diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index d1bfa919..0e0ccbb3 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -31,3 +31,13 @@ def _isolate_redemption_negative_cache() -> Iterator[None]:
     redemption_negative_cache.clear()
     yield
     redemption_negative_cache.clear()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def _isolate_upstream_cooldowns() -> Iterator[None]:
+    """Clear process-wide upstream cooldowns so one test's failures can't skip providers in the next."""
+    from routstr.upstream.cooldown import reset_cooldowns
+
+    reset_cooldowns()
+    yield
+    reset_cooldowns()
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_upstream_stream_timeout.py b/tests/unit/test_upstream_stream_timeout.py
index 2dd25310..0c5a57cf 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_upstream_stream_timeout.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_upstream_stream_timeout.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import pytest
 
 from routstr.core.exceptions import UpstreamError
 from routstr.core.settings import settings
-from routstr.upstream.cooldown import is_cooling_down, record_failure, reset_cooldowns
+from routstr.upstream.cooldown import is_cooling_down, record_failure
 from routstr.upstream.stream_timeout import open_guarded_stream
 
 
@@ -33,13 +33,6 @@ async def _stalls_after_first() -> AsyncIterator[bytes]:
     yield b"never delivered"
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
-def _clean_cooldowns() -> Any:
-    reset_cooldowns()
-    yield
-    reset_cooldowns()
-
-
 @pytest.fixture
 def fast_timeouts(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
     monkeypatch.setattr(settings, "upstream_first_token_timeout_seconds", 0.01)