diff --git a/tests/unit/autoscaling-lifecycle.test.ts b/tests/unit/autoscaling-lifecycle.test.ts
index 41c5e7b..d798ac4 100644
--- a/tests/unit/autoscaling-lifecycle.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/autoscaling-lifecycle.test.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { zombieMaps } from '../../src/lib/map-aliases.js';
 
 let fixture: Fixture;
 beforeEach(async () => { vi.resetModules(); fixture = await newFixture([]); });
-afterEach(async () => { await fixture.cleanup(); });
+afterEach(async () => { vi.useRealTimers(); await fixture.cleanup(); });
 const server = 't6_zombie_town_1';
 
 async function setup(mapSlug: string) {
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ it.each(['town', '*'])('keeps lineup-changing actions blocked for %s ownership',
 it.each([
     ['town', 'restart'], ['town', 'rebuild'], ['*', 'restart'], ['*', 'rebuild']
 ] as const)('allows %s-owned %s without scaling up during work or recovery', async (scope, action) => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers({ toFake: ['Date'] });
     const { db, scaling, policy, requestLifecycle } = await setup(scope);
     const { scalingSnapshot } = await import('../../src/lib/server/autoscaling/snapshot.js');
     const result = requestLifecycle(server, action);
@@ -63,13 +64,16 @@ it.each([
 
     // A terminal operation with unresolved recovery must still hold capacity.
     db().prepare("UPDATE server_deployments SET state='failed' WHERE id=?").run(result.deploymentId);
+    const requestedAt = new Date().toISOString();
     db().prepare('INSERT INTO restart_rollout(server,requested_at,operation_id) VALUES(?,?,?)')
-        .run(server, new Date().toISOString(), result.deploymentId);
+        .run(server, requestedAt, result.deploymentId);
     expect(scalingSnapshot(policy).members.find(member => member.name === server)?.blocker).toBe('Unresolved recovery');
     expect(await scaling.runAutoscaling()).toBe(false);
     expect(db().prepare("SELECT id FROM server_deployments WHERE action IN ('create','destroy')").all()).toEqual([]);
 
-    const at = new Date().toISOString();
+    // Recovery status must be strictly newer than the restart request.
+    const at = new Date(Date.parse(requestedAt) + 1_000).toISOString();
+    vi.setSystemTime(new Date(at));
     db().prepare("UPDATE server_deployments SET state='done',finished_at=? WHERE id=?").run(at, result.deploymentId);
     db().prepare('UPDATE restart_rollout SET healthy_at=? WHERE server=?').run(at, server);
     db().prepare("UPDATE servers SET container_state='running',last_players=0,container_checked_at=?,last_seen_at=?,last_checked_at=?")