diff --git a/crates/brokerd/tests/container.rs b/crates/brokerd/tests/container.rs
index df54f85..2a12640 100644
--- a/crates/brokerd/tests/container.rs
+++ b/crates/brokerd/tests/container.rs
@@ -214,10 +214,10 @@ fn a_tool_past_its_time_limit_is_killed_removed_and_failed() {
     assert_eq!(got, failed(TIMED_OUT));
     assert!(took >= Duration::from_millis(300), "{took:?}");
     assert!(took < Duration::from_secs(5), "{took:?}");
-    let calls = fake.calls();
-    assert_eq!(calls.len(), 3, "{calls:?}");
-    assert_eq!(calls[1], ["kill", "boxmaker-s1-1-0"]);
-    assert_eq!(calls[2], ["rm", "-f", "boxmaker-s1-1-0"]);
+    let calls = fake.calls_but_run();
+    assert_eq!(calls.len(), 2, "{calls:?}");
+    assert_eq!(calls[0], ["kill", "boxmaker-s1-1-0"]);
+    assert_eq!(calls[1], ["rm", "-f", "boxmaker-s1-1-0"]);
 }
 
 #[test]
diff --git a/crates/brokerd/tests/container_egress.rs b/crates/brokerd/tests/container_egress.rs
index 33cd6fa..8d458cd 100644
--- a/crates/brokerd/tests/container_egress.rs
+++ b/crates/brokerd/tests/container_egress.rs
@@ -154,10 +154,8 @@ fn a_tool_that_runs_too_long_still_leaves_nothing_behind() {
         log.sink(),
     ));
     assert_eq!(got, failed(TIMED_OUT));
-    let calls = fake.calls();
-    let tail: Vec<Vec<String>> = calls[2..].to_vec();
     assert_eq!(
-        tail,
+        fake.calls_but_run(),
         [
             vec!["kill", "boxmaker-s1-1-0"],
             vec!["rm", "-f", "boxmaker-s1-1-0"],
diff --git a/crates/brokerd/tests/support/fake_podman.rs b/crates/brokerd/tests/support/fake_podman.rs
index b491768..93edcd2 100644
--- a/crates/brokerd/tests/support/fake_podman.rs
+++ b/crates/brokerd/tests/support/fake_podman.rs
@@ -37,7 +37,9 @@ impl Drop for Fake {
 
 impl Fake {
     /// A fake whose `run` does `run_body` (a shell fragment; `$D` is the fake's directory). Every
-    /// other command (`kill`, `rm`) is recorded and succeeds.
+    /// other command (`kill`, `rm`) is recorded and succeeds. Each call is written to a file
+    /// of its own and then appended by one `cat`, one write, so a `kill` made while a slow `run`
+    /// starts is never mixed into its lines (the shell's `printf` writes line by line).
     pub fn new(tag: &str, run_body: &str) -> Fake {
         let n = NEXT.fetch_add(1, Ordering::SeqCst);
         let dir = std::env::temp_dir().join(format!("bx-fp-{tag}-{}-{n}", std::process::id()));
@@ -45,7 +47,7 @@ impl Fake {
         std::fs::create_dir_all(&dir).unwrap();
         let script = dir.join("podman");
         let text = format!(
-            "#!/bin/sh\nD='{}'\nfor a in \"$@\"; do printf '%s\\n' \"$a\"; done >> \"$D/calls\"\necho --- >> \"$D/calls\"\n[ \"$1\" = run ] || exit 0\n{run_body}\n",
+            "#!/bin/sh\nD='{}'\nprintf '%s\\n' \"$@\" --- > \"$D/call.$$\"\ncat \"$D/call.$$\" >> \"$D/calls\"\nrm -f \"$D/call.$$\"\n[ \"$1\" = run ] || exit 0\n{run_body}\n",
             dir.display()
         );
         std::fs::write(&script, text).unwrap();
@@ -68,6 +70,14 @@ impl Fake {
         calls
     }
 
+    /// Every call but `run`, in order. A `run` killed at its time limit may not have recorded
+    /// itself yet, or may record itself after the `kill`, so time-limit tests check these.
+    pub fn calls_but_run(&self) -> Vec<Vec<String>> {
+        let mut calls = self.calls();
+        calls.retain(|call| call.first().map(String::as_str) != Some("run"));
+        calls
+    }
+
     /// What the last `run` read on standard input, if the body saved it to `$D/stdin`.
     pub fn stdin(&self) -> String {
         std::fs::read_to_string(self.dir.join("stdin")).unwrap_or_default()