diff --git a/hack/bats b/hack/bats
index e416f82d15..505b890440 100755
--- a/hack/bats
+++ b/hack/bats
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ $0 is a wrapper for invoking podman system tests.
 
    --root         Run only as root
    --rootless     Run only as user (i.e. you)
-   --remote       Run with podman-remote (see below)
+   --remote       Run with podman-remote
 
    FILENAME-PATTERN Run only test files that match 'test/system/*name*',
                     e.g. '500' or 'net' will match 500-networking.bats.
@@ -36,16 +36,6 @@ By default, tests ./bin/podman. To test a different podman, do:
 
     \$ env PODMAN=/abs/path/to/podman $0 ....
 
-To test podman-remote, start your own servers (root and rootless) via:
-
-    \$ bin/podman system service --timeout=0 &
-    \$ sudo !!
-
-...then invoke this script with --remote. (This script can't start the
-servers, because we can sudo *starting* the service but can't sudo
-stopping it: by the time the bats tests finish, the sudo timeout will
-have expired. We apologize for the inconvenience.)
-
 Examples:
 
     \$ $0 220:\"restart cleans up\"
@@ -113,13 +103,7 @@ if [[ "$REMOTE" ]]; then
     if ! [[ $PODMAN =~ -remote ]]; then
         PODMAN=${PODMAN}-remote
     fi
-
-    if [[ -n "$TEST_ROOT" ]]; then
-        sudo $PODMAN info >/dev/null || exit 1
-    fi
-    if [[ -n "$TEST_ROOTLESS" ]]; then
-        $PODMAN info >/dev/null || exit 1
-    fi
+    export REMOTESYSTEM_TRANSPORT=unix
 fi
 
 # END   initialization and command-line arg checking
diff --git a/test/e2e/prune_test.go b/test/e2e/prune_test.go
index 4d7fd57a4c..40b498be78 100644
--- a/test/e2e/prune_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/prune_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	. "github.com/containers/podman/v5/test/utils"
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega/gexec"
 )
 
 var pruneImage = fmt.Sprintf(`
@@ -601,7 +602,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Podman prune", func() {
 		err := os.WriteFile(containerFilePath, []byte(longBuildImage), 0o755)
 		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 
-		build := podmanTest.Podman([]string{"build", "-f", containerFilePath, "-t", "podmanleaker"})
+		build := podmanTest.Podman([]string{"build", "--network=none", "-f", containerFilePath, "-t", "podmanleaker"})
 		// Build will never finish so let's wait for build to ask for SIGKILL to simulate a failed build that leaves stage containers.
 		matchedOutput := false
 		for range 900 {
@@ -616,6 +617,10 @@ var _ = Describe("Podman prune", func() {
 			Fail("Did not match special string in podman build")
 		}
 
+		// kill is async, wait for process exit here and make sure it was killed (137).
+		build.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
+		Expect(build).To(Exit(137))
+
 		// Check Intermediate image of stage container
 		none := podmanTest.Podman([]string{"images", "-a"})
 		none.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
diff --git a/test/system/520-checkpoint.bats b/test/system/520-checkpoint.bats
index 630f4d016e..b19eb88d61 100644
--- a/test/system/520-checkpoint.bats
+++ b/test/system/520-checkpoint.bats
@@ -22,15 +22,17 @@ function setup() {
         skip "checkpoint does not work rootless"
     fi
 
+    basic_setup
+
+    # Note basic_setup defines $PODMAN_RUNTIME so this must be after it
+
     # As of 2024-05, crun on Debian is not built with criu support:
     # https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1008249
-    runtime=$(podman_runtime)
+    runtime="$PODMAN_RUNTIME"
     run $runtime checkpoint --help
     if [[ $status -ne 0 ]]; then
         skip "runtime $runtime does not support checkpoint/restore"
     fi
-
-    basic_setup
 }
 
 # bats test_tags=ci:parallel
@@ -236,6 +238,12 @@ function setup() {
 
 # bats test_tags=ci:parallel
 @test "podman checkpoint/restore ip and mac handling" {
+    # Broken only debian as it seems the host's /etc/hosts file keeps changing
+    # which causes false positives in the before/after restore comparison.
+    OS_RELEASE_ID="${OS_RELEASE_ID:-$(source /etc/os-release; echo $ID)}"
+    if [[ "$OS_RELEASE_ID" == "debian" ]]; then
+        skip "Test flakes on debian in CI"
+    fi
     # Refer to https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/16666#issuecomment-1337860545
     # for the correct behavior, this should cover all cases listed there.
     local netname="net-$(safename)"
diff --git a/test/system/700-artifact.bats b/test/system/700-artifact.bats
deleted file mode 100644
index 19116f3083..0000000000
--- a/test/system/700-artifact.bats
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,113 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bats   -*- bats -*-
-#
-# Tests for podman artifact functionality
-#
-
-load helpers
-
-function setup() {
-    basic_setup
-}
-
-function teardown() {
-    basic_teardown
-}
-
-# Helper function to create a test artifact file
-create_test_file() {
-    local size=${1:-1024}
-    local filename=$(mktemp --tmpdir="${PODMAN_TMPDIR}" artifactfile.XXXXXX)
-    dd if=/dev/urandom of="$filename" bs=1 count="$size" 2>/dev/null
-    echo "$filename"
-}
-
-# bats test_tags=ci:parallel
-@test "podman artifact add --replace basic functionality" {
-    local artifact_name="localhost/test/replace-artifact"
-    local file1 file2
-
-    file1=$(create_test_file 1024)
-    file2=$(create_test_file 2048)
-
-    # Add initial artifact
-    run_podman artifact add "$artifact_name" "$file1"
-    local first_digest="$output"
-
-    # Verify initial artifact exists
-    run_podman artifact inspect "$artifact_name"
-
-    # Replace with different file
-    run_podman artifact add --replace "$artifact_name" "$file2"
-    local second_digest="$output"
-
-    # Verify artifact was replaced (different digest)
-    assert "$first_digest" != "$second_digest" "Replace should create different digest"
-
-    # Verify artifact still exists and is accessible
-    run_podman artifact inspect "$artifact_name"
-
-    # Cleanup
-    run_podman artifact rm "$artifact_name"
-    rm -f "$file1" "$file2"
-}
-
-# bats test_tags=ci:parallel
-@test "podman artifact add --replace nonexistent artifact" {
-    local artifact_name="localhost/test/nonexistent-artifact"
-    local file1
-
-    file1=$(create_test_file 1024)
-
-    # Using --replace on nonexistent artifact should succeed
-    run_podman artifact add --replace "$artifact_name" "$file1"
-
-    # Verify artifact was created
-    run_podman artifact inspect "$artifact_name"
-
-    # Cleanup
-    run_podman artifact rm "$artifact_name"
-    rm -f "$file1"
-}
-
-# bats test_tags=ci:parallel
-@test "podman artifact add --replace and --append conflict" {
-    local artifact_name="localhost/test/conflict-artifact"
-    local file1
-
-    file1=$(create_test_file 1024)
-
-    # Using --replace and --append together should fail
-    run_podman 125 artifact add --replace --append "$artifact_name" "$file1"
-    assert "$output" =~ "--append and --replace options cannot be used together"
-
-    rm -f "$file1"
-}
-
-# bats test_tags=ci:parallel
-@test "podman artifact add --replace with existing artifact" {
-    local artifact_name="localhost/test/existing-artifact"
-    local file1 file2
-
-    file1=$(create_test_file 512)
-    file2=$(create_test_file 1024)
-
-    # Create initial artifact
-    run_podman artifact add "$artifact_name" "$file1"
-
-    # Verify initial artifact exists
-    run_podman artifact inspect "$artifact_name"
-
-    # Adding same name without --replace should fail
-    run_podman 125 artifact add "$artifact_name" "$file2"
-    assert "$output" =~ "artifact already exists"
-
-    # Replace should succeed
-    run_podman artifact add --replace "$artifact_name" "$file2"
-
-    # Verify artifact was replaced
-    run_podman artifact inspect "$artifact_name"
-
-    # Cleanup
-    run_podman artifact rm "$artifact_name"
-    rm -f "$file1" "$file2"
-}
diff --git a/test/system/701-artifact-created.bats b/test/system/701-artifact-created.bats
deleted file mode 100644
index be0c396cba..0000000000
--- a/test/system/701-artifact-created.bats
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,107 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bats   -*- bats -*-
-#
-# Tests for podman artifact created date functionality
-#
-
-load helpers
-
-# Create temporary artifact file for testing
-function create_test_file() {
-    local content="$1"
-    local filename=$(random_string 12)
-    local filepath="$PODMAN_TMPDIR/$filename.txt"
-    echo "$content" > "$filepath"
-    echo "$filepath"
-}
-
-function setup() {
-    basic_setup
-    skip_if_remote "artifacts are not remote"
-}
-
-function teardown() {
-    run_podman artifact rm --all --ignore || true
-    basic_teardown
-}
-
-@test "podman artifact inspect shows created date in RFC3339" {
-    local content="test content for created date"
-    local testfile=$(create_test_file "$content")
-    local artifact_name="localhost/test/created-test"
-
-    # Record time before creation (in seconds for comparison)
-    local before_epoch=$(date +%s)
-
-    # Create artifact
-    run_podman artifact add $artifact_name "$testfile"
-
-    # Record time after creation (in seconds for comparison)
-    local after_epoch=$(date +%s)
-
-    # Inspect the artifact
-    run_podman artifact inspect $artifact_name
-    local output="$output"
-
-    # Parse the JSON output to get the created annotation
-    local created_annotation
-    created_annotation=$(echo "$output" | jq -r '.Manifest.annotations["org.opencontainers.image.created"]')
-
-    # Verify created annotation exists and is not null
-    assert "$created_annotation" != "null" "Should have org.opencontainers.image.created annotation"
-    assert "$created_annotation" != "" "Created annotation should not be empty"
-
-    # Verify it's a valid RFC3339 timestamp by trying to parse it
-    # Convert to epoch for comparison
-    local created_epoch
-    created_epoch=$(date -d "$created_annotation" +%s 2>/dev/null)
-
-    # Verify parsing succeeded
-    assert "$?" -eq 0 "Created timestamp should be valid RFC3339 format"
-
-    # Verify timestamp is within reasonable bounds
-    assert "$created_epoch" -ge "$before_epoch" "Created time should be after before_epoch"
-    assert "$created_epoch" -le "$after_epoch" "Created time should be before after_epoch"
-
-    # Clean up
-    rm -f "$testfile"
-}
-
-@test "podman artifact append preserves original created date" {
-    local content1="initial content"
-    local content2="appended content"
-    local testfile1=$(create_test_file "$content1")
-    local testfile2=$(create_test_file "$content2")
-    local artifact_name="localhost/test/append-test"
-
-    # Create initial artifact
-    run_podman artifact add $artifact_name "$testfile1"
-
-    # Get the original created timestamp
-    run_podman artifact inspect $artifact_name
-    local original_created
-    original_created=$(echo "$output" | jq -r '.Manifest.annotations["org.opencontainers.image.created"]')
-
-    # Wait a bit to ensure timestamps would differ if created new
-    sleep 1
-
-    # Append to artifact
-    run_podman artifact add --append $artifact_name "$testfile2"
-
-    # Get the created timestamp after append
-    run_podman artifact inspect $artifact_name
-    local current_created
-    current_created=$(echo "$output" | jq -r '.Manifest.annotations["org.opencontainers.image.created"]')
-
-    # Verify the created timestamp is preserved
-    assert "$current_created" = "$original_created" "Created timestamp should be preserved during append"
-
-    # Verify we have 2 layers now
-    local layer_count
-    layer_count=$(echo "$output" | jq '.Manifest.layers | length')
-    assert "$layer_count" -eq 2 "Should have 2 layers after append"
-
-    # Clean up
-    rm -f "$testfile1" "$testfile2"
-}
-
-# vim: filetype=sh
diff --git a/test/system/702-artifact-created.bats b/test/system/702-artifact-created.bats
deleted file mode 100644
index ffa10d4f25..0000000000
--- a/test/system/702-artifact-created.bats
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,91 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bats   -*- bats -*-
-#
-# Tests for podman artifact created date functionality
-#
-
-load helpers
-
-# Create temporary artifact file for testing
-function create_test_file() {
-    local content="$1"
-    local filename=$(random_string 12)
-    local filepath="$PODMAN_TMPDIR/$filename.txt"
-    echo "$content" > "$filepath"
-    echo "$filepath"
-}
-
-function setup() {
-    basic_setup
-    skip_if_remote "artifacts are not remote"
-}
-
-function teardown() {
-    run_podman artifact rm --all --ignore || true
-    basic_teardown
-}
-
-@test "podman artifact inspect shows created date in RFC3339 format" {
-    local content="test content for created date"
-    local testfile1=$(create_test_file "$content")
-    local artifact_name="localhost/test/created-test"
-    local content2="appended content"
-    local testfile2=$(create_test_file "$content2")
-
-    # Record time before creation (in seconds for comparison)
-    local before_epoch=$(date +%s)
-
-    # Create artifact
-    run_podman artifact add $artifact_name "$testfile1"
-
-    # Record time after creation (in seconds for comparison)
-    local after_epoch=$(date +%s)
-    after_epoch=$((after_epoch + 1))
-
-    # Inspect the artifact
-    run_podman artifact inspect $artifact_name
-    local output="$output"
-
-    # Parse the JSON output to get the created annotation
-    local created_annotation
-    created_annotation=$(echo "$output" | jq -r '.Manifest.annotations["org.opencontainers.image.created"]')
-
-    # Verify created annotation exists and is not null
-    assert "$created_annotation" != "null" "Should have org.opencontainers.image.created annotation"
-    assert "$created_annotation" != "" "Created annotation should not be empty"
-
-    # Verify it's a valid RFC3339 timestamp by trying to parse it
-    # Convert to epoch for comparison
-    local created_epoch
-    created_epoch=$(date -d "$created_annotation" +%s 2>/dev/null)
-
-    # Verify parsing succeeded
-    assert "$?" -eq 0 "Created timestamp should be valid RFC3339 format"
-
-    # Verify timestamp is within reasonable bounds
-    assert "$created_epoch" -ge "$before_epoch" "Created time should be after before_epoch"
-    assert "$created_epoch" -le "$after_epoch" "Created time should be before after_epoch"
-
-    # Wait a bit to ensure timestamps would differ if created new
-    sleep 1
-
-    # Append to artifact
-    run_podman artifact add --append $artifact_name "$testfile2"
-
-    # Get the created timestamp after append
-    run_podman artifact inspect $artifact_name
-    local current_created
-    current_created=$(echo "$output" | jq -r '.Manifest.annotations["org.opencontainers.image.created"]')
-
-    # Verify the created timestamp is preserved
-    assert "$current_created" = "$created_annotation" "Created timestamp should be preserved during append"
-
-    # Verify we have 2 layers now
-    local layer_count
-    layer_count=$(echo "$output" | jq '.Manifest.layers | length')
-    assert "$layer_count" -eq 2 "Should have 2 layers after append"
-
-    # Clean up
-    rm -f "$testfile1" "$testfile2"
-}
-
-# vim: filetype=sh
diff --git a/test/system/702-artifact.bats b/test/system/702-artifact.bats
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..df23645d27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/system/702-artifact.bats
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bats   -*- bats -*-
+#
+# Tests for podman artifact created date functionality
+#
+
+load helpers
+
+# FIXME #27264: Artifact store does not seem to work properly with concurrent access. Do not the ci:parallel tags here!
+
+# Create temporary artifact file for testing
+function create_test_file() {
+    local content="$(random_string 100)"
+    local filename=$(random_string 12)
+    local filepath="$PODMAN_TMPDIR/$filename.txt"
+    echo "$content" > "$filepath"
+    echo "$filepath"
+}
+
+function teardown() {
+    run_podman artifact rm --all --ignore
+    basic_teardown
+}
+
+@test "podman artifact inspect shows created date in RFC3339 format" {
+    local testfile1=$(create_test_file)
+    local artifact_name="localhost/test/created-test"
+    local testfile2=$(create_test_file)
+
+    # Record time before creation (in nanoseconds for comparison)
+    local before_epoch=$(date +%s%N)
+
+    # Create artifact
+    run_podman artifact add $artifact_name "$testfile1"
+
+    # Record time after creation
+    local after_epoch=$(date +%s%N)
+
+    # Inspect the artifact
+    run_podman artifact inspect --format '{{index  .Manifest.Annotations "org.opencontainers.image.created" }}' $artifact_name
+    local created_annotation="$output"
+    assert "$created_annotation" != "" "Created annotation should not be empty"
+
+    # Verify it's a valid RFC3339 timestamp by trying to parse it
+    # Convert to epoch for comparison
+    local created_epoch=$(date -d "$created_annotation" +%s%N 2>/dev/null)
+
+    # Verify parsing succeeded
+    assert "$?" -eq 0 "Created timestamp should be valid RFC3339 format"
+
+    # Verify timestamp is within reasonable bounds
+    assert "$created_epoch" -ge "$before_epoch" "Created time should be after before_epoch"
+    assert "$created_epoch" -le "$after_epoch" "Created time should be before after_epoch"
+
+    # Append to artifact
+    run_podman artifact add --append $artifact_name "$testfile2"
+
+    # Get the created timestamp after append
+    run_podman artifact inspect --format '{{index  .Manifest.Annotations "org.opencontainers.image.created" }}\n{{len .Manifest.Layers}}' $artifact_name
+    local current_created="${lines[0]}"
+    local layer_count="${lines[1]}"
+
+    # Verify the created timestamp is preserved
+    assert "$current_created" = "$created_annotation" "Created timestamp should be preserved during append"
+
+    # Verify we have 2 layers now
+    assert "$layer_count" -eq 2 "Should have 2 layers after append"
+
+    run_podman artifact rm "$artifact_name"
+}
+
+
+@test "podman artifact add --replace basic functionality" {
+    local artifact_name="localhost/test/replace-artifact"
+    local file1 file2
+
+    file1=$(create_test_file)
+    file2=$(create_test_file)
+
+    # Add initial artifact
+    run_podman artifact add "$artifact_name" "$file1"
+    local first_digest="$output"
+
+    # Verify initial artifact exists
+    run_podman artifact inspect "$artifact_name"
+
+    # Replace with different file
+    run_podman artifact add --replace "$artifact_name" "$file2"
+    local second_digest="$output"
+
+    # Verify artifact was replaced (different digest)
+    assert "$first_digest" != "$second_digest" "Replace should create different digest"
+
+    # Verify artifact still exists and is accessible
+    run_podman artifact inspect "$artifact_name"
+
+    # Cleanup
+    run_podman artifact rm "$artifact_name"
+}
+
+@test "podman artifact add --replace nonexistent artifact" {
+    local artifact_name="localhost/test/nonexistent-artifact"
+    local file1
+
+    file1=$(create_test_file)
+
+    # Using --replace on nonexistent artifact should succeed
+    run_podman artifact add --replace "$artifact_name" "$file1"
+
+    # Verify artifact was created
+    run_podman artifact inspect "$artifact_name"
+
+    # Cleanup
+    run_podman artifact rm "$artifact_name"
+}
+
+@test "podman artifact add --replace and --append conflict" {
+    local artifact_name="localhost/test/conflict-artifact"
+    local file1
+
+    file1=$(create_test_file)
+
+    # Using --replace and --append together should fail
+    run_podman 125 artifact add --replace --append "$artifact_name" "$file1"
+    assert "$output" =~ "--append and --replace options cannot be used together"
+}
+
+@test "podman artifact add --replace with existing artifact" {
+    local artifact_name="localhost/test/existing-artifact"
+    local file1 file2
+
+    file1=$(create_test_file)
+    file2=$(create_test_file)
+
+    # Create initial artifact
+    run_podman artifact add "$artifact_name" "$file1"
+
+    # Verify initial artifact exists
+    run_podman artifact inspect "$artifact_name"
+
+    # Adding same name without --replace should fail
+    run_podman 125 artifact add "$artifact_name" "$file2"
+    assert "$output" =~ "artifact already exists"
+
+    # Replace should succeed
+    run_podman artifact add --replace "$artifact_name" "$file2"
+
+    # Verify artifact was replaced
+    run_podman artifact inspect "$artifact_name"
+
+    # Cleanup
+    run_podman artifact rm "$artifact_name"
+}
+
+
+# vim: filetype=sh
diff --git a/test/system/helpers.bash b/test/system/helpers.bash
index 5abfe872d3..d6bfa31b32 100644
--- a/test/system/helpers.bash
+++ b/test/system/helpers.bash
@@ -185,6 +185,9 @@ function basic_setup() {
     # ancient BATS (v1.1) in RHEL gating tests.)
     PODMAN_TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d --tmpdir=${BATS_TMPDIR:-/tmp} podman_bats.XXXXXX)
 
+    PODMAN_CMD=("${PODMAN}")
+    add_podman_args PODMAN_CMD
+
     # runtime is not likely to change
     if [[ -z "$PODMAN_RUNTIME" ]]; then
         PODMAN_RUNTIME=$(podman_runtime)
@@ -208,9 +211,6 @@ function basic_setup() {
     # idea being that a large number of failures can show patterns.
     ASSERTION_FAILURES=
     immediate-assertion-failures
-
-    PODMAN_CMD=("${PODMAN}")
-    add_podman_args PODMAN_CMD
 }
 
 # bail-now is how we terminate a test upon assertion failure.
@@ -560,7 +560,7 @@ function run_podman() {
 
 
     # stdout is only emitted upon error; this printf is to help in debugging
-    printf "\n%s %s %s %s\n" "$(timestamp)" "$_LOG_PROMPT" $PODMAN "${podman_args[@]}" "$*"
+    printf "\n%s %s %s %s %s\n" "$(timestamp)" "$_LOG_PROMPT" $PODMAN "${podman_args[*]}" "$*"
 
     # BATS hangs if a subprocess remains and keeps FD 3 open; this happens
     # if podman crashes unexpectedly without cleaning up subprocesses.
@@ -790,7 +790,7 @@ function selinux_enabled() {
 function podman_runtime() {
     # This function is intended to be used as '$(podman_runtime)', i.e.
     # our caller wants our output. It's unsafe to use run_podman().
-    runtime=$($PODMAN $_PODMAN_TEST_OPTS info --format '{{ .Host.OCIRuntime.Name }}' 2>/dev/null)
+    runtime=$("${PODMAN_CMD[@]}" info --format '{{ .Host.OCIRuntime.Name }}' 2>/dev/null)
     basename "${runtime:-[null]}"
 }