diff --git a/e2e/k8s/helpers_test.go b/e2e/k8s/helpers_test.go
index 88288d4f4b..2535b0971d 100644
--- a/e2e/k8s/helpers_test.go
+++ b/e2e/k8s/helpers_test.go
@@ -238,6 +238,9 @@ func helmInstallMecak8sChart() {
 		"--set", "image.repository=ko.local/mecak8s",
 		"--set", "image.tag=e2e",
 		"--set", "fullnameOverride=mecak8s-agent",
+		// Helm 4 upgrades with server-side apply. Specs kubectl-patch the agent
+		// args, so the chart must reclaim those fields when restoring the baseline.
+		"--force-conflicts",
 		"--wait", "--timeout=4m")
 	gomega.ExpectWithOffset(1, err).NotTo(gomega.HaveOccurred(),
 		"helm upgrade --install mecak8s failed\n--- output ---\n%s", installOut)
diff --git a/e2e/k8s/learning_failover_test.go b/e2e/k8s/learning_failover_test.go
index 33f48b105d..8ecace64ad 100644
--- a/e2e/k8s/learning_failover_test.go
+++ b/e2e/k8s/learning_failover_test.go
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ func installLearningFixture() {
 	out, err := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "helm", "upgrade", "--install", "mecak8s", chart,
 		"--namespace", k8sNamespace, "--values", filepath.Join(chart, "values-kind.yaml"), "--values", valuesPath,
 		"--set", "image.repository=ko.local/mecak8s", "--set", "image.tag=e2e", "--set", "fullnameOverride=mecak8s-agent",
-		"--wait", "--timeout=4m").CombinedOutput()
+		"--force-conflicts", "--wait", "--timeout=4m").CombinedOutput()
 	gomega.Expect(err).NotTo(gomega.HaveOccurred(), "install learning fixture chart: %s", out)
 	_ = singleAgentPod()
 }
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 2a49ab30ea..4672927e19 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/cedar-policy/cedar-go v1.8.0
 	github.com/charmbracelet/colorprofile v0.4.3
 	github.com/charmbracelet/x/ansi v0.11.9
-	github.com/charmbracelet/x/exp/teatest/v2 v2.0.0-20261018003744-cb897cb4ed72
+	github.com/charmbracelet/x/exp/teatest/v2 v2.0.0-20261025003702-835ad0048169
 	github.com/charmbracelet/x/term v0.2.2
 	github.com/goccy/go-yaml v1.19.2
 	github.com/godbus/dbus/v5 v5.2.4
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 1f6a8f705c..5d3dacc645 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -128,8 +128,8 @@ github.com/charmbracelet/x/exp/golden v0.0.0-20251109135125-8916d276318f h1:8CnF
 github.com/charmbracelet/x/exp/golden v0.0.0-20251109135125-8916d276318f/go.mod h1:V8n/g3qVKNxr2FR37Y+otCsMySvZr601T0C7coEP0bw=
 github.com/charmbracelet/x/exp/slice v0.0.0-20250327172914-2fdc97757edf h1:rLG0Yb6MQSDKdB52aGX55JT1oi0P0Kuaj7wi1bLUpnI=
 github.com/charmbracelet/x/exp/slice v0.0.0-20250327172914-2fdc97757edf/go.mod h1:B3UgsnsBZS/eX42BlaNiJkD1pPOUa+oF1IYC6Yd2CEU=
-github.com/charmbracelet/x/exp/teatest/v2 v2.0.0-20261018003744-cb897cb4ed72 h1:moheX72YR75dYtzRjjxKpg09VT5UuF4ALWc8OmlEikE=
-github.com/charmbracelet/x/exp/teatest/v2 v2.0.0-20261018003744-cb897cb4ed72/go.mod h1:aRoQwQWmN9LBG2xi3sVByMFt2fdkPCagd0GAJ1qwOfw=
+github.com/charmbracelet/x/exp/teatest/v2 v2.0.0-20261025003702-835ad0048169 h1:jP7g4cGLDeRdqlUbQ9U3pQLm4MdOPiMknRqPId46XyY=
+github.com/charmbracelet/x/exp/teatest/v2 v2.0.0-20261025003702-835ad0048169/go.mod h1:aRoQwQWmN9LBG2xi3sVByMFt2fdkPCagd0GAJ1qwOfw=
 github.com/charmbracelet/x/term v0.2.2 h1:xVRT/S2ZcKdhhOuSP4t5cLi5o+JxklsoEObBSgfgZRk=
 github.com/charmbracelet/x/term v0.2.2/go.mod h1:kF8CY5RddLWrsgVwpw4kAa6TESp6EB5y3uxGLeCqzAI=
 github.com/charmbracelet/x/termios v0.1.1 h1:o3Q2bT8eqzGnGPOYheoYS8eEleT5ZVNYNy8JawjaNZY=