diff --git a/tests/lifecycle/bats/use-quadlet-backends-install.bats b/tests/lifecycle/bats/use-quadlet-backends-install.bats
index 884f5ccf..ddd660e1 100644
--- a/tests/lifecycle/bats/use-quadlet-backends-install.bats
+++ b/tests/lifecycle/bats/use-quadlet-backends-install.bats
@@ -147,8 +147,18 @@ require_quadlet_backends() {
   while read -r name; do
     [[ -z "$name" ]] && continue
     is_user_stopped "$name" && continue
-    run systemctl --user is-active "$name.service"
-    [[ "$status" -eq 0 ]] || fail "$name.service is '$output' — expected 'active'"
+    # Converges-to-active, not instantly-active: a dependency-degraded app
+    # (mempool-api while electrumx catches up to the daemon) exits at startup
+    # and flaps through 'activating' for a couple of minutes after a lifecycle
+    # cycle; systemd's Restart=on-failure heals it. A genuine crash-loop still
+    # fails after the settle window (gate 2026-07-09, .228 iterations 1+2).
+    local state="" deadline=$((SECONDS + 180))
+    while (( SECONDS < deadline )); do
+      state="$(systemctl --user is-active "$name.service" 2>&1)" && break
+      sleep 5
+    done
+    [[ "$state" == "active" ]] \
+      || fail "$name.service is '$state' — did not reach 'active' within 180s"
   done < <(backend_quadlet_units)
 }
 
@@ -157,9 +167,16 @@ require_quadlet_backends() {
   while read -r name; do
     [[ -z "$name" ]] && continue
     is_user_stopped "$name" && continue
-    run sh -c "podman inspect --format '{{.State.Running}}' '$name'"
-    [[ "$status" -eq 0 ]] || fail "$name not present in podman"
-    [[ "$output" == "true" ]] || fail "$name container exists but not running (state=$output)"
+    # Same settle window as the active-state assert above: a quadlet --rm
+    # container is absent for a few seconds around each systemd retry.
+    local state="" deadline=$((SECONDS + 180))
+    while (( SECONDS < deadline )); do
+      state="$(podman inspect --format '{{.State.Running}}' "$name" 2>/dev/null)" \
+        && [[ "$state" == "true" ]] && break
+      sleep 5
+    done
+    [[ "$state" == "true" ]] \
+      || fail "$name has no running container within 180s (state=${state:-absent})"
   done < <(backend_quadlet_units)
 }