diff --git a/server/src/__tests__/issue-comment-reopen-routes.test.ts b/server/src/__tests__/issue-comment-reopen-routes.test.ts
index dbbef012e9f..28c6900a190 100644
--- a/server/src/__tests__/issue-comment-reopen-routes.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/__tests__/issue-comment-reopen-routes.test.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@ import express from "express";
 import request from "supertest";
 import { getTableName } from "drizzle-orm";
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
-import { HttpError } from "../errors.js";
+import { HttpError, unprocessable } from "../errors.js";
+import { normalizeIssueExecutionPolicy } from "../services/issue-execution-policy.js";
+import { issueRoutes } from "../routes/issues.js";
+import { errorHandler } from "../middleware/index.js";
 
 vi.mock("../services/fast-responses.js", () => ({
   enqueueFastResponse: vi.fn(async () => undefined),
@@ -233,10 +236,6 @@ async function installActor(
   app: express.Express,
   actor?: Record<string, unknown>,
 ) {
-  const [{ issueRoutes }, { errorHandler }] = await Promise.all([
-    import("../routes/issues.js"),
-    import("../middleware/index.js"),
-  ]);
   app.use((req, _res, next) => {
     (req as any).actor = actor ?? {
       type: "board",
@@ -261,8 +260,6 @@ async function normalizePolicy(input: {
     >;
   }>;
 }) {
-  const { normalizeIssueExecutionPolicy } =
-    await import("../services/issue-execution-policy.js");
   return normalizeIssueExecutionPolicy(input);
 }
 
@@ -3666,7 +3663,6 @@ describe("issue comment reopen routes", () => {
       authorAgentId: reviewerAgentId,
       authorUserId: null,
     });
-    const { unprocessable } = await import("../errors.js");
     mockIssueService.update.mockRejectedValue(
       unprocessable("Issue can only have one assignee"),
     );
diff --git a/server/src/__tests__/task-watchdogs-scheduler.test.ts b/server/src/__tests__/task-watchdogs-scheduler.test.ts
index 1124c163eb2..a687d6597dd 100644
--- a/server/src/__tests__/task-watchdogs-scheduler.test.ts
+++ b/server/src/__tests__/task-watchdogs-scheduler.test.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,10 @@ import {
 } from "./helpers/embedded-postgres.js";
 import { taskWatchdogService } from "../services/task-watchdogs.ts";
 
-const embeddedPostgresSupport = await getEmbeddedPostgresTestSupport();
+import { resolveExternalTestDatabaseUrl } from "./helpers/external-test-database.js";
+
+const externalUrl = resolveExternalTestDatabaseUrl("PAPERCLIP_WATCHDOG_TEST_DATABASE_URL");
+const embeddedPostgresSupport = externalUrl ? { supported: true, reason: undefined } : await getEmbeddedPostgresTestSupport();
 const describeEmbeddedPostgres = embeddedPostgresSupport.supported ? describe : describe.skip;
 
 if (!embeddedPostgresSupport.supported) {
@@ -42,8 +45,8 @@ describeEmbeddedPostgres("task watchdog scheduler", () => {
   let tempDb: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof startEmbeddedPostgresTestDatabase>> | null = null;
 
   beforeAll(async () => {
-    tempDb = await startEmbeddedPostgresTestDatabase("paperclip-task-watchdogs-scheduler-");
-    db = createDb(tempDb.connectionString);
+    if (!externalUrl) tempDb = await startEmbeddedPostgresTestDatabase("paperclip-task-watchdogs-scheduler-");
+    db = createDb(externalUrl ?? tempDb!.connectionString);
   }, 20_000);
 
   afterEach(async () => {
@@ -64,6 +67,7 @@ describeEmbeddedPostgres("task watchdog scheduler", () => {
   });
 
   afterAll(async () => {
+    await db?.$client.end({ timeout: 1 });
     await tempDb?.cleanup();
   });
 
@@ -96,16 +100,18 @@ describeEmbeddedPostgres("task watchdog scheduler", () => {
     return id;
   }
 
+  let nextFixtureIssueNumber = 10_000;
   async function seedIssue(companyId: string, overrides: Partial<typeof issues.$inferInsert> = {}) {
     const id = overrides.id ?? randomUUID();
+    const issueNumber = overrides.issueNumber ?? ++nextFixtureIssueNumber;
     await db.insert(issues).values({
       id,
       companyId,
       title: overrides.title ?? "Watched issue",
       status: overrides.status ?? "done",
       priority: overrides.priority ?? "medium",
-      identifier: overrides.identifier ?? `WDOG-${Math.floor(Math.random() * 10_000)}`,
-      issueNumber: overrides.issueNumber ?? Math.floor(Math.random() * 10_000),
+      identifier: overrides.identifier ?? `WDOG-${issueNumber}`,
+      issueNumber,
       parentId: overrides.parentId,
       assigneeAgentId: overrides.assigneeAgentId,
       originKind: overrides.originKind,