diff --git a/pkg/extensions/monitoring/monitoring_test.go b/pkg/extensions/monitoring/monitoring_test.go
index 4eb34edc..76c9e4cc 100644
--- a/pkg/extensions/monitoring/monitoring_test.go
+++ b/pkg/extensions/monitoring/monitoring_test.go
@@ -453,17 +453,17 @@ func TestPopulateStorageMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 		So(ctlr, ShouldNotBeNil)
 		ctlr.Log = log.NewLoggerWithWriter("debug", writers)
 
-		cm := test.NewControllerManager(ctlr)
-		cm.StartAndWait(port)
-		defer cm.StopServer()
-
-		// write a couple of images
+		// Write images before starting controller to avoid race condition with garbage collection
 		srcStorageCtlr := ociutils.GetDefaultStoreController(rootDir, ctlr.Log)
 		err = WriteImageToFileSystem(CreateDefaultImage(), "alpine", "0.0.1", srcStorageCtlr)
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		err = WriteImageToFileSystem(CreateDefaultImage(), "busybox", "0.0.1", srcStorageCtlr)
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
+		cm := test.NewControllerManager(ctlr)
+		cm.StartAndWait(port)
+		defer cm.StopServer()
+
 		metrics := monitoring.NewMetricsServer(true, ctlr.Log)
 		sch := scheduler.NewScheduler(conf, metrics, ctlr.Log)
 		sch.RunScheduler()
diff --git a/pkg/extensions/sync/sync_test.go b/pkg/extensions/sync/sync_test.go
index 0bbe232e..b90d0e4e 100644
--- a/pkg/extensions/sync/sync_test.go
+++ b/pkg/extensions/sync/sync_test.go
@@ -1461,18 +1461,22 @@ func TestDockerImagesAreSkipped(t *testing.T) {
 				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 				So(resp.StatusCode(), ShouldEqual, http.StatusNotFound)
 
-				Convey("trigger config blob upstream error", func() {
-					// remove synced image
-					err := os.RemoveAll(path.Join(destDir, testImage))
-					So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+				// trigger config blob upstream error
+				// remove synced image
+				err = os.RemoveAll(path.Join(destDir, testImage))
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
-					err = os.Chmod(path.Join(srcDir, testImage, "blobs/sha256", configBlobDigest.Encoded()), 0o000)
-					So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+				configBlobPath := path.Join(srcDir, testImage, "blobs/sha256", configBlobDigest.Encoded())
+				err = os.Chmod(configBlobPath, 0o000)
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
-					resp, err = resty.R().Get(destBaseURL + "/v2/" + testImage + "/manifests/" + testImageTag)
-					So(err, ShouldBeNil)
-					So(resp.StatusCode(), ShouldEqual, http.StatusNotFound)
-				})
+				defer func() {
+					_ = os.Chmod(configBlobPath, storageConstants.DefaultFilePerms)
+				}()
+
+				resp, err = resty.R().Get(destBaseURL + "/v2/" + testImage + "/manifests/" + testImageTag)
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+				So(resp.StatusCode(), ShouldEqual, http.StatusNotFound)
 			})
 
 			Convey("skipping already synced multiarch docker image", func() {
@@ -1627,18 +1631,22 @@ func TestDockerImagesAreSkipped(t *testing.T) {
 				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 				So(resp.StatusCode(), ShouldEqual, http.StatusNotFound)
 
-				Convey("trigger config blob upstream error", func() {
-					// remove synced image
-					err := os.RemoveAll(path.Join(destDir, indexRepoName))
-					So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+				// trigger config blob upstream error
+				// remove synced image
+				err = os.RemoveAll(path.Join(destDir, indexRepoName))
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
-					err = os.Chmod(path.Join(srcDir, indexRepoName, "blobs/sha256", configBlobDigest.Encoded()), 0o000)
-					So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+				configBlobPath := path.Join(srcDir, indexRepoName, "blobs/sha256", configBlobDigest.Encoded())
+				err = os.Chmod(configBlobPath, 0o000)
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
-					resp, err = resty.R().Get(destBaseURL + "/v2/" + indexRepoName + "/manifests/" + "latest")
-					So(err, ShouldBeNil)
-					So(resp.StatusCode(), ShouldEqual, http.StatusNotFound)
-				})
+				defer func() {
+					_ = os.Chmod(configBlobPath, storageConstants.DefaultFilePerms)
+				}()
+
+				resp, err = resty.R().Get(destBaseURL + "/v2/" + indexRepoName + "/manifests/" + "latest")
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+				So(resp.StatusCode(), ShouldEqual, http.StatusNotFound)
 			})
 		})
 	}
@@ -4855,7 +4863,18 @@ func TestSignatures(t *testing.T) {
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
 		So(len(index.Manifests), ShouldEqual, 2)
-		So(index.Manifests[1].Digest, ShouldEqual, ociRefDigest)
+
+		foundOCIRef := false
+
+		for _, manifest := range index.Manifests {
+			if manifest.Digest == ociRefDigest {
+				foundOCIRef = true
+
+				break
+			}
+		}
+
+		So(foundOCIRef, ShouldBeTrue)
 
 		// test negative cases (trigger errors)
 		// test notary signatures errors
diff --git a/pkg/meta/redis/redis.go b/pkg/meta/redis/redis.go
index d44eb0f3..91435a3b 100644
--- a/pkg/meta/redis/redis.go
+++ b/pkg/meta/redis/redis.go
@@ -1296,7 +1296,7 @@ func (rc *RedisDB) GetMultipleRepoMeta(ctx context.Context, filter func(repoMeta
 		}
 	}
 
-	return foundRepos, err
+	return foundRepos, nil
 }
 
 // AddManifestSignature adds signature metadata to a given manifest in the database.