diff --git a/examples/conftest.py b/examples/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..94fef48fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import holoviews as hv
+
+from packaging.version import Version
+
+
+collect_ignore_glob = []
+
+
+# 2023-10: https://github.com/holoviz/hvplot/pull/1164
+if Version(hv.__version__) == Version("1.18.0a4"):
+    collect_ignore_glob += [
+        "examples/reference/xarray/contourf.ipynb",
+        "examples/user_guide/Geographic_Data.ipynb",
+    ]
+
+
+def pytest_runtest_makereport(item, call):
+    """
+    Skip tests that fail because "the kernel died before replying to kernel_info"
+    or "Kernel didn't respond in 60 seconds",
+    these are common errors when running the example tests in CI.
+
+    Inspired from: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/32451811
+
+    """
+    from _pytest.runner import pytest_runtest_makereport
+
+    tr = pytest_runtest_makereport(item, call)
+
+    if call.excinfo is not None:
+        msgs = [
+            "Kernel died before replying to kernel_info",
+            "Kernel didn't respond in 60 seconds",
+        ]
+        for msg in msgs:
+            if call.excinfo.type == RuntimeError and call.excinfo.value.args[0] in msg:
+                tr.outcome = "skipped"
+                tr.wasxfail = f"reason: {msg}"
+
+    return tr