b2f95..e11b51d2745b5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci_test-slow.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_test-slow.yml
@@ -55,10 +55,10 @@ jobs:
       shell: bash
 
     - name: Tests
-      run: |
-        coverage run --source pytorch_lightning -m pytest tests -v --junitxml=junit/test-results-${{ runner.os }}-py${{ matrix.python-version }}.xml
       env:
+        PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION: "python"
         PL_RUN_SLOW_TESTS: 1
+      run: coverage run --source pytorch_lightning -m pytest tests -v --junitxml=junit/test-results-${{ runner.os }}-py${{ matrix.python-version }}.xml
 
     - name: Upload pytest test results
       uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2