diff --git a/backend/tests/conftest.py b/backend/tests/conftest.py
index 268bd229..823ae94d 100644
--- a/backend/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/backend/tests/conftest.py
@@ -18,10 +18,12 @@ import shutil
 import pytest
 from alembic import command
 from alembic.config import Config
+from fastapi import HTTPException, Request
 from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
 from sqlalchemy import create_engine, text
 
 import app.models  # noqa: F401 — register every model on Base.metadata
+import app.state as app_state
 from app import security
 from app.auth import current_user
 from app.config import settings
@@ -29,6 +31,9 @@ from app.db import Base, SessionLocal, engine, get_db
 from app.main import app
 from app.models import User
 
+# Sentinel for "this dependency had no override before the fixture set one" (see override_dep).
+_MISSING = object()
+
 # The compose test lane sets this so a would-be silent skip (no DB, or no ffmpeg) becomes a hard error
 # — the gate must not print green while the DB-backed / ffmpeg tests were quietly not run.
 _REQUIRE_FULL = os.getenv("SIFTLODE_TEST_REQUIRE_DB") == "1"
@@ -124,28 +129,62 @@ def make_user(db):
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def client(db):
+def override_dep():
+    """Set app.dependency_overrides for the duration of a test and restore the PRIOR value per key on
+    teardown — instead of a blanket `app.dependency_overrides.clear()`, which wipes every override and
+    stops fixtures composing (one fixture's teardown clobbering another's)."""
+    saved: dict = {}
+
+    def _set(dep, override):
+        if dep not in saved:  # remember the pre-fixture value the FIRST time we touch this key
+            saved[dep] = app.dependency_overrides.get(dep, _MISSING)
+        app.dependency_overrides[dep] = override
+
+    yield _set
+    for dep, prev in saved.items():
+        if prev is _MISSING:
+            app.dependency_overrides.pop(dep, None)
+        else:
+            app.dependency_overrides[dep] = prev
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def _configured(monkeypatch):
+    """The setup gate 503s /auth and /api until the wizard has run; the request-issuing fixtures below
+    are all post-setup. Baked into client/as_user so no individual test has to remember it."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(app_state, "_configured_cache", True)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def client(db, override_dep, _configured):
     """A TestClient wired to the test DB that goes through the REAL auth/session stack — no
     `current_user` override — so login, the wallet gate and epoch revoke are exercised end to end.
     Starlette's SessionMiddleware round-trips the signed cookie, so a login in one call authenticates
     the next on this same instance. No lifespan (the scheduler / HLS sweep stay off)."""
-    app.dependency_overrides[get_db] = lambda: db
-    try:
-        yield TestClient(app)
-    finally:
-        app.dependency_overrides.clear()
+    override_dep(get_db, lambda: db)
+    return TestClient(app)
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def as_user(db):
-    """Factory -> a TestClient already authenticated as a given User (via a `current_user` override),
-    for tests that need an authed request but aren't exercising the login flow itself."""
-    def _as(user: User) -> TestClient:
-        app.dependency_overrides[get_db] = lambda: db
-        app.dependency_overrides[current_user] = lambda: user
-        return TestClient(app)
+def as_user(db, override_dep, _configured):
+    """Factory -> a TestClient authenticated as a given User (bypassing login), for tests that need an
+    authed request but aren't exercising the login flow itself. Multiple users in ONE test are isolated:
+    the shared `current_user` override resolves the caller from an `x-test-user` header, and each
+    returned client tags its own requests with it — so `as_user(a)` and `as_user(b)` don't collide on
+    the process-global override the way a plain `lambda: user` would."""
+    registry: dict[int, User] = {}
 
-    try:
-        yield _as
-    finally:
-        app.dependency_overrides.clear()
+    def _resolver(request: Request) -> User:
+        raw = request.headers.get("x-test-user")
+        if raw is None or (uid := int(raw)) not in registry:
+            raise HTTPException(status_code=401, detail="Not authenticated")
+        return registry[uid]
+
+    override_dep(get_db, lambda: db)
+    override_dep(current_user, _resolver)
+
+    def _as(user: User) -> TestClient:
+        registry[user.id] = user
+        return TestClient(app, headers={"x-test-user": str(user.id)})
+
+    return _as
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_auth_session.py b/backend/tests/test_auth_session.py
index 57a80fc0..0b05464f 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_auth_session.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_auth_session.py
@@ -11,20 +11,14 @@ Note: `/api/me` is the bootstrap probe — it returns 200 `{authenticated: False
 """
 from datetime import timedelta
 
-import pytest
 from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
 
-import app.state as state
 from app.auth import ACTIVE_ACCOUNT_HEADER
 from app.main import app
 
 _PW = "correct horse battery"
 
-
-@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
-def _configured(monkeypatch):
-    # The setup gate 503s /auth and /api until the wizard has run; every test here is post-setup.
-    monkeypatch.setattr(state, "_configured_cache", True)
+# The `client`/`as_user` fixtures bake in the post-setup `_configured` state, so no per-test patch here.
 
 
 def _login(client, email, password):
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_feed_keyset.py b/backend/tests/test_feed_keyset.py
index e44e5a01..44b62d4b 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_feed_keyset.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_feed_keyset.py
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ from datetime import datetime, timezone
 
 import pytest
 
-import app.state as state
 from app.models import Channel, Subscription, User, Video
 
 # Every sort feedquery.sort_keys defines except "relevance" (which needs a search query to rank).
@@ -74,8 +73,7 @@ def _page(client, sort, cursor):
     return resp.json()
 
 
-def test_feed_surfaces_the_whole_seed(db, as_user, monkeypatch):
-    monkeypatch.setattr(state, "_configured_cache", True)  # the request gate 503s an unconfigured app
+def test_feed_surfaces_the_whole_seed(db, as_user):
     user, ids = _seed(db)
     body = as_user(user).get("/api/feed?limit=50").json()
     assert {it["id"] for it in body["items"]} == set(ids)
@@ -83,13 +81,15 @@ def test_feed_surfaces_the_whole_seed(db, as_user, monkeypatch):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("sort", _SORTS)
-def test_cursor_walk_matches_the_unpaged_order(db, as_user, monkeypatch, sort):
-    monkeypatch.setattr(state, "_configured_cache", True)
-    user, _ = _seed(db)
+def test_cursor_walk_matches_the_unpaged_order(db, as_user, sort):
+    user, ids = _seed(db)
     client = as_user(user)
 
     # Ground truth: the full order in one query (no cursor).
     full = [it["id"] for it in client.get(f"/api/feed?sort={sort}&limit=50").json()["items"]]
+    # Guard against a vacuous pass: if seeding ever stops surfacing the videos, `walked == full` would
+    # be [] == [] for every sort and never exercise the cursor. All 7 rows must be present.
+    assert len(full) == len(ids), f"{sort}: seed did not surface all rows — the walk would be vacuous"
 
     # Walk it two at a time via the cursor and reassemble.
     walked: list[str] = []