diff --git a/cmd/spicedb/schemawatch_integration_test.go b/cmd/spicedb/schemawatch_integration_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..75922d8534
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/spicedb/schemawatch_integration_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+//go:build docker && image
+// +build docker,image
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/google/uuid"
+	"github.com/ory/dockertest/v3"
+	"github.com/ory/dockertest/v3/docker"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	testdatastore "github.com/authzed/spicedb/internal/testserver/datastore"
+	"github.com/authzed/spicedb/pkg/datastore"
+)
+
+func TestSchemaWatch(t *testing.T) {
+	engines := map[string]bool{
+		"postgres":    false,
+		"mysql":       false,
+		"cockroachdb": true,
+		"spanner":     false,
+	}
+	require.Equal(t, len(engines), len(datastore.Engines))
+
+	for driverName, shouldRun := range engines {
+		if !shouldRun {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		t.Run(driverName, func(t *testing.T) {
+			bridgeNetworkName := fmt.Sprintf("bridge-%s", uuid.New().String())
+
+			pool, err := dockertest.NewPool("")
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			// Create a bridge network for testing.
+			network, err := pool.Client.CreateNetwork(docker.CreateNetworkOptions{
+				Name: bridgeNetworkName,
+			})
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			t.Cleanup(func() {
+				pool.Client.RemoveNetwork(network.ID)
+			})
+
+			engine := testdatastore.RunDatastoreEngineWithBridge(t, driverName, bridgeNetworkName)
+
+			envVars := []string{}
+			if wev, ok := engine.(testdatastore.RunningEngineForTestWithEnvVars); ok {
+				envVars = wev.ExternalEnvVars()
+			}
+
+			// Run the migrate command and wait for it to complete.
+			db := engine.NewDatabase(t)
+			migrateResource, err := pool.RunWithOptions(&dockertest.RunOptions{
+				Repository: "authzed/spicedb",
+				Tag:        "ci",
+				Cmd:        []string{"migrate", "head", "--datastore-engine", driverName, "--datastore-conn-uri", db},
+				NetworkID:  bridgeNetworkName,
+				Env:        envVars,
+			}, func(config *docker.HostConfig) {
+				config.RestartPolicy = docker.RestartPolicy{
+					Name: "no",
+				}
+			})
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			waitCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 3*time.Second)
+			defer cancel()
+
+			// Ensure the command completed successfully.
+			status, err := pool.Client.WaitContainerWithContext(migrateResource.Container.ID, waitCtx)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.Equal(t, 0, status)
+
+			// Run a serve and immediately close, ensuring it shuts down gracefully.
+			serveResource, err := pool.RunWithOptions(&dockertest.RunOptions{
+				Repository: "authzed/spicedb",
+				Tag:        "ci",
+				Cmd:        []string{"serve", "--grpc-preshared-key", "firstkey", "--datastore-engine", driverName, "--datastore-conn-uri", db, "--datastore-gc-interval", "1s", "--telemetry-endpoint", "", "--log-level", "trace", "--enable-experimental-watchable-schema-cache"},
+				NetworkID:  bridgeNetworkName,
+				Env:        envVars,
+			}, func(config *docker.HostConfig) {
+				config.RestartPolicy = docker.RestartPolicy{
+					Name: "no",
+				}
+			})
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			t.Cleanup(func() {
+				_ = pool.Purge(serveResource)
+			})
+
+			ww := &watchingWriter{make(chan bool, 1), "starting watching cache"}
+
+			// Grab logs and ensure GC has run before starting a graceful shutdown.
+			opts := docker.LogsOptions{
+				Context:      context.Background(),
+				Stderr:       true,
+				Stdout:       true,
+				Follow:       true,
+				Timestamps:   true,
+				RawTerminal:  true,
+				Container:    serveResource.Container.ID,
+				OutputStream: ww,
+			}
+
+			go (func() {
+				err = pool.Client.Logs(opts)
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+			})()
+
+			select {
+			case <-ww.c:
+				break
+
+			case <-time.After(10 * time.Second):
+				require.Fail(t, "timed out waiting for schema watch to run")
+			}
+
+			require.True(t, gracefulShutdown(pool, serveResource))
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/spicedb/serve_integration_test.go b/cmd/spicedb/serve_integration_test.go
index e3be1c17c1..f8e9840e63 100644
--- a/cmd/spicedb/serve_integration_test.go
+++ b/cmd/spicedb/serve_integration_test.go
@@ -133,12 +133,12 @@ func TestGracefulShutdownInMemory(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 type watchingWriter struct {
-	c chan bool
+	c              chan bool
+	expectedString string
 }
 
 func (ww *watchingWriter) Write(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
-	// Ensure GC ran.
-	if strings.Contains(string(p), "running garbage collection worker") {
+	if strings.Contains(string(p), ww.expectedString) {
 		ww.c <- true
 	}
 
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ func TestGracefulShutdown(t *testing.T) {
 			})
 
 			if awaitGC {
-				ww := &watchingWriter{make(chan bool, 1)}
+				ww := &watchingWriter{make(chan bool, 1), "running garbage collection worker"}
 
 				// Grab logs and ensure GC has run before starting a graceful shutdown.
 				opts := docker.LogsOptions{
diff --git a/internal/datastore/proxy/schemacaching/caching.go b/internal/datastore/proxy/schemacaching/caching.go
index 9259e19cfe..43110844a7 100644
--- a/internal/datastore/proxy/schemacaching/caching.go
+++ b/internal/datastore/proxy/schemacaching/caching.go
@@ -52,11 +52,11 @@ func NewCachingDatastoreProxy(delegate datastore.Datastore, c cache.Cache, gcWin
 	// Try to instantiate a schema cache that reads updates from the datastore's schema watch stream. If not possible,
 	// fallback to the just-in-time caching proxy.
 	if watchable := datastore.UnwrapAs[datastore.SchemaWatchableDatastore](delegate); watchable != nil {
-		log.Info().Type("datastore-type", watchable).Msg("enabled schema caching")
+		log.Info().Type("datastore-type", watchable).Msg("schema watch caching enabled")
 		return createWatchingCacheProxy(watchable, c, gcWindow)
 	}
 
-	log.Info().Type("datastore-type", delegate).Msg("schema watch was enabled but datastore does not support it; falling back to just-in-time caching")
+	log.Info().Type("datastore-type", delegate).Msg("schema watch caching was requested but datastore does not support it; falling back to just-in-time caching")
 	return &definitionCachingProxy{
 		Datastore: delegate,
 		c:         c,