diff --git a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/BUILD.bazel
index 31346f06cf84..a91372831bea 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/BUILD.bazel
@@ -22,13 +22,15 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/util/syncutil",
         "//pkg/util/timeutil",
         "//pkg/util/version",
-        "@com_github_cockroachdb_errors//:errors",
     ],
 )
 
 go_test(
     name = "mixedversion_test",
-    srcs = ["planner_test.go"],
+    srcs = [
+        "planner_test.go",
+        "runner_test.go",
+    ],
     args = ["-test.timeout=295s"],
     embed = [":mixedversion"],
     deps = [
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/planner_test.go b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/planner_test.go
index 56833b4f84e2..5ed1b42346f3 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/planner_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/planner_test.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ var (
 			Stdout: io.Discard,
 			Stderr: io.Discard,
 		}
-		l, err := cfg.NewLogger("" /* path */)
+		l, err := cfg.NewLogger("/dev/null" /* path */)
 		if err != nil {
 			panic(err)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/runner.go b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/runner.go
index a82b2e1e74f9..f108de6055a0 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/runner.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/runner.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"regexp"
+	"runtime/debug"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"sync/atomic"
@@ -32,7 +33,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/ctxgroup"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/syncutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/timeutil"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
 )
 
 type (
@@ -249,7 +249,16 @@ func (tr *testRunner) runSingleStep(ctx context.Context, ss singleStep, l *logge
 		prefix := fmt.Sprintf("FINISHED [%s]", timeutil.Since(start))
 		tr.logStep(prefix, ss, l)
 	}()
-	if err := ss.Run(ctx, l, tr.cluster, tr.newHelper(ctx, l)); err != nil {
+
+	if err := func() (retErr error) {
+		defer func() {
+			if r := recover(); r != nil {
+				l.Printf("panic stack trace:\n%s", string(debug.Stack()))
+				retErr = fmt.Errorf("panic (stack trace above): %v", r)
+			}
+		}()
+		return ss.Run(ctx, l, tr.cluster, tr.newHelper(ctx, l))
+	}(); err != nil {
 		if isContextCanceled(err) {
 			l.Printf("step terminated (context canceled)")
 			// Avoid creating a `stepError` (which involves querying binary
@@ -331,7 +340,7 @@ func (tr *testRunner) testFailure(desc string, l *logger.Logger) error {
 		tr.logger.Printf("could not rename failed step logger: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	return errors.WithStack(tf)
+	return tf
 }
 
 func (tr *testRunner) logStep(prefix string, step singleStep, l *logger.Logger) {
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/runner_test.go b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/runner_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..62662f30c359
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/runner_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+// Copyright 2023 The Cockroach Authors.
+//
+// Use of this software is governed by the Business Source License
+// included in the file licenses/BSL.txt.
+//
+// As of the Change Date specified in that file, in accordance with
+// the Business Source License, use of this software will be governed
+// by the Apache License, Version 2.0, included in the file
+// licenses/APL.txt.
+
+package mixedversion
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/cmd/roachtest/cluster"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/roachprod/logger"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func Test_runSingleStep(t *testing.T) {
+	tr := testTestRunner()
+
+	// steps that run without errors do not return errors
+	successStep := newTestStep(func() error {
+		return nil
+	})
+	err := tr.runSingleStep(ctx, successStep, nilLogger)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// steps that return an error have that error surfaced
+	errorStep := newTestStep(func() error {
+		return fmt.Errorf("oops")
+	})
+	err = tr.runSingleStep(ctx, errorStep, nilLogger)
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "oops")
+
+	// steps that panic cause an error to be returned
+	panicStep := newTestStep(func() error {
+		var ids []int
+		if ids[0] > 42 {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return fmt.Errorf("unreachable")
+	})
+	err = nil
+	require.NotPanics(t, func() {
+		err = tr.runSingleStep(ctx, panicStep, nilLogger)
+	})
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "panic (stack trace above): runtime error: index out of range [0] with length 0")
+}
+
+func testTestRunner() *testRunner {
+	runnerCtx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
+	return &testRunner{
+		ctx:        runnerCtx,
+		cancel:     cancel,
+		logger:     nilLogger,
+		crdbNodes:  nodes,
+		background: newBackgroundRunner(runnerCtx),
+		seed:       seed,
+	}
+}
+
+type testSingleStep struct {
+	runFunc func() error
+}
+
+func (testSingleStep) ID() int                { return 42 }
+func (testSingleStep) Description() string    { return "testSingleStep" }
+func (testSingleStep) Background() shouldStop { return nil }
+
+func (tss testSingleStep) Run(
+	_ context.Context, _ *logger.Logger, _ cluster.Cluster, _ *Helper,
+) error {
+	return tss.runFunc()
+}
+
+func newTestStep(f func() error) singleStep {
+	return testSingleStep{runFunc: f}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/testutils/lint/lint_test.go b/pkg/testutils/lint/lint_test.go
index 9022c8ff7b48..0e9434dacde9 100644
--- a/pkg/testutils/lint/lint_test.go
+++ b/pkg/testutils/lint/lint_test.go
@@ -2306,6 +2306,8 @@ func TestLint(t *testing.T) {
 			// pooling, etc, then test code needs to adhere as well.
 			stream.GrepNot(nakedGoroutineExceptions + `:.*Use of go keyword not allowed`),
 			stream.GrepNot(nakedGoroutineExceptions + `:.*Illegal call to Group\.Go\(\)`),
+			// We purposefully dereference nil in this file to test panic handling
+			stream.GrepNot(`pkg/cmd/roachtest/roachtestutil/mixedversion/runner_test\.go:.*nil dereference`),
 		}
 
 		const vetTool = "roachvet"