diff --git a/src/db.c b/src/db.c
index df226f02cdf..3e239dd786f 100644
--- a/src/db.c
+++ b/src/db.c
@@ -1709,6 +1709,9 @@ void scanGenericCommand(client *c, robj *o, unsigned long long cursor) {
         }
         for (i = 0; i < metas->num; i++) {
             scanMeta *meta = metas->metas+i;
+            if (scanMetaExpireIfNeeded(c->db, meta)) {
+                continue;
+            }
             if (use_pattern && !stringmatchlen(pat, patlen,meta->key, sdslen(meta->key), 0)) {
                 continue;
             }
@@ -1718,9 +1721,6 @@ void scanGenericCommand(client *c, robj *o, unsigned long long cursor) {
             if (type != LLONG_MAX && meta->swap_type != type) {
                 continue;
             }
-            if (scanMetaExpireIfNeeded(c->db, meta)) {
-                continue;
-            }
             listAddNodeTail(keys,meta->key);
         }
     } else
diff --git a/src/iothread.c b/src/iothread.c
index 0f52f753d38..322f53476ea 100644
--- a/src/iothread.c
+++ b/src/iothread.c
@@ -942,8 +942,13 @@ void ioThreadsScaleDownTryEnd(void) {
                     if (thread_state == THREAD_STATE_STOPPED) {
                         destroyIOThread(t);
                         server.io_threads_num--;
-                        /* scaling down is not urgent 
-                            (it doesn't consume time from the main thread) */
+                        /* If all threads have been scaled down to the target
+                         * count, transition immediately so callers see NONE
+                         * in the same beforeSleep pass. */
+                        if (server.io_threads_num <= server.config_io_threads_num) {
+                            server.io_threads_scale_status = IO_THREAD_SCALE_STATUS_NONE;
+                            serverLog(LL_NOTICE, "IO threads scale-down end");
+                        }
                     }          
                 } else {
                     pauseIOThread(t->id);
diff --git a/tests/gtid/psync2-master-restart.tcl b/tests/gtid/psync2-master-restart.tcl
index 52b785d6b41..12a07ec4ada 100644
--- a/tests/gtid/psync2-master-restart.tcl
+++ b/tests/gtid/psync2-master-restart.tcl
@@ -232,6 +232,21 @@ start_server {overrides {gtid-enabled yes}} {
         assert {[status $master sync_partial_ok] == 1}
         assert {[status $replica sync_partial_ok] == 1}
 
+        if {$::swap} {
+            wait_for_condition 500 100 {
+                [status $master master_repl_offset] == [status $replica master_repl_offset] &&
+                [status $master master_repl_offset] == [status $sub_replica master_repl_offset] &&
+                [$master debug digest] eq [$replica debug digest] &&
+                [$master debug digest] eq [$sub_replica debug digest]
+            } else {
+                show_cluster_status
+                puts "master digest: [$master debug digest]"
+                puts "replica digest: [$replica debug digest]"
+                puts "sub_replica digest: [$sub_replica debug digest]"
+                fail "Replication chain did not converge after expire restart."
+            }
+        }
+
         set digest [$master debug digest]
         assert {$digest eq [$replica debug digest]}
         assert {$digest eq [$sub_replica debug digest]}
diff --git a/tests/gtid/replication-psync.tcl b/tests/gtid/replication-psync.tcl
index 4d6602fd64f..00053c6d026 100644
--- a/tests/gtid/replication-psync.tcl
+++ b/tests/gtid/replication-psync.tcl
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ proc test_psync {descr duration backlog_size backlog_ttl delay cond mdl sdl reco
 
             if {$::swap} {
                 set load_handle0 [start_bg_complex_data $master_host $master_port 0 100000]
+                set load_handle1 [start_bg_complex_data $master_host $master_port 1 100000]
             } else {
                 set load_handle0 [start_bg_complex_data $master_host $master_port 9 100000]
                 set load_handle1 [start_bg_complex_data $master_host $master_port 11 100000]
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ proc test_psync {descr duration backlog_size backlog_ttl delay cond mdl sdl reco
 
                 if {$::swap} {
                     stop_bg_complex_data $load_handle0
+                    stop_bg_complex_data $load_handle1
                 } else {
                     stop_bg_complex_data $load_handle0
                     stop_bg_complex_data $load_handle1
diff --git a/tests/integration/logging.tcl b/tests/integration/logging.tcl
index aeb1cac8575..adf278837df 100644
--- a/tests/integration/logging.tcl
+++ b/tests/integration/logging.tcl
@@ -9,6 +9,19 @@ if {$system_name eq {linux}} {
 
 # look for the DEBUG command in the backtrace, used when we triggered
 # a stack trace print while we know redis is running that command.
+proc get_last_stacktrace_progress {srv_idx} {
+    set stdout [srv $srv_idx stdout]
+    if {[catch {
+        set summary [string trim [exec grep -E {[0-9]+/[0-9]+ expected stacktraces\.} $stdout | tail -n 1]]
+    } err]} {
+        fail "failed to read stacktrace progress from $stdout: $err"
+    }
+    if {![regexp {([0-9]+)/([0-9]+) expected stacktraces\.} $summary -> collected expected]} {
+        fail "failed to parse stacktrace progress from $stdout: $summary"
+    }
+    return [list $collected $expected]
+}
+
 proc check_log_backtrace_for_debug {log_pattern} {
     # search for the final line in the stacktraces generation to make sure it was completed.
     set pattern "* STACK TRACE DONE *"
@@ -30,8 +43,13 @@ proc check_log_backtrace_for_debug {log_pattern} {
         # the following are skipped since valgrind is slow and a timeout can happen
         if {!$::valgrind} {
             assert_equal [count_log_message 0 "wait_threads(): waiting threads timed out"] 0
-            # make sure redis prints stack trace for all threads. we know 3 threads are idle in bio.c
-            assert_equal [count_log_message 0 "bioProcessBackgroundJobs"] 3
+            if {$::swap} {
+                lassign [get_last_stacktrace_progress 0] collected expected
+                assert_equal $collected $expected
+                assert {$expected >= 4}
+            } else {
+                assert_equal [count_log_message 0 "bioProcessBackgroundJobs"] 3
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/psync2-master-restart.tcl b/tests/integration/psync2-master-restart.tcl
index 94103bcf2a9..840a5dfcb40 100644
--- a/tests/integration/psync2-master-restart.tcl
+++ b/tests/integration/psync2-master-restart.tcl
@@ -174,6 +174,21 @@ start_server {} {
         assert {[status $master sync_partial_ok] == 1}
         assert {[status $replica sync_partial_ok] == 1}
 
+        if {$::swap} {
+            wait_for_condition 500 100 {
+                [status $master master_repl_offset] == [status $replica master_repl_offset] &&
+                [status $master master_repl_offset] == [status $sub_replica master_repl_offset] &&
+                [$master debug digest] eq [$replica debug digest] &&
+                [$master debug digest] eq [$sub_replica debug digest]
+            } else {
+                show_cluster_status
+                puts "master digest: [$master debug digest]"
+                puts "replica digest: [$replica debug digest]"
+                puts "sub_replica digest: [$sub_replica debug digest]"
+                fail "Replication chain did not converge after expire restart."
+            }
+        }
+
         set digest [$master debug digest]
         assert {$digest eq [$replica debug digest]}
         assert {$digest eq [$sub_replica debug digest]}
diff --git a/tests/integration/replication.tcl b/tests/integration/replication.tcl
index 2ba7c2af158..d21ada107a0 100644
--- a/tests/integration/replication.tcl
+++ b/tests/integration/replication.tcl
@@ -1110,14 +1110,16 @@ foreach mdl {yes no} {
             set master_pid [srv 0 pid]
             $master config set repl-diskless-sync $mdl
             $master config set repl-diskless-sync-delay 0
-            # create keys that will take 10 seconds to save
-            # In SWAP mode, use swap-debug-rdb-key-save-delay-micro instead
+            # create keys that will take ~10 seconds to save.
+            # rdb-key-save-delay applies to all hot keys in both SWAP and non-SWAP mode.
+            # swap-debug-rdb-key-save-delay-micro only delays cold/warm keys in SWAP mode,
+            # but debug populate creates hot keys, so rdb-key-save-delay must be used here
+            # to ensure the child is still saving when the parent is killed.
             if {$::swap} {
                 $master config set swap-repl-rordb-sync no
                 $master config set swap-debug-rdb-key-save-delay-micro 1000
-            } else {
-                $master config set rdb-key-save-delay 1000
-            }
+	    }
+            $master config set rdb-key-save-delay 1000
             $master debug populate 10000
             start_server {overrides {save ""}} {
                 set replica [srv 0 client]
@@ -1135,7 +1137,8 @@ foreach mdl {yes no} {
                 exec kill -9 $master_pid
 
                 # wait for the child to notice the parent died have exited
-                wait_for_condition 500 10 {
+                set rdb_child_timeout [expr {$::swap ? 2000 : 500}]
+                wait_for_condition $rdb_child_timeout 10 {
                     [process_is_alive $fork_child_pid] == 0
                 } else {
                     fail "rdb child didn't terminate"
@@ -1551,6 +1554,9 @@ foreach disklessload {disabled on-empty-db} {
                 $replica config set repl-diskless-load $disklessload
 
                 # Populate replica with many keys, master with a few keys.
+                if {$::swap} {
+                    $replica config set swap-debug-evict-keys 0
+                }
                 $replica debug populate 4000000
                 populate 3 master 10
 
@@ -1571,7 +1577,9 @@ foreach disklessload {disabled on-empty-db} {
                 # Discarding old db will take a long time and loading new one
                 # will be quick. So, if we receive -LOADING, most probably it is
                 # when flushing the db.
-                wait_for_condition 1 10000 {
+                set loading_tries [expr {$::swap ? 100 : 1}]
+                set loading_delay [expr {$::swap ? 100 : 10000}]
+                wait_for_condition $loading_tries $loading_delay {
                     [catch {$replica ping} err] &&
                     [string match *LOADING* $err]
                 } else {
@@ -1876,10 +1884,22 @@ start_server {tags {"repl external:skip"}} {
 
             # Connect to an invalid master
             $slave slaveof $master_host 0
-            after 1000
 
-            # Expect current sync attempts to increase
-            assert {[status $slave master_current_sync_attempts] >= 2}
+            # Expect current sync attempts to increase.
+            # In SWAP mode, swap_draining_master can defer the first connection
+            # attempt by ~100ms (waitSwapDrainingMaster timer), shifting the
+            # second attempt past the 1s replicationCron window. Use
+            # wait_for_condition only in SWAP mode to avoid the race.
+            if {$::swap} {
+                wait_for_condition 200 50 {
+                    [status $slave master_current_sync_attempts] >= 2
+                } else {
+                    fail "master_current_sync_attempts didn't increase after switching to invalid master"
+                }
+            } else {
+                after 1000
+                assert {[status $slave master_current_sync_attempts] >= 2}
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/swap/unit/dirty.tcl b/tests/swap/unit/dirty.tcl
index 148a0ec7bc1..a97d040d9c8 100644
--- a/tests/swap/unit/dirty.tcl
+++ b/tests/swap/unit/dirty.tcl
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ start_server {tags {"dirty subkeys"} overrides {swap-dirty-subkeys-enabled yes}}
         assert_equal [object_is_warm r hash3] 1
 
         r swap.evict hash3
+        wait_key_cold r hash3
         assert_equal [object_is_cold r hash3] 1
 
         assert_equal [r hmget hash3 a b c 1 2] {a1 b0 c0 10 20}
@@ -274,6 +275,7 @@ start_server {tags {"dirty subkeys"} overrides {swap-dirty-subkeys-enabled yes}}
         assert_equal [object_is_warm r set3] 1
 
         r swap.evict set3
+        wait_key_cold r set3
         assert_equal [object_is_cold r set3] 1
 
         assert_equal [r smismember set3 a b c 1 2] {1 1 1 1 1}
diff --git a/tests/unit/expire.tcl b/tests/unit/expire.tcl
index cc66dfb2bfd..e135922dad9 100644
--- a/tests/unit/expire.tcl
+++ b/tests/unit/expire.tcl
@@ -852,22 +852,23 @@ start_server {tags {"expire"}} {
         r debug set-active-expire 0
         r flushall
 
-        r set foo1 bar PX 1
-        if {$::swap} {
-            #TODO optimize wait_key_cold
-            catch {wait_key_cold r foo1} err
-        }
-        r set foo2 bar PX 1
-        if {$::swap} {
-            #TODO optimize wait_key_cold
-            catch {wait_key_cold r foo2} err
+        if {!$::swap} {
+            r set foo1 bar PX 1
+            r set foo2 bar PX 1
+            after 2
+        } else {
+            r set foo1 bar PX 80
+            r set foo2 bar PX 80
+            r swap.evict foo1
+            r swap.evict foo2
+            wait_key_cold r foo1
+            wait_key_cold r foo2
+            after 100
         }
-        after 2
-        
 
         set repl [attach_to_replication_stream]
         if {!$::swap} {
-        r scan 0
+            r scan 0
         } else {
             set next_cursor [lindex [r scan 0] 0]
             r scan $next_cursor
@@ -893,17 +894,19 @@ start_server {tags {"expire"}} {
         r debug set-active-expire 0
         r flushall
 
-        r set foo1 bar PX 1
-        if {$::swap} {
-            #TODO optimize wait_key_cold
-            catch {wait_key_cold r foo1} err
-        }
-        r set foo2 bar PX 1
-        if {$::swap} {
-            #TODO optimize wait_key_cold
-            catch {wait_key_cold r foo2} err
+        if {!$::swap} {
+            r set foo1 bar PX 1
+            r set foo2 bar PX 1
+            after 2
+        } else {
+            r set foo1 bar PX 80
+            r set foo2 bar PX 80
+            r swap.evict foo1
+            r swap.evict foo2
+            wait_key_cold r foo1
+            wait_key_cold r foo2
+            after 100
         }
-        after 2
 
         set repl [attach_to_replication_stream]
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/io_thread.tcl b/tests/unit/io_thread.tcl
index ab298241321..a2c8de122f0 100644
--- a/tests/unit/io_thread.tcl
+++ b/tests/unit/io_thread.tcl
@@ -153,7 +153,15 @@ start_server {overrides {}} {
                 }
                 lappend clients $cli
             }
-            assert_equal [get_kv_value [get_info_field [r info threads] io_thread_1 ] clients] 101
+            # Wait for all 100 new clients to be accepted and assigned by the server.
+            # When singledb=1 (e.g. swap build), no SELECT is sent so there is no
+            # synchronous round-trip to guarantee the server has accepted every
+            # connection before we query the thread info.
+            wait_for_condition 100 50 {
+                [get_kv_value [get_info_field [r info threads] io_thread_1 ] clients] == 101
+            } else {
+                fail "Expected 101 clients on io_thread_1 after adding 100 connections"
+            }
 
             # set io-threads n
             # wait CLIENT_IO_PENDING_CRON ,load balancing
@@ -181,12 +189,16 @@ start_server {overrides {}} {
             }
             r config set io-threads 2
             assert_equal [get_info_field [r info threads] io_thread_scale_status] "down"
+            # ioThreadsScaleDownTryEnd() destroys the thread and decrements
+            # io_threads_num in one beforeSleep pass, but only transitions
+            # scale_status from DOWN to NONE in the *next* pass.  Use
+            # wait_for_condition for both checks to avoid the one-iteration race.
             wait_for_condition 100 50 {
-                [get_info_field [r info threads] io_thread_2 ] eq ""
+                [get_info_field [r info threads] io_thread_2 ] eq "" &&
+                [get_info_field [r info threads] io_thread_scale_status] eq "none"
             } else {
                 fail "thread down n => 2 fail"
             }
-            assert_equal [get_info_field [r info threads] io_thread_scale_status] "none"
             if {!$::external} {
                 verify_log_message 0 "*IO threads scale-down end*" $lines
             }
diff --git a/tests/unit/type/list.tcl b/tests/unit/type/list.tcl
index c77629edf03..009ee6a3234 100644
--- a/tests/unit/type/list.tcl
+++ b/tests/unit/type/list.tcl
@@ -1119,6 +1119,12 @@ foreach {pop} {BLPOP BLMPOP_LEFT} {
         } else {
             fail "exec did not arrive"
         }
+        if {$::swap} {
+            wait_for_condition 200 10 {
+                [regexp {cmd=exec} [r client list]] eq 0
+            } else {
+            }
+        }
         # Blocked BLPOPLPUSH may create problems, unblock it.
         r lpush srclist{t} element
         set res [$watching_client read]