diff --git a/tests/setup/health-checks.ts b/tests/setup/health-checks.ts
index 3f1febb..22a6067 100644
--- a/tests/setup/health-checks.ts
+++ b/tests/setup/health-checks.ts
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ export async function checkRpcFunctional(rpcUrl: string, kraikenAddress?: string
     }
 
     // Step 2: Resolve the Kraiken address for the eth_call probe.
-    // Use the address supplied by the caller; fall back to deployments-local.json.
-    let resolvedKraikenAddress = kraikenAddress;
+    // Priority: caller-supplied address → STACK_KRAIKEN_ADDRESS env var → deployments-local.json.
+    let resolvedKraikenAddress = kraikenAddress ?? process.env.STACK_KRAIKEN_ADDRESS;
 
     if (!resolvedKraikenAddress) {
       const deploymentsPath = resolve(repoRoot, 'onchain', 'deployments-local.json');
diff --git a/tests/setup/navigate.ts b/tests/setup/navigate.ts
index 5770635..de0cbfe 100644
--- a/tests/setup/navigate.ts
+++ b/tests/setup/navigate.ts
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ export async function navigateSPA(page: Page, path: string): Promise<void> {
     window.history.pushState({}, '', p);
     window.dispatchEvent(new PopStateEvent('popstate'));
   }, path);
-  // waitForURL would resolve immediately (pushState already updated the URL
-  // synchronously), so wait for networkidle instead: that fires once Vue Router
-  // has processed the popstate event, mounted the new view, and any route-
-  // triggered data fetches have settled.
-  await page.waitForLoadState('networkidle', { timeout: 10_000 });
+  // Vue Router processes the popstate event synchronously within evaluate(),
+  // so the route transition has already started by the time we return here.
+  // Callers must assert on a route-specific element (e.g. a heading) to confirm
+  // the view has mounted — that assertion is the readiness signal.
+  // waitForLoadState('networkidle') is not used because persistent WebSocket
+  // connections (blockchain event subscriptions) prevent the network from ever
+  // going idle, causing spurious timeouts.
 }