diff --git a/charms/tempest-k8s/src/utils/constants.py b/charms/tempest-k8s/src/utils/constants.py
index e16f8eff..825af9d2 100644
--- a/charms/tempest-k8s/src/utils/constants.py
+++ b/charms/tempest-k8s/src/utils/constants.py
@@ -35,12 +35,12 @@ def get_tempest_concurrency() -> str:
 TEMPEST_CONCURRENCY = get_tempest_concurrency()
 
 # It's desirable to have more accounts than the concurrency,
-# so it can be hardcoded to 16,
-# which is much more than the max concurrency (see get_tempest_concurrency()),
+# so it can be hardcoded to a value that is
+# more than the max concurrency (see get_tempest_concurrency()),
 # and still a relatively small number of accounts.
 # It's also helpful to have more accounts to mitigate the effects
 # of credential locks not being released as per LP: #2052752.
-TEMPEST_ACCOUNTS_COUNT = "16"
+TEMPEST_ACCOUNTS_COUNT = "8"
 
 TEMPEST_HOME = "/var/lib/tempest"
 TEMPEST_WORKSPACE_PATH = f"{TEMPEST_HOME}/workspace"
diff --git a/charms/tempest-k8s/tests/unit/test_tempest_charm.py b/charms/tempest-k8s/tests/unit/test_tempest_charm.py
index b7642d4c..10b64ca8 100644
--- a/charms/tempest-k8s/tests/unit/test_tempest_charm.py
+++ b/charms/tempest-k8s/tests/unit/test_tempest_charm.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ TEST_TEMPEST_ENV = {
     "OS_USER_DOMAIN_ID": "tempest-domain-id",
     "OS_DOMAIN_ID": "tempest-domain-id",
     "TEMPEST_CONCURRENCY": "4",
-    "TEMPEST_ACCOUNTS_COUNT": "16",
+    "TEMPEST_ACCOUNTS_COUNT": "8",
     "TEMPEST_CONF": "/var/lib/tempest/workspace/etc/tempest.conf",
     "TEMPEST_HOME": "/var/lib/tempest",
     "TEMPEST_LIST_DIR": "/tempest_test_lists",