diff --git a/qiskit/passmanager/passmanager.py b/qiskit/passmanager/passmanager.py
index ba416dfb063b..8d3a4e9aa693 100644
--- a/qiskit/passmanager/passmanager.py
+++ b/qiskit/passmanager/passmanager.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 
 import dill
 
-from qiskit.utils.parallel import parallel_map
+from qiskit.utils.parallel import parallel_map, should_run_in_parallel
 from .base_tasks import Task, PassManagerIR
 from .exceptions import PassManagerError
 from .flow_controllers import FlowControllerLinear
@@ -225,16 +225,16 @@ def callback_func(**kwargs):
             in_programs = [in_programs]
             is_list = False
 
-        if len(in_programs) == 1:
-            out_program = _run_workflow(
-                program=in_programs[0],
-                pass_manager=self,
-                callback=callback,
-                **kwargs,
-            )
-            if is_list:
-                return [out_program]
-            return out_program
+        # If we're not going to run in parallel, we want to avoid spending time `dill` serialising
+        # ourselves, since that can be quite expensive.
+        if len(in_programs) == 1 or not should_run_in_parallel(num_processes):
+            out = [
+                _run_workflow(program=program, pass_manager=self, callback=callback, **kwargs)
+                for program in in_programs
+            ]
+            if len(in_programs) == 1 and not is_list:
+                return out[0]
+            return out
 
         del callback
         del kwargs
diff --git a/qiskit/utils/__init__.py b/qiskit/utils/__init__.py
index f5256f6f11ec..30935437ebf2 100644
--- a/qiskit/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/qiskit/utils/__init__.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
 .. autofunction:: local_hardware_info
 .. autofunction:: is_main_process
 
-A helper function for calling a custom function with python
+A helper function for calling a custom function with Python
 :class:`~concurrent.futures.ProcessPoolExecutor`. Tasks can be executed in parallel using this function.
 
 .. autofunction:: parallel_map
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
 
 from . import optionals
 
-from .parallel import parallel_map
+from .parallel import parallel_map, should_run_in_parallel
 
 __all__ = [
     "LazyDependencyManager",
@@ -85,4 +85,5 @@
     "is_main_process",
     "apply_prefix",
     "parallel_map",
+    "should_run_in_parallel",
 ]
diff --git a/qiskit/utils/parallel.py b/qiskit/utils/parallel.py
index d46036a478f9..f87eeb815967 100644
--- a/qiskit/utils/parallel.py
+++ b/qiskit/utils/parallel.py
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@
 from the multiprocessing library.
 """
 
+from __future__ import annotations
+
 import os
 from concurrent.futures import ProcessPoolExecutor
 import sys
@@ -101,6 +103,21 @@ def _task_wrapper(param):
     return task(value, *task_args, **task_kwargs)
 
 
+def should_run_in_parallel(num_processes: int | None = None) -> bool:
+    """Return whether the current parallelisation configuration suggests that we should run things
+    like :func:`parallel_map` in parallel (``True``) or degrade to serial (``False``).
+
+    Args:
+        num_processes: the number of processes requested for use (if given).
+    """
+    num_processes = CPU_COUNT if num_processes is None else num_processes
+    return (
+        num_processes > 1
+        and os.getenv("QISKIT_IN_PARALLEL", "FALSE") == "FALSE"
+        and CONFIG.get("parallel_enabled", PARALLEL_DEFAULT)
+    )
+
+
 def parallel_map(  # pylint: disable=dangerous-default-value
     task, values, task_args=(), task_kwargs={}, num_processes=CPU_COUNT
 ):
@@ -110,21 +127,20 @@ def parallel_map(  # pylint: disable=dangerous-default-value
 
         result = [task(value, *task_args, **task_kwargs) for value in values]
 
-    On Windows this function defaults to a serial implementation to avoid the
-    overhead from spawning processes in Windows.
+    This will parallelise the results if the number of ``values`` is greater than one, and the
+    current system configuration permits parallelization.
 
     Args:
         task (func): Function that is to be called for each value in ``values``.
-        values (array_like): List or array of values for which the ``task``
-                            function is to be evaluated.
+        values (array_like): List or array of values for which the ``task`` function is to be
+            evaluated.
         task_args (list): Optional additional arguments to the ``task`` function.
         task_kwargs (dict): Optional additional keyword argument to the ``task`` function.
         num_processes (int): Number of processes to spawn.
 
     Returns:
-        result: The result list contains the value of
-                ``task(value, *task_args, **task_kwargs)`` for
-                    each value in ``values``.
+        result: The result list contains the value of ``task(value, *task_args, **task_kwargs)`` for
+        each value in ``values``.
 
     Raises:
         QiskitError: If user interrupts via keyboard.
@@ -147,12 +163,7 @@ def func(_):
     if len(values) == 1:
         return [task(values[0], *task_args, **task_kwargs)]
 
-    # Run in parallel if not Win and not in parallel already
-    if (
-        num_processes > 1
-        and os.getenv("QISKIT_IN_PARALLEL") == "FALSE"
-        and CONFIG.get("parallel_enabled", PARALLEL_DEFAULT)
-    ):
+    if should_run_in_parallel(num_processes):
         os.environ["QISKIT_IN_PARALLEL"] = "TRUE"
         try:
             results = []
@@ -173,8 +184,6 @@ def func(_):
         os.environ["QISKIT_IN_PARALLEL"] = "FALSE"
         return results
 
-    # Cannot do parallel on Windows , if another parallel_map is running in parallel,
-    # or len(values) == 1.
     results = []
     for _, value in enumerate(values):
         result = task(value, *task_args, **task_kwargs)
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/parallel-check-8186a8f074774a1f.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/parallel-check-8186a8f074774a1f.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d3266b2aa5f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/parallel-check-8186a8f074774a1f.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    :meth:`.PassManager.run` will no longer waste time serializing itself when given multiple inputs
+    if it is only going to work in serial.