diff --git a/nix/runner/test.nix b/nix/runner/test.nix
index cd74e6bfd53..84e338830b3 100644
--- a/nix/runner/test.nix
+++ b/nix/runner/test.nix
@@ -296,7 +296,9 @@ pkgs.testers.runNixOSTest {
             # re-reads its inputs from disk until the job times out.
             assert elapsed < 60, "the guest thrashed instead of killing memory-hog"
             time.sleep(1)
-        print(guest.succeed("journalctl -u earlyoom | grep -F 'sending SIGTERM to process'"))
+        # earlyoom sends SIGKILL instead of SIGTERM when its poll first lands
+        # below the 5% kill threshold, which depends on how fast the hog fills.
+        print(guest.succeed("journalctl -u earlyoom | grep -E 'sending SIG(TERM|KILL) to process .*${./hog.py}'"))
         guest.succeed("rm /var/tmp/hog-inputs")
         router.wait_until_succeeds("${pkgs.openssh}/bin/ssh-keyscan -t ed25519 -T 5 10.231.0.2 | grep -F ssh-ed25519", timeout=timedelta(minutes=1))
 
diff --git a/quest/m0/test-flakes-2/README.md b/quest/m0/test-flakes-2/README.md
index 9df1c1b33da..c76d5928ec6 100644
--- a/quest/m0/test-flakes-2/README.md
+++ b/quest/m0/test-flakes-2/README.md
@@ -52,4 +52,3 @@ Public API: none. Wire: none.
 - [IETF22 fallback](/quest/m0/test-flakes-2/ietf22-fallback.md) - an IETF22 browser viewer follows a fallback within the media lane's bound, keeping its session and its audio
 - [Swapped Rust to JS Opus](/quest/m0/test-flakes-2/swapped-js-opus.md) - the `rust-swapped -> js` interop cell stops timing out under load
 - [JS host-task yields follow the clock](/quest/m0/test-flakes-2/js-host-yields.md) - `Budget` and `nextTask` yield through the injected clock, so `Manual` tests stop racing them
-- [Runner VM test under load](/quest/m0/test-flakes-2/runner-vm.md) - the runner VM check passes when it rebuilds in a merge group, and a failed flake check prints its full log
diff --git a/quest/m0/test-flakes-2/runner-vm.md b/quest/m0/test-flakes-2/runner-vm.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 1bbb120ccc9..00000000000
--- a/quest/m0/test-flakes-2/runner-vm.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
-# [S] Runner VM test under load
-
-## Goal
-
-`checks.x86_64-linux.github-runner-vm` (`nix/runner/test.nix`) passes in
-every merge group it runs in, and a failed flake check prints the full log
-of the failing derivation so the failing subtest is named.
-
-## Plan
-
-Decided 2026-10-28 (maintainer): an m0 flake quest, fixed at its cause.
-
-- It failed once, in merge-group run
-  [40609795466](https://github.com/moq-dev/moq/actions/runs/40609795466),
-  which dropped [moq-dev/moq#6934](https://github.com/moq-dev/moq/pull/6934)
-  from the queue. The PR did not change the derivation, and it passed when
-  built locally (10 subtests, about 4 minutes).
-- It rarely runs: in 18 earlier merge groups on `nixos-moq-ci` the result was
-  already in the runner's store (`built=0`). This time it had been collected,
-  so it rebuilt, probably alongside the heavy `check rs` and `test rs` work.
-- `sh/dispatch.sh` runs `nix flake check` without `-L`, so the log kept only
-  the last 25 lines (QEMU cleanup). First make a failed check print the full
-  build log (`-L`, or `nix log` on failure), so the next failure names its
-  subtest.
-- Then reproduce under the same contention (rebuild with the store result
-  removed while a Rust test run loads the host) and fix the subtest at its
-  cause, not with a longer timeout.
-
-Public API: none. Wire: none.
diff --git a/sh/dispatch-query.test.py b/sh/dispatch-query.test.py
index 0dab2a9a3b6..b846bc0756a 100644
--- a/sh/dispatch-query.test.py
+++ b/sh/dispatch-query.test.py
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ def test_local_flake_namespace_refusal_is_reported_as_skipped(self):
             self.assertIn("local Nix builder cannot create user namespaces", result.stdout + result.stderr)
             self.assertRegex(result.stderr, r"\d+  check flake \(skipped\)")
             calls = (self.root / "calls").read_text().splitlines()
-            self.assertNotIn("nix flake check", calls)
+            self.assertNotIn("nix flake check --print-build-logs", calls)
             self.assertIn("gh test", calls)
             probe, = [call for call in calls if call.startswith("nix build ")]
             self.assertIn("--builders  --max-jobs 1", probe)
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ def test_local_capable_builder_runs_the_full_flake(self):
         self.assertEqual(result.returncode, 0, result.stderr)
         self.assertNotIn("(skipped)", result.stderr)
         calls = (self.root / "calls").read_text().splitlines()
-        self.assertIn("nix flake check", calls)
+        self.assertIn("nix flake check --print-build-logs", calls)
         self.assertEqual(sum(call.startswith("nix build ") for call in calls), 1)
 
     @unittest.skipUnless(sys.platform == "linux" and os.uname().machine == "x86_64", "Linux VM checks only")
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ def test_local_flake_check_exiting_77_fails_instead_of_skipping(self):
         self.stub_ci()
         self.change("flake.nix")
         nix = self.bin / "nix"
-        nix.write_text(nix.read_text() + 'case "$*" in "flake check") exit 77 ;; esac\n')
+        nix.write_text(nix.read_text() + 'case "$*" in "flake check --print-build-logs") exit 77 ;; esac\n')
         self.env.pop("CI_STRICT")
         result = subprocess.run(["bash", "sh/dispatch.sh", "check", "origin/main"], cwd=self.repo,
                                 env=self.env, text=True, capture_output=True)
@@ -326,13 +326,13 @@ def test_local_flake_probe_errors_are_failures_without_cancelling_other_modules(
         self.assertIn("check: check flake failed", result.stderr)
         self.assertNotIn("(skipped)", result.stderr)
         calls = (self.root / "calls").read_text().splitlines()
-        self.assertNotIn("nix flake check", calls)
+        self.assertNotIn("nix flake check --print-build-logs", calls)
         self.assertIn("gh test", calls)
 
     def test_strict_ci_runs_the_full_flake_without_a_probe(self):
         self.change("flake.nix")
         calls = self.run_ci()
-        self.assertIn("nix flake check", calls)
+        self.assertIn("nix flake check --print-build-logs", calls)
         self.assertFalse(any(call.startswith("nix build ") for call in calls))
         nix = self.bin / "nix"
         nix.write_text(nix.read_text() + 'exit 77\n')
@@ -392,8 +392,8 @@ def test_flake_checks_follow_nix_inputs_instead_of_rust_source(self):
                 self.change(path)
                 calls = self.run_ci()
                 (self.repo / path).unlink()
-                self.assertEqual("nix flake check" in calls, expected)
-        self.assertIn("nix flake check", self.run_ci("--all"))
+                self.assertEqual("nix flake check --print-build-logs" in calls, expected)
+        self.assertIn("nix flake check --print-build-logs", self.run_ci("--all"))
 
 
 def benchmark():
diff --git a/sh/dispatch.sh b/sh/dispatch.sh
index c08d42d6629..f71c815df4f 100755
--- a/sh/dispatch.sh
+++ b/sh/dispatch.sh
@@ -312,7 +312,9 @@ step() {
                 fi
             fi
             # 77 marks the probe's skip, so the check's own 77 is a failure.
-            bash sh/local.sh nix flake check || {
+            # Full build logs name a failing VM subtest; Nix otherwise keeps
+            # only the last 25 lines, which are QEMU's cleanup.
+            bash sh/local.sh nix flake check --print-build-logs || {
                 local status=$?
                 [[ -n "${CI_STRICT:-}" ]] || ((status != 77)) || status=1
                 return "$status"