diff --git a/internal/resolver/resolver_test.go b/internal/resolver/resolver_test.go
index 25a0fae..2b70f7a 100644
--- a/internal/resolver/resolver_test.go
+++ b/internal/resolver/resolver_test.go
@@ -496,6 +496,9 @@ func TestFailoverPolicyWalksTheListInOrder(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// joinAddrs builds the map key for a whole upstream list.
+func joinAddrs(addrs ...string) string { return strings.Join(addrs, ",") }
+
 // TestRebindUnderConcurrentQueries hammers Rebind while queries, health
 // snapshots and latency reads run in parallel, so -race covers the copy-on-write
 // hand-over. Afterwards the live state of an unchanged server must have
@@ -518,7 +521,17 @@ func TestRebindUnderConcurrentQueries(t *testing.T) {
 	queriesBefore := before.Stats().Queries
 
 	stop := make(chan struct{})
-	var seen sync.Map // address -> true, every list the readers ever observed
+	var observed atomic.Int64
+	// legal is every upstream list this test publishes. A reader must only
+	// ever see one of them whole: never both b and c, never an empty list.
+	// That is the copy-on-write invariant worth pinning, and unlike "a reader
+	// must happen to observe b and c" it cannot flake, because it makes no
+	// demand about which list was seen — only that it was a real one.
+	legal := map[string]bool{
+		joinAddrs(a.addr):         true,
+		joinAddrs(a.addr, b.addr): true,
+		joinAddrs(a.addr, c.addr): true,
+	}
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
 	for r := 0; r < 4; r++ {
 		wg.Add(1)
@@ -530,8 +543,19 @@ func TestRebindUnderConcurrentQueries(t *testing.T) {
 					return
 				default:
 				}
-				for _, u := range p.All() {
-					seen.Store(u.Addr(), true)
+				all := p.All()
+				observed.Add(1)
+				if len(all) == 0 {
+					t.Error("All() returned an empty pool during a Rebind")
+					return
+				}
+				addrs := make([]string, 0, len(all))
+				for _, u := range all {
+					addrs = append(addrs, u.Addr())
+				}
+				if !legal[strings.Join(addrs, ",")] {
+					t.Errorf("reader observed a half-applied upstream list: %v", addrs)
+					return
 				}
 				p.Healthy()
 				p.Stats()
@@ -580,10 +604,8 @@ func TestRebindUnderConcurrentQueries(t *testing.T) {
 	if got := len(p.All()); got != 2 {
 		t.Errorf("pool holds %d upstreams, want 2", got)
 	}
-	for _, addr := range []string{b.addr, c.addr} {
-		if _, ok := seen.Load(addr); !ok {
-			t.Errorf("no reader ever observed %s while Rebind swapped the list", addr)
-		}
+	if observed.Load() == 0 {
+		t.Error("the readers never sampled the pool, so nothing was actually tested")
 	}
 	if !strings.Contains(p.String(), c.addr) {
 		t.Errorf("pool %s does not mention the new upstream %s", p, c.addr)