diff --git a/source/server/BUILD b/source/server/BUILD
index 59e846788cef3..e1ac3844964e9 100644
--- a/source/server/BUILD
+++ b/source/server/BUILD
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ envoy_package()
 
 envoy_cc_library(
     name = "backtrace_lib",
+    srcs = ["backtrace.cc"],
     hdrs = ["backtrace.h"],
     external_deps = [
         "abseil_stacktrace",
diff --git a/source/server/backtrace.cc b/source/server/backtrace.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..46ca057ee8a96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/server/backtrace.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#include "server/backtrace.h"
+
+#include <iostream>
+
+namespace Envoy {
+
+bool BackwardsTrace::log_to_stderr_ = false;
+
+void BackwardsTrace::setLogToStderr(bool log_to_stderr) { log_to_stderr_ = log_to_stderr; }
+
+} // namespace Envoy
diff --git a/source/server/backtrace.h b/source/server/backtrace.h
index ff28d018046ec..966d9017baf26 100644
--- a/source/server/backtrace.h
+++ b/source/server/backtrace.h
@@ -38,6 +38,22 @@ class BackwardsTrace : Logger::Loggable<Logger::Id::backtrace> {
 public:
   BackwardsTrace() = default;
 
+  /**
+   * Directs the output of logTrace() to directly stderr rather than the
+   * logging infrastructure.
+   *
+   * This is intended for coverage tests, where we enable trace logs, but send
+   * them to /dev/null to avoid accumulating too much data in CI.
+   *
+   * @param log_to_stderr Whether to log to stderr or the logging system.
+   */
+  static void setLogToStderr(bool log_to_stderr);
+
+  /**
+   * @return whether the system directing backtraces directly to stderr.
+   */
+  static bool logToStderr() { return log_to_stderr_; }
+
   /**
    * Capture a stack trace.
    *
@@ -67,6 +83,11 @@ class BackwardsTrace : Logger::Loggable<Logger::Id::backtrace> {
    * Log the stack trace.
    */
   void logTrace() {
+    if (log_to_stderr_) {
+      printTrace(std::cerr);
+      return;
+    }
+
     ENVOY_LOG(critical, "Backtrace (use tools/stack_decode.py to get line numbers):");
     ENVOY_LOG(critical, "Envoy version: {}", VersionInfo::version());
 
@@ -94,6 +115,8 @@ class BackwardsTrace : Logger::Loggable<Logger::Id::backtrace> {
   }
 
 private:
+  static bool log_to_stderr_;
+
   /**
    * Visit the previously captured stack trace.
    *
diff --git a/test/BUILD b/test/BUILD
index 0c9065472631e..41cf8c14bcb36 100644
--- a/test/BUILD
+++ b/test/BUILD
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ envoy_cc_test_library(
         "//source/common/common:thread_lib",
         "//source/common/event:libevent_lib",
         "//source/exe:process_wide_lib",
+        "//source/server:backtrace_lib",
         "//test/common/runtime:utility_lib",
         "//test/mocks/access_log:access_log_mocks",
         "//test/test_common:environment_lib",
diff --git a/test/server/backtrace_test.cc b/test/server/backtrace_test.cc
index 91151f5b515c7..a83ae4d9a4099 100644
--- a/test/server/backtrace_test.cc
+++ b/test/server/backtrace_test.cc
@@ -9,9 +9,12 @@ TEST(Backward, Basic) {
   // There isn't much to test here and this feature is really just useful for
   // debugging. This test simply verifies that we do not cause a crash when
   // logging a backtrace, and covers the added lines.
+  const bool save_log_to_stderr = BackwardsTrace::logToStderr();
+  BackwardsTrace::setLogToStderr(false);
   BackwardsTrace tracer;
   tracer.capture();
   EXPECT_LOG_CONTAINS("critical", "Envoy version:", tracer.logTrace());
+  BackwardsTrace::setLogToStderr(save_log_to_stderr);
 }
 
 TEST(Backward, InvalidUsageTest) {
diff --git a/test/test_runner.cc b/test/test_runner.cc
index d04ea695ed97a..5eedad5ae23f6 100644
--- a/test/test_runner.cc
+++ b/test/test_runner.cc
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 
 #include "exe/process_wide.h"
 
+#include "server/backtrace.h"
+
 #include "test/common/runtime/utility.h"
 #include "test/mocks/access_log/mocks.h"
 #include "test/test_common/environment.h"
@@ -103,10 +105,22 @@ int TestRunner::RunTests(int argc, char** argv) {
     listeners.Append(new RuntimeManagingListener(runtime_override));
   }
 
+#ifdef ENVOY_CONFIG_COVERAGE
+  // Coverage tests are run with -l trace --log-path /dev/null, in order to
+  // ensure that all of the code-paths from the maximum level of tracing are
+  // covered in tests, but we don't wind up filling up CI with useless detailed
+  // artifacts.
+  //
+  // The downside of this is that if there's a crash, the backtrace is lost, as
+  // the backtracing mechanism uses logging, so force the backtraces to stderr.
+  BackwardsTrace::setLogToStderr(true);
+#endif
+
   TestEnvironment::initializeOptions(argc, argv);
   Thread::MutexBasicLockable lock;
-  Logger::Context logging_state(TestEnvironment::getOptions().logLevel(),
-                                TestEnvironment::getOptions().logFormat(), lock, false);
+
+  Server::Options& options = TestEnvironment::getOptions();
+  Logger::Context logging_state(options.logLevel(), options.logFormat(), lock, false);
 
   // Allocate fake log access manager.
   testing::NiceMock<AccessLog::MockAccessLogManager> access_log_manager;
diff --git a/tools/spelling/spelling_dictionary.txt b/tools/spelling/spelling_dictionary.txt
index 24ba7e79890ca..4990223faaec9 100644
--- a/tools/spelling/spelling_dictionary.txt
+++ b/tools/spelling/spelling_dictionary.txt
@@ -385,6 +385,8 @@ backgrounded
 backoff
 backpressure
 backticks
+backtraces
+backtracing
 balancer
 balancers
 barbaz