diff --git a/tests/server-live.test.ts b/tests/server-live.test.ts
index 49ef20b..ce66334 100644
--- a/tests/server-live.test.ts
+++ b/tests/server-live.test.ts
@@ -121,7 +121,9 @@ describe("createLiveWebSocket", () => {
     handler.message(ws, toBuffer(speech(1)));
     handler.message(ws, toBuffer(silence(1.5))); // trailing silence commits the segment
 
-    await waitFor(() => sidecar.requests.length > 0);
+    // The fake records the request before it finishes reading the PCM file —
+    // wait for the payload itself, or a loaded machine races past it.
+    await waitFor(() => sidecar.audioPayloads.length > 0);
     expect(sidecar.requests[0]).toEqual(
       expect.objectContaining({ model: "base", language: "da", task: "translate" }),
     );