diff --git a/pkg/jobs/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/jobs/BUILD.bazel
index b811772b1da0..1102f052152b 100644
--- a/pkg/jobs/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/jobs/BUILD.bazel
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ go_test(
         "//pkg/sql/tests",
         "//pkg/testutils",
         "//pkg/testutils/serverutils",
+        "//pkg/testutils/skip",
         "//pkg/testutils/sqlutils",
         "//pkg/testutils/testcluster",
         "//pkg/util/ctxgroup",
diff --git a/pkg/jobs/jobs_test.go b/pkg/jobs/jobs_test.go
index 7f853591a867..2fbef3a9a3b1 100644
--- a/pkg/jobs/jobs_test.go
+++ b/pkg/jobs/jobs_test.go
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/tests"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/testutils"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/testutils/serverutils"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/testutils/skip"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/testutils/sqlutils"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/ctxgroup"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/hlc"
@@ -282,6 +283,11 @@ func (rts *registryTestSuite) setUp(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			FailOrCancel: func(ctx context.Context) error {
 				t.Log("Starting FailOrCancel")
+				if rts.traceRealSpan {
+					// Add a dummy recording so we actually see something in the trace.
+					span := tracing.SpanFromContext(ctx)
+					span.RecordStructured(&types.StringValue{Value: "boom"})
+				}
 				rts.mu.Lock()
 				rts.mu.a.OnFailOrCancelStart = true
 				rts.mu.Unlock()
@@ -1093,42 +1099,47 @@ func TestRegistryLifecycle(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 
 	t.Run("dump traces on cancel", func(t *testing.T) {
+		skip.UnderStress(t, "job cancellation semantics is flaky under stress")
 		rts := registryTestSuite{traceRealSpan: true}
 		rts.setUp(t)
-		defer rts.tearDown()
-
-		runJobAndFail := func(expectedNumFiles int) {
-			j, err := jobs.TestingCreateAndStartJob(context.Background(), rts.registry, rts.s.DB(), rts.mockJob)
-			if err != nil {
-				t.Fatal(err)
+		var mu syncutil.Mutex
+		blockCh := make(chan struct{})
+		shouldBlock := true
+		rts.afterJobStateMachine = func() {
+			mu.Lock()
+			defer mu.Unlock()
+			if shouldBlock {
+				shouldBlock = false
+				blockCh <- struct{}{}
 			}
-			rts.job = j
-
-			rts.mu.e.ResumeStart = true
-			rts.resumeCheckCh <- struct{}{}
-			rts.check(t, jobs.StatusRunning)
+		}
+		rts.sqlDB.Exec(t, `SET CLUSTER SETTING jobs.trace.force_dump_mode='onStop'`)
+		defer rts.tearDown()
+		j, err := jobs.TestingCreateAndStartJob(rts.ctx, rts.registry, rts.s.DB(), rts.mockJob)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		rts.job = j
 
-			rts.sqlDB.Exec(t, "CANCEL JOB $1", j.ID())
+		rts.mu.e.ResumeStart = true
+		rts.resumeCheckCh <- struct{}{}
+		rts.check(t, jobs.StatusRunning)
 
-			// Cancellation will cause the running instance of the job to get context
-			// canceled causing it to potentially dump traces.
-			require.Error(t, rts.job.AwaitCompletion(rts.ctx))
-			checkTraceFiles(t, rts.registry, expectedNumFiles)
+		rts.sqlDB.Exec(t, "CANCEL JOB $1", j.ID())
 
-			rts.mu.e.OnFailOrCancelStart = true
-			rts.check(t, jobs.StatusReverting)
+		<-blockCh
+		checkTraceFiles(t, rts.registry, 1)
 
-			rts.failOrCancelCheckCh <- struct{}{}
-			close(rts.failOrCancelCheckCh)
-			rts.failOrCancelCh <- nil
-			close(rts.failOrCancelCh)
-			rts.mu.e.OnFailOrCancelExit = true
+		rts.mu.e.OnFailOrCancelStart = true
+		rts.check(t, jobs.StatusReverting)
 
-			rts.check(t, jobs.StatusCanceled)
-		}
+		rts.failOrCancelCheckCh <- struct{}{}
+		close(rts.failOrCancelCheckCh)
+		rts.failOrCancelCh <- nil
+		close(rts.failOrCancelCh)
+		rts.mu.e.OnFailOrCancelExit = true
 
-		rts.sqlDB.Exec(t, `SET CLUSTER SETTING jobs.trace.force_dump_mode='onStop'`)
-		runJobAndFail(1)
+		rts.check(t, jobs.StatusCanceled)
 	})
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/sql/crdb_internal.go b/pkg/sql/crdb_internal.go
index 4884394f0fc7..c9ad95212cd9 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/crdb_internal.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/crdb_internal.go
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/stop"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/timeutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/tracing"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/tracing/collector"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
 )
 
@@ -1225,7 +1226,8 @@ CREATE TABLE crdb_internal.cluster_inflight_traces (
 		}
 
 		traceCollector := p.ExecCfg().TraceCollector
-		for iter := traceCollector.StartIter(ctx, traceID); iter.Valid(); iter.Next() {
+		var iter *collector.Iterator
+		for iter = traceCollector.StartIter(ctx, traceID); iter.Valid(); iter.Next() {
 			nodeID, recording := iter.Value()
 			traceString := recording.String()
 			traceJaegerJSON, err := recording.ToJaegerJSON("", "", fmt.Sprintf("node %d", nodeID))
@@ -1240,6 +1242,9 @@ CREATE TABLE crdb_internal.cluster_inflight_traces (
 				return false, err
 			}
 		}
+		if iter.Error() != nil {
+			return false, iter.Error()
+		}
 
 		return true, nil
 	}}},
diff --git a/pkg/util/tracing/collector/collector.go b/pkg/util/tracing/collector/collector.go
index 10753aa8edd5..e7189882cbc7 100644
--- a/pkg/util/tracing/collector/collector.go
+++ b/pkg/util/tracing/collector/collector.go
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ func (t *TraceCollector) StartIter(ctx context.Context, traceID uint64) *Iterato
 	tc := &Iterator{ctx: ctx, traceID: traceID, collector: t}
 	tc.liveNodes, tc.iterErr = nodesFromNodeLiveness(ctx, t.nodeliveness)
 	if tc.iterErr != nil {
-		return nil
+		return tc
 	}
 
 	// Calling Next() positions the Iterator in a valid state. It will fetch the