diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 82f86de..42d8815 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ the user's `PATH` environment variable:
   - [samtools](http://www.htslib.org/)
   - [bedtools](https://bedtools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html)
   - [GNU awk](https://www.gnu.org/software/gawk/manual/gawk.html)
-  - [GNU parallel](https://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/)
 
 It is also useful to have [samblaster](https://github.com/GregoryFaust/samblaster)
 installed for marking duplicate reads during the alignment phase.
diff --git a/scripts/QC.sh b/scripts/QC.sh
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
index 094c05a..070e874
--- a/scripts/QC.sh
+++ b/scripts/QC.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 ## showing the different BISCUIT QC metrics
 ##
 ## Notes:
-##   1.) biscuit, samtools, bedtools, awk, and parallel all must be in PATH for
+##   1.) biscuit, samtools, bedtools, and awk all must be in PATH for
 ##       script to work
 ##
 ## Created by:
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 ##     - Create qc subcommand and integrate into QC.sh
 ##   Jan 2023 -
 ##     - Fix bug so new versions of GNU parallel work
+##     - Remove GNU parallel dependency
 ##
 ################################################################################
 
@@ -77,19 +78,6 @@ function check_path {
           exit 1
       fi
   fi
-  if [[ `which parallel 2>&1 > /dev/null` ]]; then
-      >&2 echo "parallel does not exist in PATH"
-      >&2 echo "Make sure to add GNU parallel to PATH"
-      exit 1
-  else
-      if parallel --version | grep -q GNU; then
-          >&2 echo "Using GNU parallel found at: `which parallel`"
-      else
-          >&2 echo "It doesn't appear you are using GNU parallel."
-          >&2 echo "Try adding GNU parallel at the front of PATH"
-          exit 1
-      fi
-  fi
 }
 
 # Check that certain variables have been set and files exist
@@ -109,6 +97,18 @@ function check_variables {
     done
 }
 
+# Wait for jobs, exit if they're unsuccessful
+# Via: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1131484/wait-for-bash-background-jobs-in-script-to-be-finished/
+function wait_for_jobs {
+    while true; do
+	wait -n || {
+	    code="$?"
+	    ([[ $code = "127" ]] && exit 0 || exit "$code")
+	    break
+	}
+    done;
+}
+
 # Workhorse function for processing BISCUIT QC
 function biscuitQC {
     # Simple check for necessary command line tools
@@ -133,16 +133,19 @@ function biscuitQC {
 
     if [[ "${run_cov_qc}" == true ]]; then
         # Create genomecov_all, genomecov_q40, genomecov_all_dup, genomecov_q40_dup
-        samtools view -hb ${in_bam} | parallel -j4 -k --tmpdir ${outdir} --pipe --tee {} ::: \
-            "bedtools genomecov -bga -split -ibam stdin | LC_ALL=C sort -k1,1 -k2,2n -T ${outdir} > ${outdir}/${sample}_genomecov_all.tmp.bed" \
-            "samtools view -q 40 -b | bedtools genomecov -bga -split -ibam stdin | LC_ALL=C sort -k1,1 -k2,2n -T ${outdir} > ${outdir}/${sample}_genomecov_q40.tmp.bed" \
-            "samtools view -f 0x400 -b | bedtools genomecov -bga -split -ibam stdin | LC_ALL=C sort -k1,1 -k2,2n -T ${outdir} > ${outdir}/${sample}_genomecov_all_dup.tmp.bed" \
-            "samtools view -f 0x400 -q 40 -b | bedtools genomecov -bga -split -ibam stdin | LC_ALL=C sort -k1,1 -k2,2n -T ${outdir} > ${outdir}/${sample}_genomecov_q40_dup.tmp.bed"
+        # Spawn these to the background
+        bedtools genomecov -bga -split -ibam ${in_bam} | LC_ALL=C sort -k1,1 -k2,2n -T ${outdir} > ${outdir}/${sample}_genomecov_all.tmp.bed &
+        samtools view -q 40 -b ${in_bam} | bedtools genomecov -bga -split -ibam stdin | LC_ALL=C sort -k1,1 -k2,2n -T ${outdir} > ${outdir}/${sample}_genomecov_q40.tmp.bed &
+        samtools view -f 0x400 -b ${in_bam} | bedtools genomecov -bga -split -ibam stdin | LC_ALL=C sort -k1,1 -k2,2n -T ${outdir} > ${outdir}/${sample}_genomecov_all_dup.tmp.bed &
+        samtools view -f 0x400 -q 40 -b ${in_bam} | bedtools genomecov -bga -split -ibam stdin | LC_ALL=C sort -k1,1 -k2,2n -T ${outdir} > ${outdir}/${sample}_genomecov_q40_dup.tmp.bed &
+
+        wait_for_jobs
 
         # Create cpg_all, cpg_q40
-        cat ${BISCUIT_CPGS} | parallel -j2 -k --tmpdir ${outdir} --pipe --tee {} ::: \
-            "bedtools intersect -sorted -wo -b ${outdir}/${sample}_genomecov_all.tmp.bed -a stdin | bedtools groupby -g 1-3 -c 7 -o min > ${outdir}/${sample}_cpg_all.tmp.bed" \
-            "bedtools intersect -sorted -wo -b ${outdir}/${sample}_genomecov_q40.tmp.bed -a stdin | bedtools groupby -g 1-3 -c 7 -o min > ${outdir}/${sample}_cpg_q40.tmp.bed"
+        bedtools intersect -sorted -wo -b ${outdir}/${sample}_genomecov_all.tmp.bed -a ${BISCUIT_CPGS} | bedtools groupby -g 1-3 -c 7 -o min > ${outdir}/${sample}_cpg_all.tmp.bed &
+        bedtools intersect -sorted -wo -b ${outdir}/${sample}_genomecov_q40.tmp.bed -a ${BISCUIT_CPGS} | bedtools groupby -g 1-3 -c 7 -o min > ${outdir}/${sample}_cpg_q40.tmp.bed &
+
+        wait_for_jobs
 
         # Coverage distributions and uniformity
         echo -e "BISCUITqc Uniformity Table" > ${outdir}/${sample}_cv_table.txt