diff --git a/tests/lifecycle/bats/bitcoin-receive.bats b/tests/lifecycle/bats/bitcoin-receive.bats
index 2949bdd6..e41f3419 100644
--- a/tests/lifecycle/bats/bitcoin-receive.bats
+++ b/tests/lifecycle/bats/bitcoin-receive.bats
@@ -72,18 +72,22 @@ _lnd_running() {
   _lnd_running || skip "lnd not running"
 
   # The bitcoin bounce in bitcoin-knots.bats cascade-restarts lnd (24fd97ed).
-  # After a restart lnd's gRPC comes up seconds before the auto-unlocker gets
-  # through (its UnlockWallet calls log "waiting to start" until then), so
-  # LND_WALLET_LOCKED inside that window is the node settling, not broken —
-  # retry up to 120s. Any other error, or a wallet still locked after the
-  # window, fails immediately below.
-  local deadline=$((SECONDS + 120)) err addr
+  # Depending on where the probe lands in lnd's startup it sees a different
+  # transient code — REST unreachable, gRPC "waiting to start" (mapped to
+  # LND_ERROR), wallet locked until the auto-unlocker gets through, or a
+  # post-unlock sync phase. All of those are the node settling, not broken —
+  # retry up to 180s (run A caught WALLET_LOCKED, run B caught LND_ERROR
+  # while lnd was seconds into its restart; both self-healed within a couple
+  # of minutes). Only LND_WALLET_UNINITIALIZED (no wallet — never self-heals)
+  # fails immediately, and anything still erroring after the window fails
+  # loudly below.
+  local deadline=$((SECONDS + 180)) err addr
   while :; do
     run rpc_call lnd.newaddress
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     err=$(echo "$output" | jq -r '.error.message // .error // empty')
     addr=$(echo "$output" | jq -r '.result.address // empty')
-    [[ "$err" == *LND_WALLET_LOCKED* && $SECONDS -lt $deadline ]] || break
+    [[ -n "$err" && "$err" != *LND_WALLET_UNINITIALIZED* && $SECONDS -lt $deadline ]] || break
     sleep 10
   done