diff --git a/.github/workflows/job-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/job-tests.yml
index b83192fd7b..b9421e948f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/job-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/job-tests.yml
@@ -123,9 +123,36 @@ jobs:
         env:
           AZURITE_ACCOUNTS: flowphpaccount01:flowphpkey01
 
+      # Main suite: everything except the grpc-exercising tests, so grpc is never
+      # exercised here and the process shuts down cleanly. Must pass.
       - name: "Test"
+        timeout-minutes: 15
+        run: "just test --exclude-group grpc --log-junit ./var/phpunit/logs/junit.xml ${{ matrix.php-version == '8.3' && '--coverage-clover=./var/phpunit/coverage/clover/coverage.xml' || '' }}"
+        env:
+          PGSQL_DATABASE_URL: pgsql://postgres:postgres@127.0.0.1:${{ job.services.postgres.ports['5432'] }}/postgres?serverVersion=11&charset=utf8
+          MYSQL_DATABASE_URL: mysql://mysql:mysql@127.0.0.1:${{ job.services.mysql.ports['3306'] }}/mysql
+          SQLITE_DATABASE_URL: "sqlite:///:memory:"
+          AZURITE_HOST: "localhost"
+          AZURITE_BLOB_PORT: "10000"
+          AZURITE_ACCOUNT_NAME: "flowphpaccount01"
+          AZURITE_ACCOUNT_KEY: "flowphpkey01"
+          S3_ENDPOINT: "http://localhost:9000"
+          S3_REGION: "us-east-1"
+          S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID: "minioadmin"
+          S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: "minioadmin"
+          OTEL_RECEIVER_HTTP_ENDPOINT: "http://localhost:4318"
+          OTEL_RECEIVER_GRPC_ENDPOINT: "localhost:4317"
+          OTEL_COLLECTOR_METRICS_ENDPOINT: "http://localhost:8888/metrics"
+          FLOW_PARQUET_TESTS_DEBUG: "0"
+
+      # gRPC-exercising tests, isolated. grpc's EventEngine threads race PHP's extension
+      # dlclose at process shutdown on PHP 8.5/amd64 (upstream grpc#38216, no released fix),
+      # so this step is allowed to fail ONLY on 8.5. A real grpc test regression on 8.3/8.4
+      # still fails CI. Remove continue-on-error once grpc ships a fix.
+      - name: "Test (grpc)"
         timeout-minutes: 10
-        run: "just test --log-junit ./var/phpunit/logs/junit.xml ${{ matrix.php-version == '8.3' && '--coverage-clover=./var/phpunit/coverage/clover/coverage.xml' || '' }}"
+        continue-on-error: ${{ matrix.php-version == '8.5' }}
+        run: "just test --group grpc --log-junit ./var/phpunit/logs/grpc-junit.xml"
         env:
           PGSQL_DATABASE_URL: pgsql://postgres:postgres@127.0.0.1:${{ job.services.postgres.ports['5432'] }}/postgres?serverVersion=11&charset=utf8
           MYSQL_DATABASE_URL: mysql://mysql:mysql@127.0.0.1:${{ job.services.mysql.ports['3306'] }}/mysql
diff --git a/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Integration/LogExportIntegrationTest.php b/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Integration/LogExportIntegrationTest.php
index d23aff4842..d4094b41ee 100644
--- a/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Integration/LogExportIntegrationTest.php
+++ b/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Integration/LogExportIntegrationTest.php
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
 use Flow\Bridge\Telemetry\OTLP\Tests\Context\TransportConfiguration;
 use Flow\Telemetry\Resource;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\DataProvider;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Group;
 
+#[Group('grpc')]
 final class LogExportIntegrationTest extends IntegrationTestCase
 {
     #[DataProvider('transportProvider')]
diff --git a/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Integration/MetricExportIntegrationTest.php b/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Integration/MetricExportIntegrationTest.php
index 3cf6ef12e5..81a30ef0e0 100644
--- a/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Integration/MetricExportIntegrationTest.php
+++ b/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Integration/MetricExportIntegrationTest.php
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
 use Flow\Bridge\Telemetry\OTLP\Tests\Context\TransportConfiguration;
 use Flow\Telemetry\Resource;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\DataProvider;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Group;
 
+#[Group('grpc')]
 final class MetricExportIntegrationTest extends IntegrationTestCase
 {
     #[DataProvider('transportProvider')]
diff --git a/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Integration/SpanExportIntegrationTest.php b/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Integration/SpanExportIntegrationTest.php
index 536a9ab1ae..5b1b90f46b 100644
--- a/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Integration/SpanExportIntegrationTest.php
+++ b/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Integration/SpanExportIntegrationTest.php
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
 use Flow\Telemetry\Tracer\SpanLink;
 use Flow\Telemetry\Tracer\SpanStatus;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\DataProvider;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Group;
 
+#[Group('grpc')]
 final class SpanExportIntegrationTest extends IntegrationTestCase
 {
     #[DataProvider('transportProvider')]
diff --git a/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Unit/Transport/GrpcTransportTest.php b/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Unit/Transport/GrpcTransportTest.php
index 7fada3045a..f8edaff949 100644
--- a/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Unit/Transport/GrpcTransportTest.php
+++ b/src/bridge/telemetry/otlp/tests/Flow/Bridge/Telemetry/OTLP/Tests/Unit/Transport/GrpcTransportTest.php
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 use Google\Protobuf\Internal\Message;
 use Grpc\BaseStub;
 use InvalidArgumentException;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Group;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\RequiresPhpExtension;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
 use RuntimeException;
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@
 use function extension_loaded;
 use function str_contains;
 
+#[Group('grpc')]
 final class GrpcTransportTest extends TestCase
 {
     #[RequiresPhpExtension('grpc')]