diff --git a/tests/test_issue14_delivery_ack.py b/tests/test_issue14_delivery_ack.py
index 1ea2790..0ad19c9 100644
--- a/tests/test_issue14_delivery_ack.py
+++ b/tests/test_issue14_delivery_ack.py
@@ -503,9 +503,14 @@ def test_wrapper_idle_grace_never_outlives_the_wall_clock(tmp_path):
     # The heartbeats were honoured: the job was not closed after the first idle
     # window, it stayed open up to the wall clock ...
     assert elapsed >= timeout_s - 1, f"closed before the wall clock: {elapsed:.1f}s\n{stderr}"
-    # ... and not a moment past it beyond closing and publishing the error
-    # (the error publish alone can take ~10 s against the public broker).
-    assert elapsed <= timeout_s + 15, f"idle grace outlived --timeout {timeout_s}s: {elapsed:.1f}s\n{stderr}"
+    # ... and the close itself landed within the wall clock plus a small margin.
+    # Measured on the record's own close time: the error publish that follows
+    # the close can take 10-20 s against the public broker and is not what
+    # this test is about.
+    import calendar
+    closed_at = calendar.timegm(time.strptime(job_data["updated_at"], "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ"))
+    close_delay = closed_at - started
+    assert close_delay <= timeout_s + 8, f"idle grace outlived --timeout {timeout_s}s: closed after {close_delay:.0f}s\n{stderr}"
 
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/tests/test_issue6_fail_closed.py b/tests/test_issue6_fail_closed.py
index b382a80..2ca1fea 100644
--- a/tests/test_issue6_fail_closed.py
+++ b/tests/test_issue6_fail_closed.py
@@ -936,14 +936,16 @@ def test_t1_20_loop_worker_late_completed_continues_to_reviewer(tmp_path, mock_h
             "--type", "loop",
             "--registry-dir", str(reg_dir),
             "--workdir", str(tmp_path),
-            "--timeout", "12",
+            # wall clock wide enough that the worker's `started` (published
+            # over the broker) lands before it, so the idle path is what fires
+            "--timeout", "30",
             "--idle-timeout", "2",
         ],
         cwd=tmp_path,
-        timeout=60,
+        timeout=90,
     )
     stop_ev.set()
-    assert "Worker completed during grace period. Continuing to reviewer." in res.stdout
+    assert "Worker completed during grace period. Continuing to reviewer." in res.stdout, res.stdout + res.stderr
     final_st = json.loads(state_file.read_text())
     rev_prompts = [c for c in final_st.get("calls", []) if "agent" in c and "prompt" in c and "agt_reviewer" in c]
     assert len(rev_prompts) >= 1, "Reviewer must be dispatched after worker completes during grace period"