diff --git a/codex-rs/otel/src/provider.rs b/codex-rs/otel/src/provider.rs
index db4b3bfeb9..e46f58ac30 100644
--- a/codex-rs/otel/src/provider.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/otel/src/provider.rs
@@ -328,7 +328,14 @@ impl OtelProvider {
     }
 
     pub fn trace_export_filter(meta: &tracing::Metadata<'_>) -> bool {
-        meta.is_span() || is_trace_safe_target(meta.target())
+        let target = meta.target();
+        if meta.is_span() {
+            // h2 creates explicit-root spans that escape the SDK's telemetry suppression.
+            // Exporting them would make OTLP transport generate more OTLP exports.
+            target != "h2" && !target.starts_with("h2::")
+        } else {
+            is_trace_safe_target(target)
+        }
     }
 
     pub fn metrics(&self) -> Option<&MetricsClient> {
diff --git a/codex-rs/state/src/log_db.rs b/codex-rs/state/src/log_db.rs
index b99b408064..367d2e3376 100644
--- a/codex-rs/state/src/log_db.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/state/src/log_db.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 //! formats each one into a `LogEntry`, and sends entries to a bounded background
 //! queue. The background task inserts into the dedicated `logs` SQLite database
 //! in batches to keep logging overhead low.
+//! SQLx diagnostics are always excluded so database writes cannot generate more
+//! database writes, even without an external subscriber filter.
 //!
 //! ## Usage
 //!
@@ -49,15 +51,15 @@ use crate::StateRuntime;
 const LOG_QUEUE_CAPACITY: usize = 2048;
 const LOG_BATCH_SIZE: usize = 512;
 const LOG_FLUSH_INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_secs(10);
+const SQLX_LOG_TARGETS: [&str; 3] = ["sqlx", "sqlx_core", "sqlx_sqlite"];
 
 pub fn default_filter() -> Targets {
     Targets::new()
         .with_default(LevelFilter::TRACE)
         .with_target("hyper_util", LevelFilter::WARN)
         .with_target("log", LevelFilter::OFF)
-        // SQLite warnings must not feed back into the same SQLite log writer.
-        .with_target("sqlx::query", LevelFilter::OFF)
-        .with_target("sqlx::pool::acquire", LevelFilter::OFF)
+        // Avoid constructing backend diagnostics when no other layer needs them.
+        .with_targets(SQLX_LOG_TARGETS.map(|target| (format!("{target}::"), LevelFilter::OFF)))
         .with_target("codex_rmcp_client", LevelFilter::INFO)
         .with_target("codex_otel.log_only", LevelFilter::OFF)
         .with_target("codex_otel.trace_safe", LevelFilter::OFF)
@@ -214,16 +216,27 @@ where
 
     fn on_event(&self, event: &Event<'_>, ctx: tracing_subscriber::layer::Context<'_, S>) {
         let metadata = event.metadata();
+        let target = metadata.target();
+        // SQLx can emit from both the inserter task and its separate worker threads.
+        // This guard must remain local to the sink and independent of optional filters.
+        if target
+            .split("::")
+            .next()
+            .is_some_and(|target| SQLX_LOG_TARGETS.contains(&target))
+        {
+            return;
+        }
+
         // `tracing-log` checks filters with the original log target before
         // dispatching an event whose tracing target is `log`, so the outer
         // target filter cannot reliably reject these bridged events.
-        if metadata.target() == "log" {
+        if target == "log" {
             return;
         }
 
         // The SDK emits DEBUG timer meta-events every second per process; these
         // were over 30% of retained logs in measured high-fanout Codex environments.
-        if metadata.target() == "opentelemetry_sdk"
+        if target == "opentelemetry_sdk"
             && matches!(
                 *metadata.level(),
                 tracing::Level::TRACE | tracing::Level::DEBUG
diff --git a/codex-rs/state/src/log_db_filter_tests.rs b/codex-rs/state/src/log_db_filter_tests.rs
index efe728da40..7c9ca17d3f 100644
--- a/codex-rs/state/src/log_db_filter_tests.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/state/src/log_db_filter_tests.rs
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ async fn sqlite_sink_filters_noisy_targets_without_dropping_useful_diagnostics()
     tracing::info!(target: "opentelemetry_sdk", "retained-info");
     tracing::warn!(target: "sqlx::query", "dropped-slow-query-warning");
     tracing::warn!(target: "sqlx::pool::acquire", "dropped-slow-acquire-warning");
-    tracing::warn!(target: "sqlx::other", "retained-sqlx-warning");
+    tracing::warn!(target: "sqlx::other", "dropped-sqlx-warning");
+    tracing::info!(target: "sqlx_application", "retained-unrelated-target");
     tracing::debug!(target: "rmcp::transport", "dropped-rmcp-debug");
     tracing::info!(target: "rmcp::transport", "retained-rmcp-info");
     tracing::debug!(
@@ -90,7 +91,11 @@ async fn sqlite_sink_filters_noisy_targets_without_dropping_useful_diagnostics()
             .collect::<Vec<_>>(),
         vec![
             ("INFO", "opentelemetry_sdk", Some("retained-info")),
-            ("WARN", "sqlx::other", Some("retained-sqlx-warning")),
+            (
+                "INFO",
+                "sqlx_application",
+                Some("retained-unrelated-target")
+            ),
             ("INFO", "rmcp::transport", Some("retained-rmcp-info")),
             (
                 "INFO",