diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3c6b6905f5..bf5b29ca53 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -384,22 +384,16 @@ test-backend: ## test backend files
 .PHONY: test-backend-gogit
 test-backend-gogit: ## test packages whose code or tests import the gogit-affected modules
 	@pkgs=$$(./tools/find-gogit-test-pkgs.sh '$(TAGS)') && \
-	if [ -z "$$pkgs" ]; then echo "no gogit-affected packages found" >&2; exit 1; fi && \
-	echo "Running go test with $(GOTEST_FLAGS) -tags '$(TAGS)' over $$(echo $$pkgs | wc -w) gogit-affected packages..." && \
 	$(GO) test $(GOTEST_FLAGS) -tags='$(TAGS)' $$pkgs
 
 .PHONY: test-backend-shard
 test-backend-shard: ## run the TEST_SHARD/TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS slice of test-backend
-	@pkgs=$$(echo "$(GO_TEST_PACKAGES)" | tr ' ' '\n' | ./tools/partition-by-shard.sh | tr '\n' ' ') && \
-	if [ -z "$$pkgs" ]; then echo "shard $$TEST_SHARD/$$TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS has no test-backend packages" >&2; exit 1; fi && \
-	echo "Running shard $$TEST_SHARD/$$TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS of test-backend ($$(echo $$pkgs | wc -w) packages)..." && \
+	@pkgs=$$(echo "$(GO_TEST_PACKAGES)" | tr ' ' '\n' | ./tools/partition-by-shard.sh) && \
 	$(GO) test $(GOTEST_FLAGS) -tags='$(TAGS)' $$pkgs
 
 .PHONY: test-backend-gogit-shard
 test-backend-gogit-shard: ## run the TEST_SHARD/TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS slice of test-backend-gogit
 	@pkgs=$$(./tools/find-gogit-test-pkgs.sh '$(TAGS)' | ./tools/partition-by-shard.sh) && \
-	if [ -z "$$pkgs" ]; then echo "shard $$TEST_SHARD/$$TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS has no gogit-affected packages" >&2; exit 1; fi && \
-	echo "Running shard $$TEST_SHARD/$$TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS of test-backend-gogit ($$(echo $$pkgs | wc -w) packages)..." && \
 	$(GO) test $(GOTEST_FLAGS) -tags='$(TAGS)' $$pkgs
 
 .PHONY: test-frontend
@@ -466,6 +460,9 @@ test-integration:
 	@# they mutate the work directory, so cache inputs change between runs.
 	$(GO) test $(GOTEST_FLAGS) -tags '$(TAGS)' -c code.gitea.io/gitea/tests/integration -o ./test-integration-$(GITEA_TEST_DATABASE).test
 ifdef TEST_SHARD
+ifndef TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS
+	$(error TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS must be set when TEST_SHARD is set)
+endif
 	./tools/test-integration-shard.sh ./test-integration-$(GITEA_TEST_DATABASE).test
 else
 	./test-integration-$(GITEA_TEST_DATABASE).test
diff --git a/tools/find-gogit-test-pkgs.sh b/tools/find-gogit-test-pkgs.sh
index 83809a6a05..1d60a55a06 100755
--- a/tools/find-gogit-test-pkgs.sh
+++ b/tools/find-gogit-test-pkgs.sh
@@ -10,11 +10,19 @@ set -euo pipefail
 # transitively by their consumers, so any tag-related compile error would
 # already surface in those consumers' test builds.
 
-tags=${1:?usage: $0 TAGS}
+TAGS=${1:?usage: $0 TAGS}
 
 # Exclusions mirror the Makefile's GO_TEST_PACKAGES filter — these packages
 # need a real database / dedicated harness and are tested separately.
-go list -tags "$tags" -f '{{if or .TestGoFiles .XTestGoFiles}}{{.ImportPath}}|{{range .Imports}}{{.}};{{end}}{{range .TestImports}}{{.}};{{end}}{{range .XTestImports}}{{.}};{{end}}{{end}}' ./... \
-  | awk -F'|' '$2 ~ /code\.gitea\.io\/gitea\/modules\/(git|gitrepo|lfs)[\/;]/ { print $1 }' \
-  | grep -vE '^code\.gitea\.io/gitea/(models/migrations(/|$)|tests(/integration(/migration-test)?)?$)' \
-  | sort -u
+OUT=$(go list -tags "$TAGS" -f '{{if or .TestGoFiles .XTestGoFiles}}{{.ImportPath}}|{{range .Imports}}{{.}};{{end}}{{range .TestImports}}{{.}};{{end}}{{range .XTestImports}}{{.}};{{end}}{{end}}' ./... \
+  | awk -F'|' '
+      $2 ~ /code\.gitea\.io\/gitea\/modules\/(git|gitrepo|lfs)[\/;]/ &&
+      $1 !~ /^code\.gitea\.io\/gitea\/(models\/migrations(\/|$)|tests(\/integration(\/migration-test)?)?$)/ {
+        print $1
+      }' \
+  | sort -u)
+if [ -z "$OUT" ]; then
+  echo "no gogit-affected packages found" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "$OUT"
diff --git a/tools/partition-by-shard.sh b/tools/partition-by-shard.sh
index 7e55368f27..acb5139251 100755
--- a/tools/partition-by-shard.sh
+++ b/tools/partition-by-shard.sh
@@ -5,16 +5,21 @@ set -euo pipefail
 # items), partitioned round-robin by line number after a deterministic sort.
 # Required env: TEST_SHARD (1..TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS), TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS (>= 1).
 
-shard=${TEST_SHARD:?missing TEST_SHARD}
-total=${TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS:?missing TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS}
+SHARD=${TEST_SHARD:?missing TEST_SHARD}
+TOTAL=${TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS:?missing TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS}
 
-if ! [[ "$total" =~ ^[1-9][0-9]*$ ]]; then
-  echo "TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS must be a positive integer, got: $total" >&2
+if ! [[ "$TOTAL" =~ ^[1-9][0-9]*$ ]]; then
+  echo "TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS must be a positive integer, got: $TOTAL" >&2
   exit 2
 fi
-if ! [[ "$shard" =~ ^[1-9][0-9]*$ ]] || [ "$shard" -gt "$total" ]; then
-  echo "TEST_SHARD must be in [1, $total], got: $shard" >&2
+if ! [[ "$SHARD" =~ ^[1-9][0-9]*$ ]] || [ "$SHARD" -gt "$TOTAL" ]; then
+  echo "TEST_SHARD must be in [1, $TOTAL], got: $SHARD" >&2
   exit 2
 fi
 
-LC_ALL=C sort -u | awk -v r=$((shard - 1)) -v t="$total" 'NR % t == r'
+OUT=$(LC_ALL=C sort -u | awk -v r=$((SHARD - 1)) -v t="$TOTAL" '(NR - 1) % t == r')
+if [ -z "$OUT" ]; then
+  echo "shard $SHARD/$TOTAL has no items assigned" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "$OUT"
diff --git a/tools/test-integration-shard.sh b/tools/test-integration-shard.sh
index f51543bb5f..6f007cebd8 100755
--- a/tools/test-integration-shard.sh
+++ b/tools/test-integration-shard.sh
@@ -6,18 +6,13 @@ set -euo pipefail
 # because TestMain boots the full Gitea environment and would panic without
 # a configured database.
 
-binary=$1
+BINARY=$1
 
-# match `func Test*(t *testing.T|TB)` only — excludes TestMain (takes *testing.M)
-names=$(grep -hE '^func Test[A-Z][A-Za-z0-9_]*\([a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]* \*testing\.(T|TB)\)' tests/integration/*.go \
-  | sed -E 's/^func (Test[A-Z][A-Za-z0-9_]*).*/\1/' \
+# match `func Test...(t *testing.T)` only — `*testing.M` excludes TestMain
+NAMES=$(grep -hE '^func Test[A-Za-z0-9_]*\([a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]* \*testing\.T\)' tests/integration/*.go \
+  | sed -E 's/^func (Test[A-Za-z0-9_]*).*/\1/' \
   | ./tools/partition-by-shard.sh)
 
-if [ -z "$names" ]; then
-  echo "no tests assigned to shard $TEST_SHARD/$TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS — likely a misconfiguration" >&2
-  exit 1
-fi
-
-pattern=$(echo "$names" | paste -sd '|' -)
-echo "Running shard $TEST_SHARD/$TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS ($(echo "$names" | wc -l | tr -d ' ') tests)"
-exec "$binary" -test.run "^($pattern)\$"
+PATTERN=$(echo "$NAMES" | paste -sd '|' -)
+echo "Running shard $TEST_SHARD/$TEST_TOTAL_SHARDS ($(echo "$NAMES" | wc -l | tr -d ' ') tests)"
+exec "$BINARY" -test.run "^($PATTERN)\$"