diff --git a/.github/workflows/test_e2e_deploy_scheduled.yml b/.github/workflows/test_e2e_deploy_scheduled.yml
index 02729a8c4a7ce..eda3efb352903 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test_e2e_deploy_scheduled.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test_e2e_deploy_scheduled.yml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        group: [1, 2]
+        group: [1/5, 2/5, 3/5, 4/5, 5/5]
 
     steps:
       - name: Setup Node.js
@@ -60,17 +60,20 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run tests
         run: |
           docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/work mcr.microsoft.com/playwright:v1.41.2-jammy /bin/bash -c "cd /work && \
-          NODE_VERSION=${{ env.NODE_LTS_VERSION }} ./scripts/setup-node.sh && \ 
+          NODE_VERSION=${NODE_LTS_VERSION} ./scripts/setup-node.sh && \ 
           corepack enable > /dev/null && \
-          NEXT_JUNIT_TEST_REPORT=${{ env.NEXT_JUNIT_TEST_REPORT }} \
-          DATADOG_API_KEY=${{ env.DATADOG_API_KEY }} \
-          DD_ENV=${{ env.DD_ENV }} \ 
-          VERCEL_TEST_TOKEN=${{ env.VERCEL_TEST_TOKEN }} \
-          VERCEL_TEST_TEAM=${{ env.VERCEL_TEST_TEAM }} \
-          NEXT_TEST_JOB=${{ env.NEXT_TEST_JOB }} \
-          NEXT_TEST_MODE=${{ env.NEXT_TEST_MODE }} \
-          TEST_TIMINGS_TOKEN=${{ env.TEST_TIMINGS_TOKEN }} \
-          xvfb-run node run-tests.js --type e2e --timings -g ${{ matrix.group }}/2 -c 1 >> /proc/1/fd/1"
+          NEXT_JUNIT_TEST_REPORT=${NEXT_JUNIT_TEST_REPORT} \
+          NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=${NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED} \
+          DATADOG_API_KEY=${DATADOG_API_KEY} \
+          DD_ENV=${DD_ENV} \ 
+          VERCEL_TEST_TOKEN=${VERCEL_TEST_TOKEN} \
+          VERCEL_TEST_TEAM=${VERCEL_TEST_TEAM} \
+          NEXT_TEST_JOB=${NEXT_TEST_JOB} \
+          NEXT_TEST_MODE=${NEXT_TEST_MODE} \
+          TEST_TIMINGS_TOKEN=${TEST_TIMINGS_TOKEN} \
+          NEXT_TEST_CONTINUE_ON_ERROR=${NEXT_TEST_CONTINUE_ON_ERROR} \
+          NEXT_EXTERNAL_TESTS_FILTERS=./test/deploy-tests-manifest.json \
+          xvfb-run node run-tests.js --type e2e --timings -g ${{ matrix.group }} -c 1 >> /proc/1/fd/1"
 
       - name: Save test report as artifacts
         if: always()
diff --git a/run-tests.js b/run-tests.js
index 98dd35e5de120..412f429ee16bf 100644
--- a/run-tests.js
+++ b/run-tests.js
@@ -227,7 +227,12 @@ async function main() {
     }
   }
 
-  console.log('Running tests with concurrency:', options.concurrency)
+  console.log(
+    'Running tests with concurrency:',
+    options.concurrency,
+    'in test mode',
+    process.env.NEXT_TEST_MODE
+  )
 
   /** @type TestFile[] */
   let tests = argv._.filter((arg) =>
@@ -470,7 +475,8 @@ ${ENDGROUP}`)
         RECORD_REPLAY: shouldRecordTestWithReplay,
         // run tests in headless mode by default
         HEADLESS: 'true',
-        TRACE_PLAYWRIGHT: 'true',
+        TRACE_PLAYWRIGHT:
+          process.env.NEXT_TEST_MODE === 'deploy' ? undefined : 'true',
         NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED: '1',
         // unset CI env so CI behavior is only explicitly
         // tested when enabled
@@ -691,32 +697,6 @@ ${ENDGROUP}`)
         }
       }
 
-      // Emit test output if test failed or if we're continuing tests on error
-      if ((!passed || shouldContinueTestsOnError) && isTestJob) {
-        try {
-          const testsOutput = await fsp.readFile(
-            `${test.file}${RESULTS_EXT}`,
-            'utf8'
-          )
-          const obj = JSON.parse(testsOutput)
-          obj.processEnv = {
-            NEXT_TEST_MODE: process.env.NEXT_TEST_MODE,
-            HEADLESS: process.env.HEADLESS,
-          }
-          await outputSema.acquire()
-          if (GROUP) console.log(`${GROUP}Result as JSON for tooling`)
-          console.log(
-            `--test output start--`,
-            JSON.stringify(obj),
-            `--test output end--`
-          )
-          if (ENDGROUP) console.log(ENDGROUP)
-          outputSema.release()
-        } catch (err) {
-          console.log(`Failed to load test output`, err)
-        }
-      }
-
       sema.release()
       if (dirSema) dirSema.release()
     })
diff --git a/test/deploy-tests-manifest.json b/test/deploy-tests-manifest.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..4eb82c58a026a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/deploy-tests-manifest.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+  "version": 2,
+  "suites": {},
+  "rules": {
+    "include": [
+      "test/e2e/**/*.test.{t,j}s{,x}",
+      "test/production/**/*.test.{t,j}s{,x}"
+    ],
+    "exclude": []
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/get-test-filter.js b/test/get-test-filter.js
index 76840e2e6dcc8..bf6cc218524b1 100644
--- a/test/get-test-filter.js
+++ b/test/get-test-filter.js
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ function getTestFilter() {
     : null
   if (!manifest) return null
 
+  console.log(
+    'Filtering tests using manifest:',
+    process.env.NEXT_EXTERNAL_TESTS_FILTERS
+  )
+
   // For the legacy manifest without a version, we assume it's a complete list
   // of all the tests.
   if (!manifest.version || typeof manifest.version !== 'number') {
diff --git a/test/lib/next-modes/next-deploy.ts b/test/lib/next-modes/next-deploy.ts
index 78ecf836739b5..8eaa4bf58d7d6 100644
--- a/test/lib/next-modes/next-deploy.ts
+++ b/test/lib/next-modes/next-deploy.ts
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ export class NextDeployInstance extends NextInstance {
       {
         cwd: this.testDir,
         env: vercelEnv,
+        reject: false,
       }
     )
 
@@ -117,6 +118,7 @@ export class NextDeployInstance extends NextInstance {
       {
         cwd: this.testDir,
         env: vercelEnv,
+        reject: false,
       }
     )
 
@@ -151,6 +153,7 @@ export class NextDeployInstance extends NextInstance {
       ['logs', this._url, '--output', 'raw', ...vercelFlags],
       {
         env: vercelEnv,
+        reject: false,
       }
     )
     if (logs.exitCode !== 0) {