diff --git a/apps/realtime/src/handlers/file-doc-store.test.ts b/apps/realtime/src/handlers/file-doc-store.test.ts
index 815b755981f..f5159c10cbc 100644
--- a/apps/realtime/src/handlers/file-doc-store.test.ts
+++ b/apps/realtime/src/handlers/file-doc-store.test.ts
@@ -20,8 +20,10 @@ interface Backing {
   readerClosed: boolean
   /** Failed reads served, so a test can prove the loop is not spinning at the read cadence. */
   reads: number
-  /** When each read was attempted, so a test can assert the BACKOFF rather than a count in a window. */
-  readTimes: number[]
+  /** When each FAILED read was attempted, so a test can measure one backoff interval exactly. */
+  failedReadTimes: number[]
+  /** Reads that returned (the idle steady state) — the event that ends a failure streak. */
+  idleReads: number
   /** `connect()` calls, so a test can prove a closed reader is re-opened rather than abandoned. */
   connects: number
 }
@@ -66,8 +68,8 @@ function makeClient(): any {
     },
     xRead: async (streams: { key: string; id: string }[]) => {
       b().reads++
-      b().readTimes.push(Date.now())
       if (b().readerClosed) {
+        b().failedReadTimes.push(Date.now())
         client.isOpen = false
         throw new Error('The client is closed')
       }
@@ -77,8 +79,12 @@ function makeClient(): any {
         const after = (b().streams.get(key) ?? []).filter((e) => seqOf(e.id) > seqOf(id))
         if (after.length) res.push({ name: key, messages: after.map((e) => ({ ...e })) })
       }
-      if (res.length) return res
+      if (res.length) {
+        b().idleReads++
+        return res
+      }
       await sleep(5)
+      b().idleReads++
       return null
     },
     set: async (key: string, val: string, opts?: { NX?: boolean }) => {
@@ -155,7 +161,8 @@ describe('FileDocStore', () => {
       failXAdd: 0,
       readerClosed: false,
       reads: 0,
-      readTimes: [],
+      failedReadTimes: [],
+      idleReads: 0,
       connects: 0,
     }
     stores = []
@@ -201,29 +208,46 @@ describe('FileDocStore', () => {
     const doc = new Y.Doc()
     await store.attachRoom(NAME, doc)
 
-    // Build a streak of two failures (retries back off ~0.5s, then ~1s).
+    // Build a streak of two failures (the retries back off ~0.5s, then ~1s).
     state.backing!.readerClosed = true
-    await sleep(800)
-    // Redis comes back. Wait past the pending backoff so a read actually lands — and it returns
-    // nothing new, which is the idle case this test is about.
+    await vi.waitFor(
+      () => expect(state.backing!.failedReadTimes.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2),
+      {
+        timeout: 5000,
+        interval: 25,
+      }
+    )
+
+    // Redis comes back. Wait for a read to actually RETURN — waiting a fixed span instead is a race:
+    // the pending backoff can outlast it, no idle read lands, and the streak survives into the phase
+    // below, which then measures the wrong backoff and fails. That is an event, so wait on the event.
     state.backing!.readerClosed = false
-    await sleep(1000)
+    const idleBefore = state.backing!.idleReads
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(state.backing!.idleReads).toBeGreaterThan(idleBefore), {
+      timeout: 5000,
+      interval: 25,
+    })
 
     // A fresh blip must retry at the START of the backoff curve, not partway up it. Assert the DELAY
     // itself: counting attempts inside a fixed window cannot tell the two apart, because the jittered
     // delay for a carried streak (1.6–2.4s) overlaps any window wide enough to catch a reset one.
+    // Measure FAILURE to FAILURE so the sample is exactly one backoff — a straggler successful read
+    // landing just after the flag flips would otherwise become the first sample and pass trivially.
     state.backing!.readerClosed = true
-    state.backing!.readTimes.length = 0
-    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(state.backing!.readTimes.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2), {
-      timeout: 5000,
-      interval: 50,
-    })
-    const [first, second] = state.backing!.readTimes
+    state.backing!.failedReadTimes.length = 0
+    await vi.waitFor(
+      () => expect(state.backing!.failedReadTimes.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2),
+      {
+        timeout: 6000,
+        interval: 25,
+      }
+    )
+    const [first, second] = state.backing!.failedReadTimes
 
-    // Streak reset ⇒ the first delay is 500ms ±20% ⇒ 400–600ms. Streak carried over ⇒ it is the third
-    // delay, 2000ms ±20% ⇒ 1600–2400ms. Disjoint ranges, so this cannot pass on the wrong one without
-    // the machine stalling the shorter sleep by 65%.
-    expect(second - first).toBeLessThan(1000)
+    // Streak reset ⇒ the first delay is 500ms ±20% ⇒ at most 600ms. Streak carried over ⇒ it is the
+    // third delay, 2000ms ±20% ⇒ at least 1600ms. The bound sits between them with room on both
+    // sides, so a loaded machine stretching the short sleep does not flip the verdict.
+    expect(second - first).toBeLessThan(1200)
     doc.destroy()
   })