diff --git a/test/blackbox/helpers_zot.bash b/test/blackbox/helpers_zot.bash
index 84a57418..277242dc 100644
--- a/test/blackbox/helpers_zot.bash
+++ b/test/blackbox/helpers_zot.bash
@@ -43,12 +43,12 @@ function zot_rel_serve() {
         curl -L -o "${checksum_file}" "${checksum_url}"
         expected_sum=$(grep "zot-${OS}-${ARCH}$" "${checksum_file}" | awk '{print $1}')
         if [ -z "${expected_sum}" ]; then
-            echo "ERROR: Could not find checksum for zot-${OS}-${ARCH} in checksums.sha256.txt"
+            echo "ERROR: Could not find checksum for zot-${OS}-${ARCH} in checksums.sha256.txt" >&2
             exit 1
         fi
         actual_sum=$(sha256sum "${zot_path}" | awk '{print $1}')
         if [ "${expected_sum}" != "${actual_sum}" ]; then
-            echo "ERROR: Checksum verification failed for zot-${OS}-${ARCH}"
+            echo "ERROR: Checksum verification failed for zot-${OS}-${ARCH}" >&2
             exit 1
         fi
         chmod +x "${zot_path}"
@@ -74,12 +74,12 @@ function zot_rel_min_serve() {
         curl -L -o "${checksum_file}" "${checksum_url}"
         expected_sum=$(grep "zot-${OS}-${ARCH}-minimal$" "${checksum_file}" | awk '{print $1}')
         if [ -z "${expected_sum}" ]; then
-            echo "ERROR: Could not find checksum for zot-${OS}-${ARCH}-minimal in checksums.sha256.txt"
+            echo "ERROR: Could not find checksum for zot-${OS}-${ARCH}-minimal in checksums.sha256.txt" >&2
             exit 1
         fi
         actual_sum=$(sha256sum "${zot_path}" | awk '{print $1}')
         if [ "${expected_sum}" != "${actual_sum}" ]; then
-            echo "ERROR: Checksum verification failed for zot-${OS}-${ARCH}-minimal"
+            echo "ERROR: Checksum verification failed for zot-${OS}-${ARCH}-minimal" >&2
             exit 1
         fi
         chmod +x "${zot_path}"
@@ -93,8 +93,50 @@ function zot_rel_min_serve() {
 # stops all zot instances started by the test
 function zot_stop_all() {
     if [ -f "${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot.pid" ]; then
-        kill $(cat ${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot.pid) 2>/dev/null || true
-        rm -f ${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot.pid
+        local pids
+        pids="$(cat "${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot.pid" 2>/dev/null || true)"
+
+        # Ask zot(s) to terminate.
+        if [ -n "$pids" ]; then
+            kill $pids 2>/dev/null || true
+        fi
+
+        # Wait for processes to exit (helps avoid stale responders on restart).
+        local deadline=$((SECONDS + 10))
+        while [ $SECONDS -lt $deadline ]; do
+            local any_alive=0
+            local p
+            for p in $pids; do
+                if kill -0 "$p" 2>/dev/null; then
+                    any_alive=1
+                    break
+                fi
+            done
+            [ "$any_alive" -eq 0 ] && break
+            sleep 0.1
+        done
+
+        # Force kill any stragglers.
+        local p
+        for p in $pids; do
+            kill -0 "$p" 2>/dev/null && kill -9 "$p" 2>/dev/null || true
+        done
+
+        # If we know the port, wait for it to stop accepting connections.
+        if [ -f "${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot.port" ]; then
+            local zot_port
+            zot_port="$(cat "${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot.port" 2>/dev/null || true)"
+            if [ -n "$zot_port" ]; then
+                local port_deadline=$((SECONDS + 10))
+                while [ $SECONDS -lt $port_deadline ]; do
+                    # bash /dev/tcp returns success when something is accepting connections.
+                    (echo >"/dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/${zot_port}") >/dev/null 2>&1 || break
+                    sleep 0.1
+                done
+            fi
+        fi
+
+        rm -f "${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/zot.pid"
     fi
 }
 
@@ -120,20 +162,38 @@ function wait_zot_reachable() {
         fi
     fi
 
-    local response
-    response=$(curl -s --connect-timeout 3 \
-        --max-time 5 \
-        --retry 60 \
-        --retry-delay 1 \
-        --retry-max-time 180 \
-        --retry-connrefused \
-        -w "\n%{http_code}" \
-        "${zot_url}")
-    local curl_ret=$?
-    if [ $curl_ret -ne 0 ]; then
-        echo "ERROR: zot did not become reachable at ${zot_url}" >&2
-        exit 1
-    fi
+    local response curl_ret curl_err curl_err_file
+    local start_ts=$SECONDS
+    while true; do
+        curl_err_file="$(mktemp "${BATS_FILE_TMPDIR}/curl_err.XXXXXX")"
+        # Be robust if the test harness enables `set -e` (errexit): a failing `curl` inside
+        # command substitution can otherwise abort the function before we can retry.
+        local errexit_was_set=0
+        case "$-" in
+            *e*) errexit_was_set=1 ;;
+        esac
+        set +e
+        response="$(curl -sS --connect-timeout 3 \
+            --max-time 5 \
+            -w "\n%{http_code}" \
+            "${zot_url}" 2>"${curl_err_file}")"
+        curl_ret=$?
+        [ "$errexit_was_set" -eq 1 ] && set -e
+        curl_err="$(cat "${curl_err_file}" 2>/dev/null || true)"
+        rm -f "${curl_err_file}"
+
+        if [ $curl_ret -eq 0 ]; then
+            break
+        fi
+
+        # Retry transient startup/shutdown races (notably curl 52: "Empty reply from server").
+        if [ $((SECONDS - start_ts)) -ge 180 ]; then
+            echo "ERROR: zot did not become reachable at ${zot_url} (curl exit ${curl_ret})" >&2
+            [ -n "$curl_err" ] && echo "curl: ${curl_err}" >&2
+            exit 1
+        fi
+        sleep 1
+    done
 
     # curl -s -w "\n%{http_code}" appends HTTP code on last line; body is everything else
     local http_code