diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration-tests-r2dbc-mssql.yml b/.github/workflows/integration-tests-r2dbc-mssql.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..04628779b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/integration-tests-r2dbc-mssql.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+name: Integration Tests for R2DBC MS SQLServer
+
+# separate job only on merge to main since SQL server tests are so unstable
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+    tags-ignore: [ v.* ]
+
+jobs:
+  test-r2dbc-sqlserver:
+    name: Run r2dbc tests with SQL Server
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    if: github.repository == 'akka/akka-projection'
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          - { jdkVersion: "1.17.0", jvmName: "temurin:1.17.0", extraOpts: '' }
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        # https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases
+        # v4.1.1
+        uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Checkout GitHub merge
+        if: github.event.pull_request
+        run: |-
+          git fetch origin pull/${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}/merge:scratch
+          git checkout scratch
+
+      - name: Cache Coursier cache
+        # https://github.com/coursier/cache-action/releases
+        # v6.4.4
+        uses: coursier/cache-action@a0e7cd24be81bc84f0d7461e02bd1a96980553d7
+
+      - name: Set up JDK ${{ matrix.jdkVersion }}
+        # https://github.com/coursier/setup-action/releases
+        # v1.3.4
+        uses: coursier/setup-action@48280172a2c999022e42527711d6b28e4945e6f0
+        with:
+          jvm: ${{ matrix.jvmName }}
+
+      - name: Start DB
+        run: |-
+          docker compose -f docker-files/docker-compose-sqlserver.yml up --wait
+          docker exec -i sqlserver-db /opt/mssql-tools/bin/sqlcmd -S localhost -U SA -P '<YourStrong@Passw0rd>' -d master < akka-projection-r2dbc/ddl-scripts/create_tables_sqlserver.sql
+
+      - name: Run integration tests with with Scala and Java ${{ matrix.jdkVersion }}
+        run: |-
+          sbt -Dconfig.resource=application-sqlserver.conf akka-projection-r2dbc-integration/test
diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration-tests-r2dbc.yml b/.github/workflows/integration-tests-r2dbc.yml
index feeced17e..78f216b0a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/integration-tests-r2dbc.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/integration-tests-r2dbc.yml
@@ -144,49 +144,3 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run integration tests with with Scala and Java ${{ matrix.jdkVersion }}
         run: |-
           sbt -Dconfig.resource=application-h2.conf akka-projection-r2dbc-integration/test
-
-  test-r2dbc-sqlserver:
-    name: Run r2dbc tests with SQL Server
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-    if: github.repository == 'akka/akka-projection'
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        include:
-          # - { jdkVersion: "1.11.0", jvmName: "temurin:1.11.0", extraOpts: '-J-XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -J-XX:+UseJVMCICompiler' }
-          - { jdkVersion: "1.17.0", jvmName: "temurin:1.17.0", extraOpts: '' }
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        # https://github.com/actions/checkout/releases
-        # v4.1.1
-        uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-
-      - name: Checkout GitHub merge
-        if: github.event.pull_request
-        run: |-
-          git fetch origin pull/${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}/merge:scratch
-          git checkout scratch
-
-      - name: Cache Coursier cache
-        # https://github.com/coursier/cache-action/releases
-        # v6.4.4
-        uses: coursier/cache-action@a0e7cd24be81bc84f0d7461e02bd1a96980553d7
-
-      - name: Set up JDK ${{ matrix.jdkVersion }}
-        # https://github.com/coursier/setup-action/releases
-        # v1.3.4
-        uses: coursier/setup-action@48280172a2c999022e42527711d6b28e4945e6f0
-        with:
-          jvm: ${{ matrix.jvmName }}
-
-      - name: Start DB
-        run: |-
-          docker compose -f docker-files/docker-compose-sqlserver.yml up --wait
-          docker exec -i sqlserver-db /opt/mssql-tools/bin/sqlcmd -S localhost -U SA -P '<YourStrong@Passw0rd>' -d master < akka-projection-r2dbc/ddl-scripts/create_tables_sqlserver.sql
-
-      - name: Run integration tests with with Scala and Java ${{ matrix.jdkVersion }}
-        run: |-
-          sbt -Dconfig.resource=application-sqlserver.conf akka-projection-r2dbc-integration/test