diff --git a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/tests/disk_stall.go b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/tests/disk_stall.go
index 13eee2858266..4610b8df1f07 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/tests/disk_stall.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/tests/disk_stall.go
@@ -159,7 +159,11 @@ func runDiskStalledDetection(
 		m.ExpectDeath()
 	}
 	s.Stall(ctx, c.Node(1))
-	defer s.Unstall(ctx, c.Node(1))
+	// NB: We use a background context in the defer'ed unstall command,
+	// otherwise on test failure our c.Run calls will be ignored. Leaving the
+	// disk stalled will prevent artifact collection, making debugging
+	// difficult.
+	defer s.Unstall(context.Background(), c.Node(1))
 
 	// Wait twice the maximum sync duration and check if our SQL connection to
 	// node 1 is still alive. It should've been terminated.