diff --git a/tests/integration/test_docker.py b/tests/integration/test_docker.py
index ffabf3e..b8c407b 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_docker.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_docker.py
@@ -422,6 +422,7 @@ def test_an_empty_snapshot_from_a_docker_that_answered_clears_the_host(app):
 
 @_NEEDS_DB
 def test_docker_status_is_recorded_once_a_host_has_had_docker(app):
+    from sqlalchemy import text
     from steward.models.hosts import Host
 
     persist = _persist_fn(app)
@@ -430,7 +431,6 @@ def test_docker_status_is_recorded_once_a_host_has_had_docker(app):
     t3 = t1 + timedelta(seconds=60)
 
     async def _go():
-        from plugins.docker.models import DockerHostStatus
         seen = []
         async with app.db_sessionmaker() as s:
             async with s.begin():
@@ -440,14 +440,20 @@ def test_docker_status_is_recorded_once_a_host_has_had_docker(app):
                 await s.flush()
                 gone = {"status": "unavailable", "detail": "no Docker socket at /var/run/docker.sock"}
                 await persist(s, never, [], status=dict(gone, at=t1))
-                seen.append(await s.get(DockerHostStatus, never.id))
+                await s.flush()
+
+                async def row(host):
+                    return (await s.execute(text(
+                        "SELECT status, detail, since, reported_at FROM docker_host_status "
+                        "WHERE host_id = :h"), {"h": host.id})).first()
+
+                seen.append(await row(never))
                 for status, at in (({"status": "ok", "detail": None}, t1),
                                    (gone, t2), (gone, t3),
                                    ({"status": "error", "detail": "permission denied on /var/run/docker.sock"}, t3)):
                     await persist(s, had, [], status=dict(status, at=at))
                     await s.flush()
-                    row = await s.get(DockerHostStatus, had.id)
-                    seen.append((row.status, row.detail, row.since, row.reported_at))
+                    seen.append(tuple(await row(had)))
         return seen
 
     never, ok, gone1, gone2, err = asyncio.run(_go())
@@ -476,9 +482,11 @@ def test_a_node_that_is_no_longer_a_manager_loses_its_swarm_rows(app):
                 await s.flush()
 
                 async def counts():
-                    return tuple((await s.execute(text(
-                        f"SELECT count(*) FROM {t} WHERE host_id = :h"), {"h": h.id})).scalar()
-                        for t in ("docker_swarm_services", "docker_swarm_nodes"))
+                    out = []
+                    for t in ("docker_swarm_services", "docker_swarm_nodes"):
+                        out.append((await s.execute(text(
+                            f"SELECT count(*) FROM {t} WHERE host_id = :h"), {"h": h.id})).scalar())
+                    return tuple(out)
 
                 await persist(s, h, [], swarm, status={"status": "ok", "detail": None, "at": t1})
                 manager = await counts()
diff --git a/tests/plugins/docker/test_docker_page.py b/tests/plugins/docker/test_docker_page.py
index a93696b..343af45 100644
--- a/tests/plugins/docker/test_docker_page.py
+++ b/tests/plugins/docker/test_docker_page.py
@@ -80,10 +80,11 @@ async def test_a_healthy_board_has_no_attention_card(app):
 
 
 async def test_a_host_whose_docker_stopped_answering_says_so(app):
+    now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)   # not the module's NOW: |ago reads the clock
     down = [{"host_id": "h1", "host_name": "nas", "status": "unavailable",
-             "detail": "no Docker socket at /var/run/docker.sock", "since": NOW - timedelta(minutes=5)},
+             "detail": "no Docker socket at /var/run/docker.sock", "since": now - timedelta(minutes=5)},
             {"host_id": "h2", "host_name": "web-1", "status": "error",
-             "detail": "permission denied on /var/run/docker.sock", "since": NOW - timedelta(minutes=1)}]
+             "detail": "permission denied on /var/run/docker.sock", "since": now - timedelta(minutes=1)}]
     async with app.test_request_context("/plugins/docker/rows"):
         page = await render_plugin_template(
             app, "docker", "docker/rows.html", docker_down=down, attention=[], says=svc.PROBLEM_SAYS,
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ async def test_a_host_whose_docker_stopped_answering_says_so(app):
     page = re.sub(r">\s+<", "><", " ".join(page.split()))
     card = page[page.index("Docker not answering"):page.index("</section>")]
     assert '<span class="badge badge-warn">No Docker</span><a href="/hosts/h1">nas</a>' in card
-    assert "no Docker socket at /var/run/docker.sock · since <time" in card and ">5m ago</time>" in card
+    assert "no Docker socket at /var/run/docker.sock · since <time" in card and ">5m " in card
     assert '<span class="badge badge-crit">Error</span><a href="/hosts/h2">web-1</a>' in card