diff --git a/.tangled/workflows/tests.yml b/.tangled/workflows/tests.yml
index 93c465d..1b8d3e6 100644
--- a/.tangled/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.tangled/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -20,4 +20,4 @@ steps:
     environment:
       CGO_ENABLED: 1
     command: |
-      go test -cover ./... 
+      go test -tags testmode -cover ./...
diff --git a/pkg/hold/pds/scan_broadcaster_stall_test.go b/pkg/hold/pds/scan_broadcaster_stall_test.go
index 1028126..727ae67 100644
--- a/pkg/hold/pds/scan_broadcaster_stall_test.go
+++ b/pkg/hold/pds/scan_broadcaster_stall_test.go
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 package pds
 
 import (
-	"database/sql"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
+
+	holddb "atcr.io/pkg/hold/db"
 )
 
 // backdateJob ages a job's created_at so the staleness windows in
@@ -279,7 +281,7 @@ func TestScanDrainPendingJobs_SkipsClaimedJob(t *testing.T) {
 // not: after a small budget of consecutive failures the check fails open, and
 // says so distinctly in the log.
 func TestScanHasActiveJobs_FailsOpenAfterPersistentDBErrors(t *testing.T) {
-	dbPath := "file:" + t.TempDir() + "/scan.db"
+	dbPath := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "scan.db")
 	sb := newTestScanBroadcaster(t)
 	seedPendingJobs(t, sb, 1)
 
@@ -305,7 +307,7 @@ func TestScanHasActiveJobs_FailsOpenAfterPersistentDBErrors(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// A working database restores the budget, so a later blip is absorbed
 	// rather than landing on an already-exhausted counter.
-	db, err := sql.Open("libsql", dbPath)
+	db, err := holddb.OpenLocalDB(dbPath)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("reopen db: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/hold/pds/scan_broadcaster_test.go b/pkg/hold/pds/scan_broadcaster_test.go
index 8c4eccb..b55a180 100644
--- a/pkg/hold/pds/scan_broadcaster_test.go
+++ b/pkg/hold/pds/scan_broadcaster_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	holddb "atcr.io/pkg/hold/db"
 	"atcr.io/pkg/s3"
 )
 
@@ -15,10 +16,17 @@ import (
 // background goroutines. Subscriber lifecycle is all that is under test here,
 // so the constructor's discovery/dispatch/stale loops (and their s3 and PDS
 // dependencies) are deliberately skipped.
+//
+// The database is opened the way NewScanBroadcaster opens it, through
+// holddb.OpenLocalDB, so every pooled connection carries busy_timeout and the
+// file is in WAL mode. A bare sql.Open gives neither: the tests that poll a
+// job's status while the storage goroutine writes it then race the writer's
+// commit on a second connection, and on a slow CI disk that read fails with
+// "database is locked" instead of waiting.
 func newTestScanBroadcaster(t *testing.T) *ScanBroadcaster {
 	t.Helper()
 
-	db, err := sql.Open("libsql", "file:"+t.TempDir()+"/scan.db")
+	db, err := holddb.OpenLocalDB(filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "scan.db"))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("open scan db: %v", err)
 	}