diff --git a/pageserver/src/deletion_queue.rs b/pageserver/src/deletion_queue.rs
index ae66236499..cccc64685b 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/deletion_queue.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/deletion_queue.rs
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ where
 
 /// Files ending with this suffix will be ignored and erased
 /// during recovery as startup.
-const TEMP_SUFFIX: &str = ".tmp";
+const TEMP_SUFFIX: &str = "tmp";
 
 #[serde_as]
 #[derive(Debug, Serialize, Deserialize)]
diff --git a/pageserver/src/deletion_queue/list_writer.rs b/pageserver/src/deletion_queue/list_writer.rs
index 75fc0524b7..e846340373 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/deletion_queue/list_writer.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/deletion_queue/list_writer.rs
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ impl ListWriter {
         let list_name_pattern =
             Regex::new("(?<sequence>[a-zA-Z0-9]{16})-(?<version>[a-zA-Z0-9]{2}).list").unwrap();
 
+        let temp_extension = format!(".{TEMP_SUFFIX}");
         let header_path = self.conf.deletion_header_path();
         let mut seqs: Vec<u64> = Vec::new();
         while let Some(dentry) = dir.next_entry().await? {
@@ -241,7 +242,7 @@ impl ListWriter {
                 continue;
             }
 
-            if dentry_str.ends_with(TEMP_SUFFIX) {
+            if dentry_str.ends_with(&temp_extension) {
                 info!("Cleaning up temporary file {dentry_str}");
                 let absolute_path =
                     deletion_directory.join(dentry.file_name().to_str().expect("non-Unicode path"));
diff --git a/test_runner/regress/test_pageserver_generations.py b/test_runner/regress/test_pageserver_generations.py
index 64c471fb92..1b9f48706f 100644
--- a/test_runner/regress/test_pageserver_generations.py
+++ b/test_runner/regress/test_pageserver_generations.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ of the pageserver are:
 """
 
 
+import enum
 import re
 import time
 from typing import Optional
@@ -276,15 +277,28 @@ def test_deferred_deletion(neon_env_builder: NeonEnvBuilder):
     assert get_deletion_queue_unexpected_errors(ps_http) == 0
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("keep_attachment", [True, False])
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("validate_before", [True, False])
+class KeepAttachment(str, enum.Enum):
+    KEEP = "keep"
+    LOSE = "lose"
+
+
+class ValidateBefore(str, enum.Enum):
+    VALIDATE = "validate"
+    NO_VALIDATE = "no-validate"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("keep_attachment", [KeepAttachment.KEEP, KeepAttachment.LOSE])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("validate_before", [ValidateBefore.VALIDATE, ValidateBefore.NO_VALIDATE])
 def test_deletion_queue_recovery(
-    neon_env_builder: NeonEnvBuilder, pg_bin: PgBin, keep_attachment: bool, validate_before: bool
+    neon_env_builder: NeonEnvBuilder,
+    pg_bin: PgBin,
+    keep_attachment: KeepAttachment,
+    validate_before: ValidateBefore,
 ):
     """
-    :param keep_attachment: If true, we re-attach after restart.  Else, we act as if some other
+    :param keep_attachment: whether to re-attach after restart.  Else, we act as if some other
     node took the attachment while we were restarting.
-    :param validate_before: If true, we wait for deletions to be validated before restart.  This
+    :param validate_before: whether to wait for deletions to be validated before restart.  This
     makes them elegible to be executed after restart, if the same node keeps the attachment.
     """
     neon_env_builder.enable_generations = True
@@ -300,7 +314,7 @@ def test_deletion_queue_recovery(
         ("deletion-queue-before-execute", "return"),
     ]
 
-    if not validate_before:
+    if validate_before == ValidateBefore.NO_VALIDATE:
         failpoints.append(
             # Prevent deletion lists from being validated, we will test that they are
             # dropped properly during recovery.  'pause' is okay here because we kill
@@ -320,20 +334,25 @@ def test_deletion_queue_recovery(
     assert get_deletion_queue_unexpected_errors(ps_http) == 0
     assert get_deletion_queue_dropped_lsn_updates(ps_http) == 0
 
-    if validate_before:
+    if validate_before == ValidateBefore.VALIDATE:
 
         def assert_validation_complete():
             assert get_deletion_queue_submitted(ps_http) == get_deletion_queue_validated(ps_http)
 
         wait_until(20, 1, assert_validation_complete)
-        # A short wait to let the DeletionHeader get written out, as this happens after
-        # the validated count gets incremented.
-        time.sleep(1)
+
+        # The validatated keys statistic advances before the header is written, so we
+        # also wait to see the header hit the disk: this seems paranoid but the race
+        # can really happen on a heavily overloaded test machine.
+        def assert_header_written():
+            assert (env.pageserver.workdir / "deletion" / "header-01").exists()
+
+        wait_until(20, 1, assert_header_written)
 
     log.info(f"Restarting pageserver with {before_restart_depth} deletions enqueued")
     env.pageserver.stop(immediate=True)
 
-    if not keep_attachment:
+    if keep_attachment == KeepAttachment.LOSE:
         some_other_pageserver = 101010
         assert env.attachment_service is not None
         env.attachment_service.attach_hook(env.initial_tenant, some_other_pageserver)
@@ -352,7 +371,7 @@ def test_deletion_queue_recovery(
     ps_http.deletion_queue_flush(execute=True)
     wait_until(10, 1, lambda: assert_deletion_queue(ps_http, lambda n: n == 0))
 
-    if keep_attachment or validate_before:
+    if keep_attachment == KeepAttachment.KEEP or validate_before == ValidateBefore.VALIDATE:
         # - If we kept the attachment, then our pre-restart deletions should execute
         #   because on re-attach they were from the immediately preceding generation
         # - If we validated before restart, then the deletions should execute because the