diff --git a/_integration-tests/tests/sql/sql.go b/_integration-tests/tests/sql/sql.go
index b2e8fcaf..de4c40d7 100644
--- a/_integration-tests/tests/sql/sql.go
+++ b/_integration-tests/tests/sql/sql.go
@@ -20,27 +20,39 @@ import (
 
 type TestCase struct {
 	*sql.DB
+	// untraced is the un-traced database connection, used to set up the test case
+	// without producing unnecessary spans. It is retained as a [TestCase] field
+	// and cleaned up using [t.Cleanup] to ensure the shared cache is not lost, as
+	// it stops existing once the last DB connection using it is closed.
+	untraced *sql.DB
 }
 
 func (tc *TestCase) Setup(t *testing.T) {
+	const (
+		dn  = "sqlite3"
+		dsn = "file::memory:?cache=shared"
+	)
+
+	var err error
+
 	//orchestrion:ignore
-	prepareConn, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", "file::memory:?cache=shared")
+	tc.untraced, err = sql.Open(dn, dsn)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
+	t.Cleanup(func() { require.NoError(t, tc.untraced.Close()) })
 
-	func() {
-		defer prepareConn.Close()
+	ctx := context.Background()
 
-		_, err = prepareConn.ExecContext(context.Background(),
-			`CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS notes (
+	_, err = tc.untraced.ExecContext(ctx,
+		`CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS notes (
 			id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
 			userid INTEGER,
 			content STRING,
 			created STRING
 		)`)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		_, err = prepareConn.ExecContext(context.Background(),
-			`INSERT OR REPLACE INTO notes(userid, content, created) VALUES
+	_, err = tc.untraced.ExecContext(ctx,
+		`INSERT OR REPLACE INTO notes(userid, content, created) VALUES
 			(1, 'Hello, John. This is John. You are leaving a note for yourself. You are welcome and thank you.', datetime('now')),
 			(1, 'Hey, remember to mow the lawn.', datetime('now')),
 			(2, 'Reminder to submit that report by Thursday.', datetime('now')),
@@ -48,10 +60,9 @@ func (tc *TestCase) Setup(t *testing.T) {
 			(3, 'Pick up cabbage from the store on the way home.', datetime('now')),
 			(3, 'Review PR #1138', datetime('now')
 		)`)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-	}()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	tc.DB, err = sql.Open("sqlite3", "file::memory:?cache=shared")
+	tc.DB, err = sql.Open(dn, dsn)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	t.Cleanup(func() {
 		assert.NoError(t, tc.DB.Close())