diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 11b5a2d..ccf423f 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -31,6 +31,14 @@ P2: security: referer blacklist
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-04 `TestPeriodicReconciliationAdoptsFileThatAppearsAfterStartup`
+  only passes through a periodic pass (closes #189): it slept for three
+  eviction intervals before writing its file, and a startup pass still running
+  then could adopt the file itself. It now holds the test database's only
+  connection until the startup pass waits for it after walking the empty
+  variant directory, writes the file and lets the connection go, as
+  `TestEvictionRunsOnPeriodicSchedule` does, so only a periodic reconciliation
+  pass can adopt the file. Test only.
 - 2026-10-04 `TODO.md` merges with git's union merge (closes #190): a root
   `.gitattributes`, copied from `sneak/prompts`, marks it `merge=union`, so two
   branches that each add an entry at the top of Completed Steps merge without a
diff --git a/internal/imgcache/eviction_internal_test.go b/internal/imgcache/eviction_internal_test.go
index 4b0bbf7..af91ac5 100644
--- a/internal/imgcache/eviction_internal_test.go
+++ b/internal/imgcache/eviction_internal_test.go
@@ -847,15 +847,28 @@ func TestPeriodicReconciliationAdoptsFileThatAppearsAfterStartup(t *testing.T) {
 
 	cache, _ := newEvictionTestCache(t, 1<<30)
 
-	const interval = 100 * time.Millisecond
+	// Hold the test database's only connection, so the startup pass
+	// waits for it after walking the still empty variant directory: the
+	// file written while it waits is first seen by a periodic pass.
+	conn, err := cache.db.Conn(t.Context())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to take the database connection: %v", err)
+	}
 
-	cache.StartEviction(interval)
+	defer func() { _ = conn.Close() }()
+
+	cache.StartEviction(100 * time.Millisecond)
 	defer func() { _ = cache.StopEviction(t.Context()) }()
 
-	// Let startup reconciliation run and settle on an empty cache
-	// before introducing the untracked file, so the adoption we assert
-	// below can only be the work of a later, periodic pass.
-	time.Sleep(3 * interval)
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(5 * time.Second)
+
+	for cache.db.Stats().WaitCount == 0 {
+		if time.Now().After(deadline) {
+			t.Fatal("the startup pass never waited for the database")
+		}
+
+		time.Sleep(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
 
 	// Simulate a variant whose accounting insert failed after the
 	// process was already running and serving requests: the content
@@ -864,14 +877,16 @@ func TestPeriodicReconciliationAdoptsFileThatAppearsAfterStartup(t *testing.T) {
 	// insert had failed and only the file write had succeeded.
 	untracked := bytes.Repeat([]byte{0x41}, 900)
 
-	_, err := cache.variants.Store(
+	_, err = cache.variants.Store(
 		"aabbccdd0099", bytes.NewReader(untracked), "image/webp",
 	)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to store untracked variant file: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	deadline := time.Now().Add(5 * time.Second)
+	_ = conn.Close()
+
+	deadline = time.Now().Add(5 * time.Second)
 
 	var usage int64