diff --git a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_common.cc b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_common.cc
index 0d5e07632a4987f885f91074a91566d46c01c561..2a5cbd763a926bb50de6bb1be950a4737fc58def 100644
--- a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_common.cc
+++ b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_common.cc
@@ -18,11 +18,9 @@
 
 ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE::Env* db_stress_listener_env = nullptr;
 ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE::Env* db_stress_env = nullptr;
-#ifndef NDEBUG
 // If non-null, injects read error at a rate specified by the
 // read_fault_one_in or write_fault_one_in flag
 std::shared_ptr<ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE::FaultInjectionTestFS> fault_fs_guard;
-#endif // NDEBUG
 enum ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE::CompressionType compression_type_e =
     ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE::kSnappyCompression;
 enum ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE::CompressionType bottommost_compression_type_e =
diff --git a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_common.h b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_common.h
index 8eaf38d754e234a9e2604c51c8370637ff040cd0..8c23ac373191d403eaf041a17a35abc177555308 100644
--- a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_common.h
+++ b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_common.h
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@
 #include "util/random.h"
 #include "util/string_util.h"
 #include "utilities/blob_db/blob_db.h"
+#include "utilities/fault_injection_fs.h"
 #include "utilities/merge_operators.h"
 
 using GFLAGS_NAMESPACE::ParseCommandLineFlags;
@@ -296,12 +297,7 @@ constexpr int kValueMaxLen = 100;
 // wrapped posix environment
 extern ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE::Env* db_stress_env;
 extern ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE::Env* db_stress_listener_env;
-#ifndef NDEBUG
-namespace ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE {
-class FaultInjectionTestFS;
-}  // namespace ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE
 extern std::shared_ptr<ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE::FaultInjectionTestFS> fault_fs_guard;
-#endif
 
 extern enum ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE::CompressionType compression_type_e;
 extern enum ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE::CompressionType bottommost_compression_type_e;
diff --git a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_driver.cc b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_driver.cc
index a56454abec9d808e48faeca0c0e023681981a87c..438a840ad0d5600e92cb7d327c6068942c9b24e9 100644
--- a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_driver.cc
+++ b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_driver.cc
@@ -62,11 +62,12 @@ bool RunStressTest(StressTest* stress) {
   stress->InitDb(&shared);
   stress->FinishInitDb(&shared);
 
-#ifndef NDEBUG
   if (FLAGS_sync_fault_injection) {
     fault_fs_guard->SetFilesystemDirectWritable(false);
   }
-#endif
+  if (FLAGS_write_fault_one_in) {
+    fault_fs_guard->EnableWriteErrorInjection();
+  }
 
   uint32_t n = FLAGS_threads;
   uint64_t now = clock->NowMicros();
diff --git a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_shared_state.h b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_shared_state.h
index b05144548c099ad7f037e358409b601f610607d7..407c15569ba6cfcd4de41c3e4b4a117e8cd55b93 100644
--- a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_shared_state.h
+++ b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_shared_state.h
@@ -133,13 +133,21 @@ class SharedState {
     for (int i = 0; i < FLAGS_column_families; ++i) {
       key_locks_[i].reset(new port::Mutex[num_locks]);
     }
-#ifndef NDEBUG
     if (FLAGS_read_fault_one_in) {
+#ifdef NDEBUG
+      // Unsupported in release mode because it relies on
+      // `IGNORE_STATUS_IF_ERROR` to distinguish faults not expected to lead to
+      // failure.
+      fprintf(stderr,
+              "Cannot set nonzero value for --read_fault_one_in in "
+              "release mode.");
+      exit(1);
+#else   // NDEBUG
       SyncPoint::GetInstance()->SetCallBack("FaultInjectionIgnoreError",
                                             IgnoreReadErrorCallback);
       SyncPoint::GetInstance()->EnableProcessing();
+#endif  // NDEBUG
     }
-#endif // NDEBUG
   }
 
   ~SharedState() {
diff --git a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_test_base.cc b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_test_base.cc
index 40260f0402af5edd46c23338641f6b6339c97469..edc8690022638fd91cbefa45dcb4f536e504d16a 100644
--- a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_test_base.cc
+++ b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_test_base.cc
@@ -674,6 +674,7 @@ void StressTest::OperateDb(ThreadState* thread) {
     fault_fs_guard->SetThreadLocalReadErrorContext(thread->shared->GetSeed(),
                                             FLAGS_read_fault_one_in);
   }
+#endif  // NDEBUG
   if (FLAGS_write_fault_one_in) {
     IOStatus error_msg;
     if (FLAGS_injest_error_severity <= 1 || FLAGS_injest_error_severity > 2) {
@@ -691,7 +692,6 @@ void StressTest::OperateDb(ThreadState* thread) {
         thread->shared->GetSeed(), FLAGS_write_fault_one_in, error_msg,
         /*inject_for_all_file_types=*/false, types);
   }
-#endif // NDEBUG
   thread->stats.Start();
   for (int open_cnt = 0; open_cnt <= FLAGS_reopen; ++open_cnt) {
     if (thread->shared->HasVerificationFailedYet() ||
@@ -2621,7 +2621,6 @@ void StressTest::Open(SharedState* shared) {
     RegisterAdditionalListeners();
     options_.create_missing_column_families = true;
     if (!FLAGS_use_txn) {
-#ifndef NDEBUG
       // Determine whether we need to ingest file metadata write failures
       // during DB reopen. If it does, enable it.
       // Only ingest metadata error if it is reopening, as initial open
@@ -2663,7 +2662,6 @@ void StressTest::Open(SharedState* shared) {
         }
       }
       while (true) {
-#endif  // NDEBUG
 #ifndef ROCKSDB_LITE
         // StackableDB-based BlobDB
         if (FLAGS_use_blob_db) {
@@ -2693,7 +2691,6 @@ void StressTest::Open(SharedState* shared) {
           }
         }
 
-#ifndef NDEBUG
         if (ingest_meta_error || ingest_write_error || ingest_read_error) {
           fault_fs_guard->SetFilesystemDirectWritable(true);
           fault_fs_guard->DisableMetadataWriteErrorInjection();
@@ -2705,7 +2702,7 @@ void StressTest::Open(SharedState* shared) {
             // wait for all compactions to finish to make sure DB is in
             // clean state before executing queries.
             s = static_cast_with_check<DBImpl>(db_->GetRootDB())
-                    ->TEST_WaitForCompact(true);
+                    ->WaitForCompact(true /* wait_unscheduled */);
             if (!s.ok()) {
               for (auto cf : column_families_) {
                 delete cf;
@@ -2738,7 +2735,6 @@ void StressTest::Open(SharedState* shared) {
         }
         break;
       }
-#endif  // NDEBUG
     } else {
 #ifndef ROCKSDB_LITE
       TransactionDBOptions txn_db_options;
diff --git a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_tool.cc b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_tool.cc
index 2a7430bfaa58f2d4b80b4b74b2e0a796b7f65d0e..45a8c99f19e22f63f985c8879b65ffa95bcfae5b 100644
--- a/db_stress_tool/db_stress_tool.cc
+++ b/db_stress_tool/db_stress_tool.cc
@@ -24,9 +24,7 @@
 #include "db_stress_tool/db_stress_common.h"
 #include "db_stress_tool/db_stress_driver.h"
 #include "rocksdb/convenience.h"
-#ifndef NDEBUG
 #include "utilities/fault_injection_fs.h"
-#endif
 
 namespace ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE {
 namespace {
@@ -82,7 +80,6 @@ int db_stress_tool(int argc, char** argv) {
   dbsl_env_wrapper_guard = std::make_shared<DbStressEnvWrapper>(raw_env);
   db_stress_listener_env = dbsl_env_wrapper_guard.get();
 
-#ifndef NDEBUG
   if (FLAGS_read_fault_one_in || FLAGS_sync_fault_injection ||
       FLAGS_write_fault_one_in || FLAGS_open_metadata_write_fault_one_in ||
       FLAGS_open_write_fault_one_in || FLAGS_open_read_fault_one_in) {
@@ -98,18 +95,10 @@ int db_stress_tool(int argc, char** argv) {
         std::make_shared<CompositeEnvWrapper>(raw_env, fault_fs_guard);
     raw_env = fault_env_guard.get();
   }
-  if (FLAGS_write_fault_one_in) {
-    SyncPoint::GetInstance()->SetCallBack(
-        "BuildTable:BeforeFinishBuildTable",
-        [&](void*) { fault_fs_guard->EnableWriteErrorInjection(); });
-    SyncPoint::GetInstance()->EnableProcessing();
-  }
-#endif
 
   env_wrapper_guard = std::make_shared<DbStressEnvWrapper>(raw_env);
   db_stress_env = env_wrapper_guard.get();
 
-#ifndef NDEBUG
   if (FLAGS_write_fault_one_in) {
     // In the write injection case, we need to use the FS interface and returns
     // the IOStatus with different error and flags. Therefore,
@@ -118,7 +107,6 @@ int db_stress_tool(int argc, char** argv) {
     // CompositeEnvWrapper of env and fault_fs.
     db_stress_env = raw_env;
   }
-#endif
 
   FLAGS_rep_factory = StringToRepFactory(FLAGS_memtablerep.c_str());
 
diff --git a/db_stress_tool/multi_ops_txns_stress.cc b/db_stress_tool/multi_ops_txns_stress.cc
index e29a30980418e95bd4a782b3ed89df89ffe65645..07a1783f29396a170eda802504d315a8b0a57a55 100644
--- a/db_stress_tool/multi_ops_txns_stress.cc
+++ b/db_stress_tool/multi_ops_txns_stress.cc
@@ -12,9 +12,7 @@
 
 #include "rocksdb/utilities/write_batch_with_index.h"
 #include "util/defer.h"
-#ifndef NDEBUG
 #include "utilities/fault_injection_fs.h"
-#endif  // NDEBUG
 #include "utilities/transactions/write_prepared_txn_db.h"
 
 namespace ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE {
diff --git a/db_stress_tool/no_batched_ops_stress.cc b/db_stress_tool/no_batched_ops_stress.cc
index f764bb2b96d68f7d2ed8e78cc3ad69fdc1d71d17..0a5001a4b12c134ae454970fb2adb696877280f1 100644
--- a/db_stress_tool/no_batched_ops_stress.cc
+++ b/db_stress_tool/no_batched_ops_stress.cc
@@ -9,9 +9,7 @@
 
 #ifdef GFLAGS
 #include "db_stress_tool/db_stress_common.h"
-#ifndef NDEBUG
 #include "utilities/fault_injection_fs.h"
-#endif // NDEBUG
 #include "rocksdb/utilities/transaction_db.h"
 
 namespace ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE {
@@ -234,20 +232,15 @@ class NonBatchedOpsStressTest : public StressTest {
     std::string from_db;
     int error_count = 0;
 
-#ifndef NDEBUG
     if (fault_fs_guard) {
       fault_fs_guard->EnableErrorInjection();
       SharedState::ignore_read_error = false;
     }
-#endif // NDEBUG
     Status s = db_->Get(read_opts, cfh, key, &from_db);
-#ifndef NDEBUG
     if (fault_fs_guard) {
       error_count = fault_fs_guard->GetAndResetErrorCount();
     }
-#endif // NDEBUG
     if (s.ok()) {
-#ifndef NDEBUG
       if (fault_fs_guard) {
         if (error_count && !SharedState::ignore_read_error) {
           // Grab mutex so multiple thread don't try to print the
@@ -259,7 +252,6 @@ class NonBatchedOpsStressTest : public StressTest {
           std::terminate();
         }
       }
-#endif // NDEBUG
       // found case
       thread->stats.AddGets(1, 1);
     } else if (s.IsNotFound()) {
@@ -273,11 +265,9 @@ class NonBatchedOpsStressTest : public StressTest {
         thread->stats.AddVerifiedErrors(1);
       }
     }
-#ifndef NDEBUG
     if (fault_fs_guard) {
       fault_fs_guard->DisableErrorInjection();
     }
-#endif // NDEBUG
     return s;
   }
 
@@ -365,19 +355,15 @@ class NonBatchedOpsStressTest : public StressTest {
     }
 
     if (!use_txn) {
-#ifndef NDEBUG
       if (fault_fs_guard) {
         fault_fs_guard->EnableErrorInjection();
         SharedState::ignore_read_error = false;
       }
-#endif // NDEBUG
       db_->MultiGet(readoptionscopy, cfh, num_keys, keys.data(), values.data(),
                     statuses.data());
-#ifndef NDEBUG
       if (fault_fs_guard) {
         error_count = fault_fs_guard->GetAndResetErrorCount();
       }
-#endif // NDEBUG
     } else {
 #ifndef ROCKSDB_LITE
       txn->MultiGet(readoptionscopy, cfh, num_keys, keys.data(), values.data(),
@@ -385,7 +371,6 @@ class NonBatchedOpsStressTest : public StressTest {
 #endif
     }
 
-#ifndef NDEBUG
     if (fault_fs_guard && error_count && !SharedState::ignore_read_error) {
       int stat_nok = 0;
       for (const auto& s : statuses) {
@@ -409,7 +394,6 @@ class NonBatchedOpsStressTest : public StressTest {
     if (fault_fs_guard) {
       fault_fs_guard->DisableErrorInjection();
     }
-#endif // NDEBUG
 
     for (size_t i = 0; i < statuses.size(); ++i) {
       Status s = statuses[i];
diff --git a/tools/db_crashtest.py b/tools/db_crashtest.py
index a7c050f37c6b920ff554f83071781db6959129bd..7fa5a4d209811467d923e61176145787fe4fee7e 100644
--- a/tools/db_crashtest.py
+++ b/tools/db_crashtest.py
@@ -415,6 +415,8 @@ multiops_wp_txn_params = {
 def finalize_and_sanitize(src_params):
     dest_params = dict([(k,  v() if callable(v) else v)
                         for (k, v) in src_params.items()])
+    if is_release_mode():
+        dest_params['read_fault_one_in'] = 0
     if dest_params.get("compression_max_dict_bytes") == 0:
         dest_params["compression_zstd_max_train_bytes"] = 0
         dest_params["compression_max_dict_buffer_bytes"] = 0