diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 97fdf15b5..9848b87c1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -179,20 +179,6 @@ itest-only-trace: aperture-dir
 	rm -rf itest/regtest; date
 	$(GOTEST) ./itest -v -tags="$(ITEST_TAGS)" $(TEST_FLAGS) $(ITEST_FLAGS) -loglevel=trace -btcdexec=./btcd-itest -logdir=regtest
 
-optional-itest: build-itest optional-itest-only
-
-optional-itest-trace: build-itest optional-itest-only-trace
-
-optional-itest-only: aperture-dir
-	@$(call print, "Running integration tests with ${backend} backend.")
-	rm -rf itest/regtest; date
-	$(GOTEST) ./itest -v -tags="$(ITEST_TAGS)" $(TEST_FLAGS) $(ITEST_FLAGS) -optional -btcdexec=./btcd-itest -logdir=regtest
-
-optional-itest-only-trace: aperture-dir
-	@$(call print, "Running integration tests with ${backend} backend.")
-	rm -rf itest/regtest; date
-	$(GOTEST) ./itest -v -tags="$(ITEST_TAGS)" $(TEST_FLAGS) $(ITEST_FLAGS) -optional -loglevel=trace -btcdexec=./btcd-itest -logdir=regtest
-
 aperture-dir:
 ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Linux)
 	mkdir -p $$HOME/.aperture
diff --git a/itest/mint_batch_stress_test.go b/itest/mint_batch_stress_test.go
index 38dd37745..eea9c2cee 100644
--- a/itest/mint_batch_stress_test.go
+++ b/itest/mint_batch_stress_test.go
@@ -34,11 +34,11 @@ func testMintBatch100StressTest(t *harnessTest) {
 }
 
 func testMintBatch1kStressTest(t *harnessTest) {
-	mintBatchStressTest(t, 1000, defaultWaitTimeout*10)
+	mintBatchStressTest(t, 1000, defaultWaitTimeout*20)
 }
 
 func testMintBatch10kStressTest(t *harnessTest) {
-	mintBatchStressTest(t, 10000, defaultWaitTimeout*100)
+	mintBatchStressTest(t, 10000, defaultWaitTimeout*200)
 }
 
 func mintBatchStressTest(t *harnessTest, batchSize int,
diff --git a/itest/tapd_harness.go b/itest/tapd_harness.go
index 4734f1e2f..2058e9006 100644
--- a/itest/tapd_harness.go
+++ b/itest/tapd_harness.go
@@ -34,6 +34,14 @@ var (
 	// to use when starting a tap daemon.
 	dbbackend = flag.String("dbbackend", "sqlite", "Set the database "+
 		"backend to use when starting a tap daemon.")
+
+	// postgresTimeout is a command line flag for specifying the amount of
+	// time to allow the postgres fixture to run in total. Needs to be
+	// increased for long-running tests.
+	postgresTimeout = flag.Duration("postgrestimeout",
+		tapdb.DefaultPostgresFixtureLifetime, "The amount of time to "+
+			"allow the postgres fixture to run in total. Needs "+
+			"to be increased for long-running tests.")
 )
 
 const (
@@ -108,11 +116,11 @@ func newTapdHarness(ht *harnessTest, cfg tapdConfig,
 		// We use the default settings, nothing to change for SQLite.
 
 	case tapcfg.DatabaseBackendPostgres:
-		fixture := tapdb.NewTestPgFixture(
-			ht.t, tapdb.DefaultPostgresFixtureLifetime,
-		)
+		fixture := tapdb.NewTestPgFixture(ht.t, *postgresTimeout)
 		ht.t.Cleanup(func() {
-			fixture.TearDown(ht.t)
+			if !*noDelete {
+				fixture.TearDown(ht.t)
+			}
 		})
 		tapCfg.DatabaseBackend = tapcfg.DatabaseBackendPostgres
 		tapCfg.Postgres = fixture.GetConfig()
diff --git a/make/testing_flags.mk b/make/testing_flags.mk
index fe6c2b697..3dd2ff79d 100644
--- a/make/testing_flags.mk
+++ b/make/testing_flags.mk
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ ifneq ($(nodelete),)
 ITEST_FLAGS += -nodelete
 endif
 
+# Run the optional tests.
+ifneq ($(optional),)
+ITEST_FLAGS += -optional -postgrestimeout=240m
+endif
+
 # Run itests with specified db backend.
 ifneq ($(dbbackend),)
 ITEST_FLAGS += -dbbackend=$(dbbackend)
@@ -69,8 +74,12 @@ endif
 ifneq ($(timeout),)
 TEST_FLAGS += -test.timeout=$(timeout)
 else
+ifneq ($(optional),)
+TEST_FLAGS += -test.timeout=240m
+else
 TEST_FLAGS += -test.timeout=60m
 endif
+endif
 
 GOLIST := go list -tags="$(DEV_TAGS)" -deps $(PKG)/... | grep '$(PKG)'| grep -v '/vendor/'
 GOLISTCOVER := $(shell go list -tags="$(DEV_TAGS)" -deps -f '{{.ImportPath}}' ./... | grep '$(PKG)' | sed -e 's/^$(ESCPKG)/./')