diff --git a/cli/tests/host/core.rs b/cli/tests/host/core.rs
index 95707ad..1ba0285 100644
--- a/cli/tests/host/core.rs
+++ b/cli/tests/host/core.rs
@@ -208,7 +208,11 @@ async fn journal_recovers_after_sqlite_write_failure() {
     call(&h, "core.log", json!({})).await;
     let batches: Vec<Value> = std::fs::read_dir(w.0.join("logs/core/failed-batches"))
         .unwrap()
-        .map(|file| serde_json::from_slice(&std::fs::read(file.unwrap().path()).unwrap()).unwrap())
+        .map(Result::unwrap)
+        // The writer atomically publishes .json files; its temporary files can
+        // still be incomplete while later process-exit entries are spooling.
+        .filter(|file| file.path().extension().is_some_and(|ext| ext == "json"))
+        .map(|file| serde_json::from_slice(&std::fs::read(file.path()).unwrap()).unwrap())
         .collect();
     assert!(
         batches
@@ -1104,17 +1108,16 @@ async fn stop_closes_stdin_and_waits_for_exit() {
     let w = TestWorld::new();
     let h = w.start().await;
     let hc = h.clone();
+    let mut events = h.subscribe();
     let pending = tokio::spawn(async move { hc.call("probe.wait_eof", json!({})).await });
+    // Admission is not readiness: stop may otherwise close stdin before the
+    // request reaches the guest, so wait for the handler to enter its EOF loop.
     let pid = tokio::time::timeout(std::time::Duration::from_secs(20), async {
         loop {
-            if let Some((pid, _)) = h
-                .processes()
-                .into_iter()
-                .find(|(_, p)| p.method == "wait_eof")
-            {
-                break pid;
+            let event = events.recv().await.unwrap();
+            if event["params"]["name"] == "waiting-eof" {
+                break event["params"]["params"]["pid"].clone();
             }
-            tokio::task::yield_now().await;
         }
     })
     .await
diff --git a/cli/tests/plugins/probe/src/main.rs b/cli/tests/plugins/probe/src/main.rs
index 972553c..7ba2cf9 100644
--- a/cli/tests/plugins/probe/src/main.rs
+++ b/cli/tests/plugins/probe/src/main.rs
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ fn unknown_id() {
 }
 fn wait_eof(lines: &mut Lines) {
     std::fs::write("/state/waiting", "yes").unwrap();
+    send(json!({"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"core.notify","params":{
+        "name":"waiting-eof", "params":{"pid":std::env::var("SAUSAGE_PID").unwrap()}
+    }}));
     for _ in lines {}
     std::fs::write("/state/stopped", "yes").unwrap();
 }