diff --git a/ci-build.sh b/ci-build.sh
index 8619c44319..383854df55 100755
--- a/ci-build.sh
+++ b/ci-build.sh
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ echo "Using RND_SEED: $RND_SEED"
 ulimit -n 65536
 export INTERACTIVE=0
 
-export TEST_SPEC='[overlay-ipc]'
+export TEST_SPEC='[overlay-ipc],[loadgen]'
 export SKIP_SOROBAN_TESTS=true
 export STELLAR_OVERLAY_BINARY="${SRC_DIR}/build-${CC}-${PROTOCOL}/stellar-overlay"
 time make check
diff --git a/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.cpp b/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.cpp
index 3711de7e7e..2935c9b5da 100644
--- a/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.cpp
+++ b/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.cpp
@@ -208,6 +208,10 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::LedgerApplyMetrics::LedgerApplyMetrics(
     , mLedgerAgeClosedHistogram(
           registry.NewHistogram({"ledger", "age", "closed-histogram"},
                                 medida::SamplingInterface::kSliding))
+    , mPendingTxsSelfCount(
+          registry.NewCounter({"herder", "pending-txs", "self-count"}))
+    , mPendingSorobanTxsSelfCount(
+          registry.NewCounter({"herder", "pending-soroban-txs", "self-count"}))
 #endif
     , mLedgerAge(registry.NewCounter({"ledger", "age", "current-seconds"}))
     , mTransactionApplySucceeded(
@@ -1803,6 +1807,11 @@ LedgerManagerImpl::applyLedger(LedgerCloseData const& ledgerData,
             static_cast<int64_t>(numOps));
         TracyPlot("ledger.operation.count", static_cast<int64_t>(numOps));
 
+        mApplyState.getMetrics().mPendingTxsSelfCount.inc(
+            static_cast<int64_t>(numClassicTxs));
+        mApplyState.getMetrics().mPendingSorobanTxsSelfCount.inc(
+            static_cast<int64_t>(numSorobanTxs));
+
         CLOG_INFO(Ledger,
                   "Overlay-only mode: skipping apply for ledger {} "
                   "({} classic, {} soroban, {} total txs)",
diff --git a/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.h b/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.h
index 713cdba69b..822dffa70c 100644
--- a/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.h
+++ b/src/ledger/LedgerManagerImpl.h
@@ -78,6 +78,10 @@ class LedgerManagerImpl : public LedgerManager
         medida::Buckets& mLedgerAgeClosed;
 #ifdef BUILD_TESTS
         medida::Histogram& mLedgerAgeClosedHistogram;
+        // Externalized tx counters maintained in overlay-only mode; loadgen's
+        // completion check reads these to track applied transactions.
+        medida::Counter& mPendingTxsSelfCount;
+        medida::Counter& mPendingSorobanTxsSelfCount;
 #endif
         medida::Counter& mLedgerAge;
         medida::Counter& mTransactionApplySucceeded;