diff --git a/tests/test_services_notes_sweep.py b/tests/test_services_notes_sweep.py
index 64ee239..a611b78 100644
--- a/tests/test_services_notes_sweep.py
+++ b/tests/test_services_notes_sweep.py
@@ -44,6 +44,22 @@ async def _sweep_sql(**kwargs):
     return captured["sql"]
 
 
+def _where(sql: str) -> str:
+    """Just the WHERE clause. `select(Note)` names every column, so searching
+    the whole statement for a column name always finds the SELECT list — which
+    is how one of these tests first failed for the wrong reason.
+
+    Matched by regex rather than split on a literal, because the exact
+    whitespace SQLAlchemy emits around WHERE is not something a test should
+    depend on.
+    """
+    import re
+
+    m = re.search(r"\bWHERE\b(.*?)(?:\bORDER BY\b|$)", sql, re.S)
+    assert m, "no WHERE clause — the sweep must never select the whole table"
+    return m.group(1)
+
+
 # ── the ordering, which is the whole signal ──────────────────────────────────
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
@@ -62,9 +78,13 @@ async def test_never_checked_sorts_first_not_last():
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_the_order_is_total():
     """A tiebreak, so two notes verified in the same transaction do not swap
-    places between calls and make a page boundary lie."""
-    sql = await _sweep_sql()
-    assert sql.index("NULLS FIRST") < sql.index("notes.id")
+    places between calls and make a page boundary lie.
+
+    Asserted on the END of the statement, not by searching it: `select(Note)`
+    names every column, so the first `notes.id` in the text is the SELECT
+    list, not the ORDER BY."""
+    sql = (await _sweep_sql()).rstrip()
+    assert sql.endswith("ORDER BY notes.verified_at ASC NULLS FIRST, notes.id")
 
 
 # ── which rows are eligible ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -98,9 +118,9 @@ async def test_a_task_carrying_a_check_is_NOT_filtered_out():
     so such a row would be in an ILLEGAL state — and this is the one surface
     that could tell somebody. Hiding it to match the invariant would make the
     sweep agree with a database it had stopped describing."""
-    sql = await _sweep_sql()
-    assert "notes.status IS NULL" not in sql
-    assert "notes.note_type" not in sql
+    where = _where(await _sweep_sql())
+    assert "notes.status" not in where
+    assert "notes.note_type" not in where
 
 
 # ── the filters ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────