diff --git a/core/metadata/bolt.go b/core/metadata/bolt.go
index 9edfab565..50f26f254 100644
--- a/core/metadata/bolt.go
+++ b/core/metadata/bolt.go
@@ -33,14 +33,15 @@ func WithTransactionContext(ctx context.Context, tx *bolt.Tx) context.Context {
 	return context.WithValue(ctx, transactionKey{}, tx)
 }
 
-type transactor interface {
+// Transactor is the database interface for running transactions
+type Transactor interface {
 	View(fn func(*bolt.Tx) error) error
 	Update(fn func(*bolt.Tx) error) error
 }
 
 // view gets a bolt db transaction either from the context
 // or starts a new one with the provided bolt database.
-func view(ctx context.Context, db transactor, fn func(*bolt.Tx) error) error {
+func view(ctx context.Context, db Transactor, fn func(*bolt.Tx) error) error {
 	tx, ok := ctx.Value(transactionKey{}).(*bolt.Tx)
 	if !ok {
 		return db.View(fn)
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ func view(ctx context.Context, db transactor, fn func(*bolt.Tx) error) error {
 
 // update gets a writable bolt db transaction either from the context
 // or starts a new one with the provided bolt database.
-func update(ctx context.Context, db transactor, fn func(*bolt.Tx) error) error {
+func update(ctx context.Context, db Transactor, fn func(*bolt.Tx) error) error {
 	tx, ok := ctx.Value(transactionKey{}).(*bolt.Tx)
 	if !ok {
 		return db.Update(fn)
diff --git a/core/metadata/content.go b/core/metadata/content.go
index 7768332f6..bc42d6ca3 100644
--- a/core/metadata/content.go
+++ b/core/metadata/content.go
@@ -25,16 +25,17 @@ import (
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/content"
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/metadata/boltutil"
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/filters"
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/labels"
-	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/namespaces"
 	"github.com/containerd/errdefs"
 	"github.com/containerd/log"
 	digest "github.com/opencontainers/go-digest"
 	ocispec "github.com/opencontainers/image-spec/specs-go/v1"
 	bolt "go.etcd.io/bbolt"
+
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/content"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/metadata/boltutil"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/filters"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/labels"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/namespaces"
 )
 
 type contentStore struct {
@@ -487,7 +488,7 @@ type namespacedWriter struct {
 	ctx       context.Context
 	ref       string
 	namespace string
-	db        transactor
+	db        Transactor
 	provider  interface {
 		content.Provider
 		content.Ingester
diff --git a/core/metadata/db.go b/core/metadata/db.go
index efef07460..25752397a 100644
--- a/core/metadata/db.go
+++ b/core/metadata/db.go
@@ -27,14 +27,15 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	eventstypes "github.com/containerd/containerd/api/events"
+	"github.com/containerd/log"
+	bolt "go.etcd.io/bbolt"
+
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/content"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/events"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/snapshots"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/internal/cleanup"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/gc"
 	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/pkg/namespaces"
-	"github.com/containerd/log"
-	bolt "go.etcd.io/bbolt"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ type dbOptions struct {
 // while proxying data shared across namespaces to backend
 // datastores for content and snapshots.
 type DB struct {
-	db *bolt.DB
+	db Transactor
 	ss map[string]*snapshotter
 	cs *contentStore
 
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ type DB struct {
 
 // NewDB creates a new metadata database using the provided
 // bolt database, content store, and snapshotters.
-func NewDB(db *bolt.DB, cs content.Store, ss map[string]snapshots.Snapshotter, opts ...DBOpt) *DB {
+func NewDB(db Transactor, cs content.Store, ss map[string]snapshots.Snapshotter, opts ...DBOpt) *DB {
 	m := &DB{
 		db:      db,
 		ss:      make(map[string]*snapshotter, len(ss)),