diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 41ace8a383e38b89f9c4959a9b02c68d9087f5bd..e18cdcd1059a775bac050b4d827a0e661c027ecf 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -317,7 +317,9 @@ test:reftable:
   <<: *test_definition
   variables:
     <<: *test_variables
-    TEST_TARGET: test-with-reftable
+  parallel:
+    matrix:
+      - TEST_TARGET: [test-with-reftable, test-with-reftable-wal]
 
 test:nightly:
   <<: *test_definition
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3c0494548bb3b7cd34fcbbf914e30f2dbab188f6..eacc403276345c60d45405eb7f7df218f1bd5c50 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -447,6 +447,11 @@ bench: ${BENCHMARK_REPO} prepare-tests
 test-with-reftable: export GITALY_TEST_REF_FORMAT = reftable
 test-with-reftable: test-go
 
+.PHONY: test-with-reftable-wal
+## Run Go tests with git's reftable backend and write-ahead logging enabled.
+test-with-reftable-wal: export GITALY_TEST_WAL = YesPlease
+test-with-reftable-wal: test-with-reftable
+
 .PHONY: test-with-sha256
 ## Run Go tests with SHA256 repositories.
 test-with-sha256: export GITALY_TEST_WITH_SHA256 = YesPlease
diff --git a/internal/gitaly/service/repository/calculate_checksum_test.go b/internal/gitaly/service/repository/calculate_checksum_test.go
index 9505687f3b94e4a2e770a7c54955e99f7895a2fa..596c3f415d7a9d7a5aa87ea3642513e73f540930 100644
--- a/internal/gitaly/service/repository/calculate_checksum_test.go
+++ b/internal/gitaly/service/repository/calculate_checksum_test.go
@@ -186,10 +186,13 @@ func TestCalculateChecksum(t *testing.T) {
 
 					headRefIdx := bytes.Index(reftableFileContent, []byte("HEAD"))
 					nope := []byte("NOPE")
-					for i := 0; i < len(nope); i++ {
+					for i := range len(nope) {
 						reftableFileContent[i+headRefIdx] = nope[i]
 					}
 
+					// When the WAL is enabled, files in the canonical repository will have read-only permissions.
+					// We need to first remove the file and re-create it.
+					require.NoError(t, os.Remove(reftableFilePath))
 					require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(reftableFilePath, reftableFileContent, os.ModePerm))
 				} else {
 					commitID := gittest.WriteCommit(t, cfg, repoPath, gittest.WithBranch(git.DefaultBranch))
@@ -200,7 +203,7 @@ func TestCalculateChecksum(t *testing.T) {
 					// repository from a corrupt repository given that both cases return the zero checksum.
 					require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(
 						filepath.Join(repoPath, "packed-refs"),
-						[]byte(fmt.Sprintf("# pack-refs with: peeled fully-peeled sorted\n%s refs/heads/broken:reference\n", commitID)),
+						fmt.Appendf(nil, "# pack-refs with: peeled fully-peeled sorted\n%s refs/heads/broken:reference\n", commitID),
 						mode.File,
 					))
 				}
diff --git a/internal/gitaly/storage/storagemgr/partition/migration/reftable/middleware_test.go b/internal/gitaly/storage/storagemgr/partition/migration/reftable/middleware_test.go
index 33cd2e53f363e0f166907a941941b300d49bab2d..c1500dc6396729a59985861030d27db65645b807 100644
--- a/internal/gitaly/storage/storagemgr/partition/migration/reftable/middleware_test.go
+++ b/internal/gitaly/storage/storagemgr/partition/migration/reftable/middleware_test.go
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ func testUnaryInterceptor(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context) {
 	}
 
 	var reftableMigrator *migrator
+	defer func() {
+		if reftableMigrator != nil {
+			reftableMigrator.Close()
+		}
+	}()
 	callback := func(logger log.Logger, node storage.Node, factory localrepo.Factory) ([]grpc.UnaryServerInterceptor, []grpc.StreamServerInterceptor) {
 		reftableMigrator = NewMigrator(logger, NewMetrics(), node, factory)
 		reftableMigrator.Run()
@@ -119,6 +124,11 @@ func testStreamInterceptor(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context) {
 	}
 
 	var reftableMigrator *migrator
+	defer func() {
+		if reftableMigrator != nil {
+			reftableMigrator.Close()
+		}
+	}()
 	callback := func(logger log.Logger, node storage.Node, factory localrepo.Factory) ([]grpc.UnaryServerInterceptor, []grpc.StreamServerInterceptor) {
 		reftableMigrator = NewMigrator(logger, NewMetrics(), node, factory)
 		reftableMigrator.Run()