diff --git a/tests/lifecycle/bats/bitcoin-knots.bats b/tests/lifecycle/bats/bitcoin-knots.bats
index 4024e30d..235e6dcb 100644
--- a/tests/lifecycle/bats/bitcoin-knots.bats
+++ b/tests/lifecycle/bats/bitcoin-knots.bats
@@ -137,15 +137,23 @@ ssh_podman_ps() {
 @test "bitcoin.getinfo succeeds after restart" {
   [[ "${ARCHY_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE:-0}" == "1" ]] || skip "ARCHY_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE not set"
 
-  # Give bitcoind up to 60s to accept RPC after cold restart
-  local deadline=$(( $(date +%s) + 60 ))
+  # Give bitcoind up to 120s to accept RPC after a cold restart — reloading the
+  # block index + chainstate can take a while even on a synced node.
+  local deadline=$(( $(date +%s) + 120 ))
   while (( $(date +%s) < deadline )); do
     if rpc_call bitcoin.getinfo | jq -e '.error == null' >/dev/null 2>&1; then
       return 0
     fi
     sleep 3
   done
-  fail "bitcoin.getinfo never recovered after restart"
+  # NB: bats-assert's `fail` is not loaded in this file (only ../lib/rpc.bash),
+  # so emit + return non-zero directly rather than calling an undefined helper
+  # (which fails with "fail: command not found" / status 127 and hides the real
+  # reason). A node mid-IBD legitimately can't serve getinfo here — that's an
+  # environmental precondition (see required-stack "synced archival"), not a
+  # product regression.
+  echo "bitcoin.getinfo never recovered after restart within 120s" >&2
+  return 1
 }
 
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