diff --git a/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 91e8a5480..4164ba8da 100644
--- a/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ include:
       - key: $CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG
         paths:
           - .go/pkg/mod/
+
 variables:
   GOVERSION: "1.16.10"
 
@@ -220,6 +221,22 @@ clustertests:
   script:
     - make clustertests
 
+external lookup tests:
+  stage: integration
+  image: golang:$GOVERSION
+  variables:
+    POSTGRES_DB: $POSTGRES_DB
+    POSTGRES_USER: $POSTGRES_USER
+    POSTGRES_PASSWORD: $POSTGRES_PASSWORD
+    POSTGRES_HOST_AUTH_METHOD: trust
+  services:
+    - postgres:13.5
+  script:
+    - apt-get update --allow-releaseinfo-change -y
+    - apt-get install -y postgresql-client
+    - go test . -run "^TestExternalLookup" -externalLookupDSN postgresql://$POSTGRES_USER:$POSTGRES_PASSWORD@postgres/$POSTGRES_DB?sslmode=disable
+
+
 smoke test:
   stage: integration
   image: registry.gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cloud-deploy/aws-base:latest
diff --git a/internal/clustertests/cluster_test.go b/internal/clustertests/cluster_test.go
index 806d68101..79d067ad4 100644
--- a/internal/clustertests/cluster_test.go
+++ b/internal/clustertests/cluster_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ package clustertest
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
@@ -124,7 +125,11 @@ func TestClusterStuff(t *testing.T) {
 		} else if resp, err := client.Do(req); err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("doing request: %v", err)
 		} else if resp.StatusCode >= 400 {
-			t.Fatalf("bad response: %v", resp)
+			bod, readErr := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+			if readErr != nil {
+				t.Logf("reading error body: %v", readErr)
+			}
+			t.Fatalf("deleting index: code=%d, body=%s", resp.StatusCode, bod)
 		}
 
 		var restoreCmd *exec.Cmd