diff --git a/.github/workflows/flake-go.yaml b/.github/workflows/flake-go.yaml
index be9b000556..117efe4a8d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/flake-go.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/flake-go.yaml
@@ -70,6 +70,21 @@ jobs:
         with:
           install-args: "terraform"
 
+      # Exports EMBEDDED_PG_CACHE_DIR, which startBuiltinPostgres uses as a
+      # shared binary archive cache in tests.
+      - name: Setup Embedded Postgres Cache Paths
+        id: embedded-pg-cache
+        if: ${{ fromJSON(steps.selector.outputs.matrix).include[0] != null }}
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-embedded-pg-cache-paths
+
+      - name: Download Embedded Postgres Cache
+        id: download-embedded-pg-cache
+        if: ${{ fromJSON(steps.selector.outputs.matrix).include[0] != null }}
+        uses: ./.github/actions/embedded-pg-cache/download
+        with:
+          key-prefix: embedded-pg-${{ runner.os }}-${{ runner.arch }}
+          cache-path: ${{ steps.embedded-pg-cache.outputs.cached-dirs }}
+
       - name: Run targeted Go flake checks
         id: flake_check
         if: ${{ fromJSON(steps.selector.outputs.matrix).include[0] != null }}
@@ -84,6 +99,15 @@ jobs:
           test-shuffle: "on"
           gotestsum-json-file: default
 
+      # The upload action only saves on main, so this is a no-op for PRs.
+      # A workflow_dispatch run on main seeds the cache that PR runs restore.
+      - name: Upload Embedded Postgres Cache
+        if: ${{ fromJSON(steps.selector.outputs.matrix).include[0] != null }}
+        uses: ./.github/actions/embedded-pg-cache/upload
+        with:
+          cache-key: ${{ steps.download-embedded-pg-cache.outputs.cache-key }}
+          cache-path: "${{ steps.embedded-pg-cache.outputs.embedded-pg-cache }}"
+
       - name: Publish Go test failure report
         if: failure() && steps.flake_check.outcome == 'failure' && github.actor != 'dependabot[bot]' && runner.os == 'Linux' && (github.event_name != 'pull_request' || !github.event.pull_request.head.repo.fork)
         uses: ./.github/actions/go-test-failure-report
diff --git a/cli/server.go b/cli/server.go
index 21f26c1dc0..6524d9d6d2 100644
--- a/cli/server.go
+++ b/cli/server.go
@@ -2412,6 +2412,15 @@ func startBuiltinPostgres(ctx context.Context, cfg config.Root, logger slog.Logg
 	if customCacheDir != "" {
 		cachePath = filepath.Join(customCacheDir, "postgres")
 	}
+	// Tests get a fresh config root per invocation, so the default cache path
+	// never hits and each test re-downloads the archive from Maven, which
+	// rate-limits CI runners. EMBEDDED_PG_CACHE_DIR (restored from the actions
+	// cache) lets them share one copy.
+	if flag.Lookup("test.v") != nil {
+		if dir := os.Getenv("EMBEDDED_PG_CACHE_DIR"); dir != "" {
+			cachePath = dir
+		}
+	}
 	stdlibLogger := slog.Stdlib(ctx, logger.Named("postgres"), slog.LevelDebug)
 
 	// If the port is not defined, an available port will be found dynamically. This has