diff --git a/.github/workflows/regression_reusable.yaml b/.github/workflows/regression_reusable.yaml
index 932f6a574..df772cafa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/regression_reusable.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/regression_reusable.yaml
@@ -225,7 +225,6 @@ jobs:
             run_workdir/requirements_coverage.json
             run_workdir/monitor.log
             run_workdir/failure_analysis.md
-            run_workdir/cm-status-*.db*
       - name: ↟ Upload CLI coverage
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         if: success() || failure()
diff --git a/.github/workflows/upgrade_reusable.yaml b/.github/workflows/upgrade_reusable.yaml
index 2ad0e4467..fc47eaea1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/upgrade_reusable.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/upgrade_reusable.yaml
@@ -172,7 +172,6 @@ jobs:
             run_workdir/scheduling.log
             run_workdir/errors_all.log
             run_workdir/failure_analysis.md
-            run_workdir/cm-status-*.db*
       - name: ↟ Upload CLI coverage
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         if: success() || failure()
diff --git a/agent_docs/failure_analysis_prompt.md b/agent_docs/failure_analysis_prompt.md
index 45301f7fb..8c5acfb4c 100644
--- a/agent_docs/failure_analysis_prompt.md
+++ b/agent_docs/failure_analysis_prompt.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Inputs available under `{RUN_DIR}/` (use only what exists):
 - `{RUN_DIR}/scheduling.log` — cluster instance manager log
 - `{RUN_DIR}/testrun-report.xml` — junit XML
 - `{RUN_DIR}/monitor.log` — system resource snapshots every 10 min
-- `{RUN_DIR}/cm-status-1.db` — cluster-management SQLite status database ("test running", resource and flag records as they were at the end of the run); query with `sqlite3 -readonly -header {RUN_DIR}/cm-status-1.db 'SELECT * FROM overview ORDER BY instance_num, kind'`
+- `{RUN_DIR}/testing_artifacts/pytest-*/cm-status.db` — cluster-management SQLite status database ("test running", resource and flag records as they were at the end of the run); query with `sqlite3 -readonly -header <db_file> 'SELECT * FROM overview ORDER BY instance_num, kind'`
 
 Counting tests (IMPORTANT):
 
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Steps:
 2. Group failures by likely root cause (same exception class + message head, same node crash, same infra symptom). Treat one node crash that flunks many tests as a single group.
 3. For each group: list affected tests (truncate to ~10 with a "+N more" tail), give the most informative 1–3 lines of error context, and classify as one of `node-bug | test-bug | infra-flake | env-issue | unknown` with a short justification.
 4. Skim `{RUN_DIR}/errors_all.log` and `{RUN_DIR}/monitor.log` for anything corroborating (OOM, disk pressure, repeated tracebacks).
-5. When failures look cluster-management related (dead cluster instances, tests stuck waiting for resources), query the `overview` view of `{RUN_DIR}/cm-status-1.db` — leftover records show which tests were running, which resources were locked and which flags (e.g. `cluster_dead`, `respin_needed`) were set when the run ended.
+5. When failures look cluster-management related (dead cluster instances, tests stuck waiting for resources), query the `overview` view of the status database — leftover records show which tests were running, which resources were locked and which flags (e.g. `cluster_dead`, `respin_needed`) were set when the run ended.
 
 Known patterns:
 
diff --git a/agent_docs/upgrade_failure_analysis_prompt.md b/agent_docs/upgrade_failure_analysis_prompt.md
index 38197d691..d888c3c0c 100644
--- a/agent_docs/upgrade_failure_analysis_prompt.md
+++ b/agent_docs/upgrade_failure_analysis_prompt.md
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ Inputs available under `{RUN_DIR}/` (use only what exists):
 - `{RUN_DIR}/testing_artifacts/` — per-test artifact dirs with cluster logs, node stdouts, etc. (shared across all steps)
 - `{RUN_DIR}/errors_all.log` — output of `runner/grep_errors.sh` over cluster logs (covers all steps)
 - `{RUN_DIR}/scheduling.log` — cluster instance manager log
-- `{RUN_DIR}/cm-status-1.db`, `{RUN_DIR}/cm-status-2.db`, `{RUN_DIR}/cm-status-3.db` — cluster-management SQLite status databases, one per step ("test running", resource and flag records as they were at the end of that step); query with `sqlite3 -readonly -header {RUN_DIR}/cm-status-1.db 'SELECT * FROM overview ORDER BY instance_num, kind'`
+- `{RUN_DIR}/testing_artifacts/pytest-*/cm-status.db` — cluster-management SQLite status databases, one per step ("test running", resource and flag records as they were at the end of that step); the `pytest-N` dir numbers don't map to steps, order the databases by modification time instead (oldest = step1); there should normally be three - when fewer are present, don't assume positions and correlate with which `allure-results-stepN/` dirs exist to decide which steps the databases belong to; query with `sqlite3 -readonly -header <db_file> 'SELECT * FROM overview ORDER BY instance_num, kind'`
 
 Steps:
 
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ Steps:
    `grep -E '"status": "(failed|broken)"' {RUN_DIR}/allure-results-step*/*result.json | cut -c1-200`.
 3. Group failures by likely root cause (same exception class + message head, same node crash, same infra symptom). **Note which step(s) each group hits** — a failure that appears only in step2 or step3 is much more interesting than one that already fails in step1. Treat one node crash that flunks many tests as a single group.
 4. For each group: list affected tests (truncate to ~10 with a "+N more" tail), give the most informative 1–3 lines of error context, mark the step(s) affected, and classify as one of `node-bug | test-bug | infra-flake | env-issue | upgrade-regression | unknown` with a short justification. Use `upgrade-regression` when a test passes in step1 but fails in step2 or step3 — that is the signal this workflow exists to catch.
-5. Skim `{RUN_DIR}/errors_all.log` and `{RUN_DIR}/scheduling.log` for anything corroborating (node crash on restart, hard-fork failure, supervisord errors, OOM, repeated tracebacks). When failures look cluster-management related (dead cluster instances, tests stuck waiting for resources), query the `overview` view of the affected step's `cm-status-N.db`.
+5. Skim `{RUN_DIR}/errors_all.log` and `{RUN_DIR}/scheduling.log` for anything corroborating (node crash on restart, hard-fork failure, supervisord errors, OOM, repeated tracebacks). When failures look cluster-management related (dead cluster instances, tests stuck waiting for resources), query the `overview` view of the affected step's status database.
 6. If a whole step is missing its `allure-results-stepN/` dir, that step likely failed before pytest ran — call this out explicitly and check `errors_all.log` / the workflow log group output for the cause (commonly a `start-cluster` / `supervisord` / hard-fork failure).
 
 Known patterns:
diff --git a/runner/node_upgrade.sh b/runner/node_upgrade.sh
index b654fabfa..7aa5bcb68 100755
--- a/runner/node_upgrade.sh
+++ b/runner/node_upgrade.sh
@@ -190,13 +190,8 @@ fi
 
 _last_cleanup
 
-# Copy cluster status databases to workdir
-./runner/status_dbs.sh "$ARTIFACTS_DIR" "$WORKDIR" || :
-
-# prepare artifacts for upload in GitHub Actions
-if [ -n "${GITHUB_ACTIONS:-}" ]; then
-  # save testing artifacts
-  ./runner/save_artifacts.sh "$ARTIFACTS_DIR" "$WORKDIR"
-fi
+# Save testing artifacts. Best-effort - a failure here must not override the testrun
+# exit code.
+./runner/save_artifacts.sh "$ARTIFACTS_DIR" "$WORKDIR" || :
 
 exit "$retval"
diff --git a/runner/regression.sh b/runner/regression.sh
index 78b778323..f118891aa 100755
--- a/runner/regression.sh
+++ b/runner/regression.sh
@@ -438,9 +438,6 @@ fi
 # Create results archive
 ./runner/create_results.sh "$REPORTS_DIR" "$WORKDIR" || :
 
-# Copy cluster status databases to workdir
-./runner/status_dbs.sh "$ARTIFACTS_DIR" "$WORKDIR" || :
-
 # Save testing artifacts
 ./runner/save_artifacts.sh "$ARTIFACTS_DIR" "$WORKDIR" || :
 
diff --git a/runner/status_dbs.sh b/runner/status_dbs.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index d442fdb0a..000000000
--- a/runner/status_dbs.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-set -euo pipefail
-
-if [ "$#" -ne 2 ]; then
-  echo "Usage: $0 <artifacts_dir> <output_dir>" >&2
-  exit 1
-fi
-
-artifacts_dir="$1"
-output_dir="$2"
-
-mkdir -p "$output_dir" || { echo "Cannot create $output_dir" >&2; exit 1; }
-
-# The status database was copied from the pytest temp dir to the artifacts dir together
-# with the other testing artifacts. Copy the database of each pytest run to the output
-# dir. The output databases are numbered in the run order (e.g. one per node upgrade
-# step). The run order is derived from the database modification times (preserved by
-# the copy to the artifacts dir) - the `pytest-N` component of the artifacts subdir
-# names cannot be used, as pytest's numbered basetemp counter is per temp root and is
-# shared by all pytest invocations that use the root, including invocations whose
-# artifacts are not collected. The mtime ordering holds no matter how the launcher
-# distributes the pytest invocations over temp roots.
-# Copy also the WAL sidecar. As artifacts are copied only after pytest exits, the WAL
-# is normally checkpointed into the database and the sidecar removed. It can still be
-# left behind when the run was killed - copy it in that case, otherwise the database
-# copy would miss the not-yet-checkpointed writes. The `-shm` file is skipped on
-# purpose, it is transient and not needed for an offline copy.
-found=0
-num=0
-while IFS= read -r db; do
-  # The file could disappear before it is copied
-  [ -f "$db" ] || continue
-  num=$((num + 1))
-  cp "$db" "${output_dir}/cm-status-${num}.db" \
-    || { echo "Failed to copy $db" >&2; continue; }
-  found=1
-  if [ -e "${db}-wal" ]; then
-    cp "${db}-wal" "${output_dir}/cm-status-${num}.db-wal" \
-      || echo "Failed to copy ${db}-wal" >&2
-  fi
-done < <(
-  # Hidden dirs are excluded explicitly - a hidden dir can be a leftover staging dir
-  # of an interrupted `copy_artifacts.sh` run
-  find "$artifacts_dir" -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 ! -path '*/.*' \
-    -path '*/pytest-*/cm-status.db' -printf '%T@\t%p\n' | sort -n | cut -f2-
-)
-
-if [ "$found" -eq 0 ]; then
-  echo "No status database copied from $artifacts_dir" >&2
-  if [ -n "${GITHUB_ACTIONS:-}" ]; then
-    echo "::warning::No cluster status database was copied from the testing artifacts, none uploaded."
-  fi
-fi