diff --git a/pkg/ccl/storageccl/engineccl/.gitignore b/pkg/ccl/storageccl/engineccl/.gitignore
deleted file mode 100644
index 2b05ecacc733..000000000000
--- a/pkg/ccl/storageccl/engineccl/.gitignore
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-# Do not add environment-specific entries here (see the top-level .gitignore
-# for reasoning and alternatives).
-mvcc_data
diff --git a/pkg/ccl/storageccl/engineccl/bench_test.go b/pkg/ccl/storageccl/engineccl/bench_test.go
index 12fcd4c38cff..ddae4d80984a 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/storageccl/engineccl/bench_test.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/storageccl/engineccl/bench_test.go
@@ -21,15 +21,18 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/settings/cluster"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/storage"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/testutils"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/testutils/skip"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/encoding"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/hlc"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/log"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/randutil"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors/oserror"
 )
 
-// loadTestData writes numKeys keys in numBatches separate batches. Keys are
+const numKeys = 100000
+const numBatches = 100
+const batchTimeSpan = 10
+const valueBytes = 512
+
+// generateTestData writes numKeys keys in numBatches separate batches. Keys are
 // written in order. Every key in a given batch has the same MVCC timestamp;
 // batch timestamps start at batchTimeSpan and increase in intervals of
 // batchTimeSpan.
@@ -40,30 +43,15 @@ import (
 // at t0, and one for C that only contains keys at t1. Conversely, writing A, C
 // at t0 and B at t1 would create just one SST that contained A,B,C (due to an
 // immediate compaction).
-//
-// The creation of the database is time consuming, so the caller can choose
-// whether to use a temporary or permanent location.
-func loadTestData(
-	dir string, numKeys, numBatches, batchTimeSpan, valueBytes int,
-) (storage.Engine, error) {
+func generateTestData(dir string) error {
 	ctx := context.Background()
 
-	exists := true
-	if _, err := os.Stat(dir); oserror.IsNotExist(err) {
-		exists = false
-	}
-
 	eng, err := storage.Open(
 		ctx,
 		storage.Filesystem(dir),
 		cluster.MakeTestingClusterSettings())
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	if exists {
-		testutils.ReadAllFiles(filepath.Join(dir, "*"))
-		return eng, nil
+		return err
 	}
 
 	log.Infof(context.Background(), "creating test data: %s", dir)
@@ -88,11 +76,11 @@ func loadTestData(
 			if i > 0 {
 				log.Infof(ctx, "committing (%d/~%d)", i/scaled, numBatches)
 				if err := batch.Commit(false /* sync */); err != nil {
-					return nil, err
+					return err
 				}
 				batch.Close()
 				if err := eng.Flush(); err != nil {
-					return nil, err
+					return err
 				}
 			}
 			batch = eng.NewBatch()
@@ -102,17 +90,32 @@ func loadTestData(
 		value := roachpb.MakeValueFromBytes(randutil.RandBytes(rng, valueBytes))
 		value.InitChecksum(key)
 		if err := storage.MVCCPut(ctx, batch, nil, key, timestamp, hlc.ClockTimestamp{}, value, nil); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
+			return err
 		}
 	}
 	if err := batch.Commit(false /* sync */); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return err
 	}
 	batch.Close()
 	if err := eng.Flush(); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return err
 	}
+	eng.Close()
+	return nil
+}
 
+func loadTestData(dir string) (storage.Engine, error) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	eng, err := storage.Open(
+		ctx,
+		storage.Filesystem(dir),
+		cluster.MakeTestingClusterSettings(),
+		storage.MustExist,
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	testutils.ReadAllFiles(filepath.Join(dir, "*"))
 	return eng, nil
 }
 
@@ -121,17 +124,11 @@ func loadTestData(
 // of the SSTs contain keys in the range [startTime, endTime].
 func runIterate(
 	b *testing.B,
+	dir string,
 	loadFactor float32,
 	makeIterator func(storage.Engine, hlc.Timestamp, hlc.Timestamp) storage.MVCCIterator,
 ) {
-	const numKeys = 100000
-	const numBatches = 100
-	const batchTimeSpan = 10
-	const valueBytes = 512
-
-	// Store the database in this directory so we don't have to regenerate it on
-	// each benchmark run.
-	eng, err := loadTestData("mvcc_data", numKeys, numBatches, batchTimeSpan, valueBytes)
+	eng, err := loadTestData(dir)
 	if err != nil {
 		b.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -167,17 +164,26 @@ func runIterate(
 }
 
 func BenchmarkTimeBoundIterate(b *testing.B) {
-	skip.WithIssue(b, 95530, "bump minBinary to 22.2. Skip 22.2 mixed-version tests for future cleanup")
+	// Generate test data.
+	dir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "mvcc_data")
+	if err != nil {
+		b.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
+
+	if err := generateTestData(dir); err != nil {
+		b.Fatal(err)
+	}
 
 	for _, loadFactor := range []float32{1.0, 0.5, 0.1, 0.05, 0.0} {
 		b.Run(fmt.Sprintf("LoadFactor=%.2f", loadFactor), func(b *testing.B) {
 			b.Run("NormalIterator", func(b *testing.B) {
-				runIterate(b, loadFactor, func(e storage.Engine, _, _ hlc.Timestamp) storage.MVCCIterator {
+				runIterate(b, dir, loadFactor, func(e storage.Engine, _, _ hlc.Timestamp) storage.MVCCIterator {
 					return e.NewMVCCIterator(storage.MVCCKeyAndIntentsIterKind, storage.IterOptions{UpperBound: roachpb.KeyMax})
 				})
 			})
 			b.Run("TimeBoundIterator", func(b *testing.B) {
-				runIterate(b, loadFactor, func(e storage.Engine, startTime, endTime hlc.Timestamp) storage.MVCCIterator {
+				runIterate(b, dir, loadFactor, func(e storage.Engine, startTime, endTime hlc.Timestamp) storage.MVCCIterator {
 					return e.NewMVCCIterator(storage.MVCCKeyIterKind, storage.IterOptions{
 						MinTimestampHint: startTime,
 						MaxTimestampHint: endTime,