diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 11c36518..aa72a1d2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -48,6 +48,18 @@ jobs:
         with:
           go-version-file: go.mod
 
+  test-race:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 20
+    env:
+      CGO_ENABLED: "1" # Required by Go's race detector.
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@fbc6f3992d24b796d5a048ff273f7fcc4a7b6c09 # v5.1.0
+      - uses: open-cli-collective/.github/actions/go-test@b6382514b809d960c6fbdc85745a60c14cde04f1 # shared .github
+        with:
+          go-version-file: go.mod
+          target: test-race
+
   test-no1password-optout:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     env:
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 97f52efa..f851f2a1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: all build test test-cover test-static-smoke test-pi-runtime pi-runtime-version check-pi-runtime-version lint fmt tidy deps check install snapshot package-render-check release clean
+.PHONY: all build test test-race test-cover test-static-smoke test-pi-runtime pi-runtime-version check-pi-runtime-version lint fmt tidy deps check install snapshot package-render-check release clean
 
 # Standard keyring tags: enable 1Password support, keep passage disabled.
 GOFLAGS ?= -tags=keyring_nopassage
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ build:
 test:
 	go test -v ./...
 
+# Exercise SQLite startup/migration contention repeatedly without racing the
+# entire suite. Keep package execution and test scheduling bounded in CI.
+test-race:
+	go test -race -count=25 -cpu=4 -parallel=4 -p=1 -timeout=5m ./internal/ledger/... ./internal/dbmig/...
+
 test-cover:
 	go test -coverprofile=coverage.out ./...
 
diff --git a/docs/development.md b/docs/development.md
index fa56b188..40c9a52b 100644
--- a/docs/development.md
+++ b/docs/development.md
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ progress interface rather than importing Cobra or root options.
 ```bash
 make build   # compile the binary
 make test    # go test ./...
+make test-race # repeated race checks for ledger/dbmig
 make lint    # golangci-lint run
 make tidy    # go mod tidy and verify go.mod is unchanged
 make deps    # download and verify Go modules
@@ -100,6 +101,27 @@ make test-pi-runtime  # installed Pi runtime gate (see Pi Runtime Gate)
 
 `make snapshot` runs a local GoReleaser snapshot build without publishing.
 
+### Concurrency checks
+
+`make test-race` runs all tests in `internal/ledger` and `internal/dbmig` under
+the Go race detector with 25 repetitions. This includes concurrent ledger
+startup and allocation, the immediate transaction-lock DSN contract, and
+migration version re-checks. Repeating the existing contention tests makes
+timing-dependent failures more likely to surface without applying race
+detection to the entire suite.
+
+The target sets test `GOMAXPROCS` to four with `-cpu=4` and caps tests using
+`t.Parallel` at four with `-parallel=4`. Contention-test worker goroutines
+remain bounded by their own fixture counts. Packages run serially, with a
+five-minute timeout per package. The target requires
+`CGO_ENABLED=1` and a C compiler, even though the SQLite driver itself is
+pure Go. CI runs the same target in the separate `test-race` job on pull
+requests and pushes to `main`, with a 20-minute job timeout. The job uses the
+same pinned shared test action as `test`, including Go version selection from
+`go.mod` and the action's default dependency/build caching. Existing required
+check names and branch-protection settings are unchanged; requiring the new
+check is a separate maintainer decision after it has run successfully.
+
 ## Pi Runtime Gate
 
 `make test-pi-runtime` runs the `pi_rpc` adapter against the installed Pi on