diff --git a/desktop/src-tauri/src/relay.rs b/desktop/src-tauri/src/relay.rs
index 71aa21c413..7b636a4a82 100644
--- a/desktop/src-tauri/src/relay.rs
+++ b/desktop/src-tauri/src/relay.rs
@@ -652,9 +652,12 @@ mod tests {
 
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn oversized_hint_is_capped_in_relay_error_message_string() {
-        use crate::relay_admission::MAX_HINT_SECONDS;
+        use crate::relay_admission::{reset_rate_limit_gate, MAX_HINT_SECONDS, TEST_SERIAL};
         use std::io::{Read as _, Write as _};
 
+        let _serial = TEST_SERIAL.lock().await;
+        reset_rate_limit_gate();
+
         // Use a std::net listener on a std::thread — the same pattern as the
         // relay_admission loopback tests. This avoids two races that cause CI
         // failures with tokio::net + into_std():
@@ -702,6 +705,7 @@ mod tests {
             !msg.contains(&oversized.to_string()),
             "raw oversized hint must not appear in the message string"
         );
+        reset_rate_limit_gate();
     }
 
     // ── effective_agent_relay_url: legacy pin ignored ─────────────────────────
diff --git a/desktop/src-tauri/src/relay_admission.rs b/desktop/src-tauri/src/relay_admission.rs
index 15222f8590..4b0dd1f369 100644
--- a/desktop/src-tauri/src/relay_admission.rs
+++ b/desktop/src-tauri/src/relay_admission.rs
@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ pub const MAX_HINT_SECONDS: u64 = 300;
 
 static GATE_EXPIRY: Mutex<Option<Instant>> = Mutex::new(None);
 
+// The gate is process-wide, so every test that can arm it must serialize.
+#[cfg(test)]
+pub(crate) static TEST_SERIAL: tokio::sync::Mutex<()> = tokio::sync::Mutex::const_new(());
+
 /// Arm (or extend) the admission gate from a relay 429.
 ///
 /// `retry_in_seconds` is the parsed `retry in Ns` hint, if the relay provided
@@ -105,9 +109,8 @@ mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
     // The gate is a process-wide static shared by every test in this binary,
-    // so all gate tests serialize on one async lock to keep armed expiries
+    // so all tests that arm it serialize on one async lock to keep expiries
     // from bleeding between parallel test threads.
-    pub(crate) static TEST_SERIAL: tokio::sync::Mutex<()> = tokio::sync::Mutex::const_new(());
 
     #[tokio::test(start_paused = true)]
     async fn wait_returns_immediately_when_gate_is_inactive() {