diff --git a/test/TEST-69-SHUTDOWN/test.sh b/test/TEST-69-SHUTDOWN/test.sh
index 0e12857618..0229d896d4 100755
--- a/test/TEST-69-SHUTDOWN/test.sh
+++ b/test/TEST-69-SHUTDOWN/test.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ SYSTEMD_NSPAWN="${STATEDIR:?}/run-nspawn"
 setup_nspawn_root_hook() {
     cat >"${STATEDIR:?}/run-nspawn" <<EOF
 #!/bin/bash
-exec "${TEST_BASE_DIR:?}/test-shutdown.py" -v -- "$_ORIG_NSPAWN" "\$@"
+exec "${TEST_BASE_DIR:?}/test-shutdown.py" -v -- "$_ORIG_NSPAWN" --background= "\$@"
 exit 1
 EOF
     chmod 755 "${STATEDIR:?}"/run-nspawn
diff --git a/test/test-functions b/test/test-functions
index 33575d3b3a..c62cf3d521 100644
--- a/test/test-functions
+++ b/test/test-functions
@@ -662,7 +662,6 @@ run_nspawn() {
         "--directory=${1:?}"
         "--setenv=SYSTEMD_UNIT_PATH=/usr/lib/systemd/tests/testdata/testsuite-$2.units:/usr/lib/systemd/tests/testdata/units:"
         "--machine=TEST-$TESTID"
-        "--background=''"
     )
     local kernel_params=(
         "$PATH_TO_INIT"
diff --git a/test/test-shutdown.py b/test/test-shutdown.py
index 870c1e269f..d19a03742c 100755
--- a/test/test-shutdown.py
+++ b/test/test-shutdown.py
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import pexpect
 
 
 def run(args):
-
     ret = 1
     logger = logging.getLogger("test-shutdown")
     logfile = None
@@ -25,7 +24,7 @@ def run(args):
 
     logger.info("spawning test")
     console = pexpect.spawn(args.command, args.arg, logfile=logfile, env={
-            "TERM": "linux",
+            "TERM": "dumb",
         }, encoding='utf-8', timeout=60)
 
     logger.debug("child pid %d", console.pid)
diff --git a/test/units/testsuite-04.journal-gatewayd.sh b/test/units/testsuite-04.journal-gatewayd.sh
index 4bd3c79a4d..9c7a3d05bb 100755
--- a/test/units/testsuite-04.journal-gatewayd.sh
+++ b/test/units/testsuite-04.journal-gatewayd.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,28 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later
 set -eux
-# pipefail is disabled intentionally, as `curl | grep -q` is very SIGPIPE happy
+set -o pipefail
 
 if [[ ! -x /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-journal-gatewayd ]]; then
     echo "Built without systemd-journal-gatewayd support, skipping the test"
     exit 0
 fi
 
+LOG_FILE="$(mktemp)"
+
+at_exit() {
+    if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
+        # The $LOG_FILE is potentially huge (as it might be a full copy of the current journal), so let's
+        # dump it at debug level under a specific syslog tag, so it's clearly separated from the actual test
+        # journal; things get very confusing otherwise.
+        systemd-cat -t log-file-dump -p debug cat "$LOG_FILE"
+    fi
+
+    rm -f "$LOG_FILE"
+}
+
+trap at_exit EXIT
+
 TEST_MESSAGE="-= This is a test message $RANDOM =-"
 TEST_TAG="$(systemd-id128 new)"
 
@@ -27,38 +42,56 @@ systemctl start systemd-journal-gatewayd.socket
 
 # /browse
 # We should get redirected to /browse by default
-curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531 | grep -F "<title>Journal</title>" >/dev/null
-curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/browse | grep -F "<title>Journal</title>" >/dev/null
+curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531 >"$LOG_FILE"
+grep -qF "<title>Journal</title>" "$LOG_FILE"
+curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/browse >"$LOG_FILE"
+grep -qF "<title>Journal</title>" "$LOG_FILE"
 (! curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/foo/bar/baz)
 (! curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/foo/../../../bar/../baz)
 
 # /entries
 # Accept: text/plain should be the default
-curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/entries | \
-    grep -E " $TEST_TAG\[[0-9]+\]: $TEST_MESSAGE" >/dev/null
-curl -LSfs --header "Accept: text/plain" http://localhost:19531/entries | \
-    grep -E " $TEST_TAG\[[0-9]+\]: $TEST_MESSAGE" >/dev/null
-curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/json" http://localhost:19531/entries | \
-    jq -se ".[] | select(.MESSAGE == \"$TEST_MESSAGE\")"
-curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/json" http://localhost:19531/entries?boot | \
-    jq -se ".[] | select(.MESSAGE == \"$TEST_MESSAGE\")"
-curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/json" http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" | \
-    jq -se "length == 1 and select(.[].MESSAGE == \"$TEST_MESSAGE\")"
+curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/entries >"$LOG_FILE"
+grep -qE " $TEST_TAG\[[0-9]+\]: $TEST_MESSAGE" "$LOG_FILE"
+curl -LSfs --header "Accept: text/plain" http://localhost:19531/entries >"$LOG_FILE"
+grep -qE " $TEST_TAG\[[0-9]+\]: $TEST_MESSAGE" "$LOG_FILE"
+curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/json" http://localhost:19531/entries >"$LOG_FILE"
+jq -se ".[] | select(.MESSAGE == \"$TEST_MESSAGE\")" "$LOG_FILE"
+curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/json" http://localhost:19531/entries?boot >"$LOG_FILE"
+jq -se ".[] | select(.MESSAGE == \"$TEST_MESSAGE\")" "$LOG_FILE"
+curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/json" http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" >"$LOG_FILE"
+jq -se "length == 1 and select(.[].MESSAGE == \"$TEST_MESSAGE\")" "$LOG_FILE"
 # Show 10 entries starting from $BOOT_CURSOR, skip the first 5
-curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/json" --header "Range: entries=$BOOT_CURSOR:5:10" http://localhost:19531/entries | \
-    jq -se "length == 10"
+curl -LSfs \
+     --header "Accept: application/json" \
+     --header "Range: entries=$BOOT_CURSOR:5:10" \
+     http://localhost:19531/entries >"$LOG_FILE"
+jq -se "length == 10" "$LOG_FILE"
 # Check if the specified cursor refers to an existing entry and return just that entry
-curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/json" --header "Range: entries=$TEST_CURSOR" http://localhost:19531/entries?discrete | \
-    jq -se "length == 1 and select(.[].MESSAGE == \"$TEST_MESSAGE\")"
+curl -LSfs \
+     --header "Accept: application/json" \
+     --header "Range: entries=$TEST_CURSOR" \
+     http://localhost:19531/entries?discrete >"$LOG_FILE"
+jq -se "length == 1 and select(.[].MESSAGE == \"$TEST_MESSAGE\")" "$LOG_FILE"
 # Check entry is present (resp. absent) when filtering by timestamp
-curl -LSfs --header "Range: realtime=$BEFORE_TIMESTAMP:" http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" | \
-    grep -E " $TEST_TAG\[[0-9]+\]: $TEST_MESSAGE" >/dev/null
-curl -LSfs --header "Range: realtime=:$AFTER_TIMESTAMP" http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" | \
-    grep -E " $TEST_TAG\[[0-9]+\]: $TEST_MESSAGE" >/dev/null
-curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/json" --header "Range: realtime=:$BEFORE_TIMESTAMP" http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" | \
-    jq -se "length == 0"
-curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/json" --header "Range: realtime=$AFTER_TIMESTAMP:" http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" | \
-    jq -se "length == 0"
+curl -LSfs \
+     --header "Range: realtime=$BEFORE_TIMESTAMP:" \
+     http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" >"$LOG_FILE"
+grep -qE " $TEST_TAG\[[0-9]+\]: $TEST_MESSAGE" "$LOG_FILE"
+curl -LSfs \
+     --header "Range: realtime=:$AFTER_TIMESTAMP" \
+     http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" >"$LOG_FILE"
+grep -qE " $TEST_TAG\[[0-9]+\]: $TEST_MESSAGE" "$LOG_FILE"
+curl -LSfs \
+     --header "Accept: application/json" \
+     --header "Range: realtime=:$BEFORE_TIMESTAMP" \
+     http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" >"$LOG_FILE"
+jq -se "length == 0" "$LOG_FILE"
+curl -LSfs \
+     --header "Accept: application/json" \
+     --header "Range: realtime=$AFTER_TIMESTAMP:" \
+     http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" >"$LOG_FILE"
+jq -se "length == 0" "$LOG_FILE"
 # Check positive and negative skip when filtering by timestamp
 echo "-= This is a second test message =-" | systemd-cat -t "$TEST_TAG"
 journalctl --sync
@@ -67,19 +100,25 @@ echo "-= This is a third test message =-" | systemd-cat -t "$TEST_TAG"
 journalctl --sync
 sleep 1
 END_TIMESTAMP="$(date +%s)"
-curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/json" --header "Range: realtime=$BEFORE_TIMESTAMP::1:1" http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" | \
-    jq -se "length == 1 and select(.[].__CURSOR == \"$TEST2_CURSOR\")"
-curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/json" --header "Range: realtime=$END_TIMESTAMP::-1:1" http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" | \
-    jq -se "length == 1 and select(.[].__CURSOR == \"$TEST2_CURSOR\")"
+curl -LSfs \
+     --header "Accept: application/json" \
+     --header "Range: realtime=$BEFORE_TIMESTAMP::1:1" \
+     http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" >"$LOG_FILE"
+jq -se "length == 1 and select(.[].__CURSOR == \"$TEST2_CURSOR\")" "$LOG_FILE"
+curl -LSfs \
+     --header "Accept: application/json" \
+     --header "Range: realtime=$END_TIMESTAMP::-1:1" \
+     http://localhost:19531/entries?SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER="$TEST_TAG" >"$LOG_FILE"
+jq -se "length == 1 and select(.[].__CURSOR == \"$TEST2_CURSOR\")" "$LOG_FILE"
 
 # No idea how to properly parse this (jq won't cut it), so let's at least do some sanity checks that every
 # line is either empty or begins with data:
-curl -LSfs --header "Accept: text/event-stream" http://localhost:19531/entries | \
-    awk '!/^(data: \{.+\}|)$/ { exit 1; }'
+curl -LSfs --header "Accept: text/event-stream" http://localhost:19531/entries >"$LOG_FILE"
+awk '!/^(data: \{.+\}|)$/ { exit 1; }' "$LOG_FILE"
 # Same thing as journalctl --output=export
 mkdir /tmp/remote-journal
-curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/vnd.fdo.journal" http://localhost:19531/entries | \
-    /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-journal-remote --output=/tmp/remote-journal/system.journal --split-mode=none -
+curl -LSfs --header "Accept: application/vnd.fdo.journal" http://localhost:19531/entries >"$LOG_FILE"
+/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-journal-remote --output=/tmp/remote-journal/system.journal --split-mode=none "$LOG_FILE"
 journalctl --directory=/tmp/remote-journal -t "$TEST_TAG" --grep "$TEST_MESSAGE"
 rm -rf /tmp/remote-journal/*
 # Let's do the same thing again, but let systemd-journal-remote spawn curl itself
@@ -90,10 +129,12 @@ journalctl --directory=/tmp/remote-journal -t "$TEST_TAG" --grep "$TEST_MESSAGE"
 rm -rf /tmp/remote-journal
 
 # /machine
-curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/machine | jq
+curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/machine >"$LOG_FILE"
+jq . "$LOG_FILE"
 
 # /fields
-curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/fields/MESSAGE | grep -E -- "$TEST_MESSAGE" >/dev/null
+curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/fields/MESSAGE >"$LOG_FILE"
+grep -qE -- "$TEST_MESSAGE" "$LOG_FILE"
 curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/fields/_TRANSPORT
 (! curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/fields)
 (! curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/fields/foo-bar-baz)
@@ -133,12 +174,14 @@ GATEWAYD_PID=$!
 sleep 1
 
 # Do a limited set of tests, since the underlying code should be the same past the HTTPS transport
-curl -LSfsk https://localhost:19531 | grep -F "<title>Journal</title>" >/dev/null
-curl -LSfsk https://localhost:19531/entries | \
-    grep -E " $TEST_TAG\[[0-9]+\]: $TEST_MESSAGE" >/dev/null
-curl -LSfsk --header "Accept: application/json" https://localhost:19531/entries | \
-    jq -se ".[] | select(.MESSAGE == \"$TEST_MESSAGE\")"
-curl -LSfsk https://localhost:19531/machine | jq
+curl -LSfsk https://localhost:19531 >"$LOG_FILE"
+grep -qF "<title>Journal</title>" "$LOG_FILE"
+curl -LSfsk https://localhost:19531/entries >"$LOG_FILE"
+grep -qE " $TEST_TAG\[[0-9]+\]: $TEST_MESSAGE" "$LOG_FILE"
+curl -LSfsk --header "Accept: application/json" https://localhost:19531/entries >"$LOG_FILE"
+jq -se ".[] | select(.MESSAGE == \"$TEST_MESSAGE\")" "$LOG_FILE"
+curl -LSfsk https://localhost:19531/machine >"$LOG_FILE"
+jq . "$LOG_FILE"
 curl -LSfsk https://localhost:19531/fields/_TRANSPORT
 
 kill "$GATEWAYD_PID"
@@ -154,19 +197,21 @@ systemd-run --unit="test-gatewayd.service" --socket-property="ListenStream=19531
 # See: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/9858
 OUT="$(mktemp)"
 for _ in {0..4}; do
-    curl --fail-with-body -d "please process this🐱 $RANDOM" -L http://localhost:19531/upload | tee "$OUT"
+    (! curl --fail-with-body -d "please process this🐱 $RANDOM" -L http://localhost:19531/upload | tee "$OUT")
     (! grep '[^[:print:]]' "$OUT")
 done
-curl --fail-with-body --upload-file "$GATEWAYD_FILE" -L http://localhost:19531/upload | tee "$OUT"
+(! curl --fail-with-body --upload-file "$GATEWAYD_FILE" -L http://localhost:19531/upload | tee "$OUT")
 (! grep '[^[:print:]]' "$OUT")
 rm -rf "$OUT"
 
-curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/browse | grep -F "<title>Journal</title>" >/dev/null
+curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/browse >"$LOG_FILE"
+grep -qF "<title>Journal</title>" "$LOG_FILE"
 # Nuke the file behind the /browse endpoint
 mv /usr/share/systemd/gatewayd/browse.html /usr/share/systemd/gatewayd/browse.html.bak
 (! curl --fail-with-body -L http://localhost:19531/browse)
 mv /usr/share/systemd/gatewayd/browse.html.bak /usr/share/systemd/gatewayd/browse.html
-curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/browse | grep -F "<title>Journal</title>" >/dev/null
+curl -LSfs http://localhost:19531/browse >"$LOG_FILE"
+grep -qF "<title>Journal</title>" "$LOG_FILE"
 
 # Nuke the journal file
 mv "$GATEWAYD_FILE" "$GATEWAYD_FILE.bak"