diff --git a/.github/workflows/test_eessi.yml b/.github/workflows/test_eessi.yml
index 2db4809b21..1a67ad29ea 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test_eessi.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test_eessi.yml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ jobs:
         - eessi-2023.06-eb-4.8.0-system.yml
         - eessi-2023.06-eb-4.8.0-2021b.yml
         - eessi-2023.06-eb-4.8.1-system.yml
+        - eessi-2023.06-eb-4.8.1-2021b.yml
     steps:
         - name: Check out software-layer repository
           uses: actions/checkout@93ea575cb5d8a053eaa0ac8fa3b40d7e05a33cc8 # v3.1.0
diff --git a/eessi-2023.06-eb-4.8.1-2021b.yml b/eessi-2023.06-eb-4.8.1-2021b.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..62f529563a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/eessi-2023.06-eb-4.8.1-2021b.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+easyconfigs:
+  - Xvfb-1.20.13-GCCcore-11.2.0.eb:
+      # enable exec permissions for xvfb-run after copying;
+      # need to also enable user write permissions on xvfb-run to ensure that copying with preserved permissions works
+      options:
+        from-pr: 18834
+  - R-4.2.0-foss-2021b.eb