diff --git a/src/acp/translator.prompt-prefix.test.ts b/src/acp/translator.prompt-prefix.test.ts
index efad796966f..e7f91a124ef 100644
--- a/src/acp/translator.prompt-prefix.test.ts
+++ b/src/acp/translator.prompt-prefix.test.ts
@@ -28,8 +28,9 @@ describe("acp prompt cwd prefix", () => {
     const call = requestSpy.mock.calls[index];
     expect(call?.[0]).toBe("chat.send");
     expect(call?.[2]).toEqual({ timeoutMs: null });
-    expect(typeof call?.[1]).toBe("object");
-    expect(call?.[1]).not.toBeNull();
+    if (!call?.[1] || typeof call[1] !== "object") {
+      throw new Error(`expected chat.send payload ${index}`);
+    }
     return call?.[1] as Record<string, unknown>;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/acp/translator.session-rate-limit.test.ts b/src/acp/translator.session-rate-limit.test.ts
index 7f0bad93b4d..74ae841aba7 100644
--- a/src/acp/translator.session-rate-limit.test.ts
+++ b/src/acp/translator.session-rate-limit.test.ts
@@ -127,8 +127,9 @@ async function expectOversizedPromptRejected(params: { sessionId: string; text:
 type MockCallSource = { mock: { calls: Array<Array<unknown>> } };
 
 function requireRecord(value: unknown, label: string): Record<string, unknown> {
-  expect(value, label).toBeTypeOf("object");
-  expect(value, label).not.toBeNull();
+  if (!value || typeof value !== "object") {
+    throw new Error(`expected ${label}`);
+  }
   return value as Record<string, unknown>;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/gateway/android-node.capabilities.live.test.ts b/src/gateway/android-node.capabilities.live.test.ts
index c927af3f7c5..ae728309ffa 100644
--- a/src/gateway/android-node.capabilities.live.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/android-node.capabilities.live.test.ts
@@ -47,8 +47,9 @@ function asRecord(value: unknown): Record<string, unknown> {
 }
 
 function expectRecord(value: unknown, label: string): Record<string, unknown> {
-  expect(value, label).not.toBeNull();
-  expect(typeof value, label).toBe("object");
+  if (!value || typeof value !== "object") {
+    throw new Error(`expected ${label}`);
+  }
   expect(Array.isArray(value), label).toBe(false);
   return value as Record<string, unknown>;
 }
@@ -59,8 +60,10 @@ function readString(value: unknown): string | null {
 
 function expectNonEmptyString(value: unknown, label: string): string {
   const text = readString(value);
-  expect(text, label).not.toBeNull();
-  return text as string;
+  if (text === null) {
+    throw new Error(`expected ${label}`);
+  }
+  return text;
 }
 
 function readStringArray(value: unknown): string[] {
diff --git a/src/gateway/node-invoke-plugin-policy.test.ts b/src/gateway/node-invoke-plugin-policy.test.ts
index 8280716cb11..fe8814a1b95 100644
--- a/src/gateway/node-invoke-plugin-policy.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/node-invoke-plugin-policy.test.ts
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ describe("applyPluginNodeInvokePolicy", () => {
       params: { path: "/tmp/x" },
     });
 
-    expect(result).not.toBeNull();
     if (result === null) {
       throw new Error("expected plugin policy failure");
     }
diff --git a/src/gateway/server-chat.agent-events.test.ts b/src/gateway/server-chat.agent-events.test.ts
index 2f04f47bcbf..7a22fee112d 100644
--- a/src/gateway/server-chat.agent-events.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/server-chat.agent-events.test.ts
@@ -156,8 +156,6 @@ describe("agent event handler", () => {
   }
 
   function requireRecord(value: unknown, label: string): Record<string, unknown> {
-    expect(typeof value).toBe("object");
-    expect(value).not.toBeNull();
     if (typeof value !== "object" || value === null) {
       throw new Error(`${label} was not an object`);
     }
diff --git a/src/gateway/session-utils.fs.test.ts b/src/gateway/session-utils.fs.test.ts
index 194b0d0faf9..9aa15c3b6d5 100644
--- a/src/gateway/session-utils.fs.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/session-utils.fs.test.ts
@@ -114,8 +114,9 @@ function buildBasicSessionTranscript(
 }
 
 function requireRecord(value: unknown, label: string): Record<string, unknown> {
-  expect(value, label).toBeTypeOf("object");
-  expect(value, label).not.toBeNull();
+  if (!value || typeof value !== "object") {
+    throw new Error(`expected ${label}`);
+  }
   return value as Record<string, unknown>;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/logging/diagnostic-stability.test.ts b/src/logging/diagnostic-stability.test.ts
index 677c1042ad5..856c8a77b9d 100644
--- a/src/logging/diagnostic-stability.test.ts
+++ b/src/logging/diagnostic-stability.test.ts
@@ -11,8 +11,9 @@ import {
 } from "./diagnostic-stability.js";
 
 function expectFields(value: unknown, expected: Record<string, unknown>): void {
-  expect(value).toBeTypeOf("object");
-  expect(value).not.toBeNull();
+  if (!value || typeof value !== "object") {
+    throw new Error("expected fields object");
+  }
   const record = value as Record<string, unknown>;
   for (const [key, expectedValue] of Object.entries(expected)) {
     expect(record[key], key).toEqual(expectedValue);
diff --git a/src/logging/diagnostic.test.ts b/src/logging/diagnostic.test.ts
index 12806125e8d..650f6eb421a 100644
--- a/src/logging/diagnostic.test.ts
+++ b/src/logging/diagnostic.test.ts
@@ -64,8 +64,6 @@ function countMatching<T>(items: readonly T[], predicate: (item: T) => boolean)
 }
 
 function requireRecord(value: unknown, label: string): Record<string, unknown> {
-  expect(typeof value).toBe("object");
-  expect(value).not.toBeNull();
   if (typeof value !== "object" || value === null) {
     throw new Error(`${label} was not an object`);
   }
diff --git a/src/plugin-sdk/discord.test.ts b/src/plugin-sdk/discord.test.ts
index d6bf59ab8f2..d578d705149 100644
--- a/src/plugin-sdk/discord.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugin-sdk/discord.test.ts
@@ -165,7 +165,6 @@ describe("discord plugin-sdk facade", () => {
     expect(callParams.agentId).toBe("agent");
     expect(callParams.cfg).toBe(mocks.runtimeConfig);
     expect(callParams.childSessionKey).toBe("child");
-    expect(binding).not.toBeNull();
     if (!binding) {
       throw new Error("expected Discord subagent binding");
     }
diff --git a/src/plugin-sdk/provider-model-shared.test.ts b/src/plugin-sdk/provider-model-shared.test.ts
index ff0c0d1a0d6..caf9a4d9b1f 100644
--- a/src/plugin-sdk/provider-model-shared.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugin-sdk/provider-model-shared.test.ts
@@ -9,8 +9,9 @@ import {
 } from "./provider-model-shared.js";
 
 function expectFields(value: unknown, expected: Record<string, unknown>): void {
-  expect(value).toBeTypeOf("object");
-  expect(value).not.toBeNull();
+  if (!value || typeof value !== "object") {
+    throw new Error("expected fields object");
+  }
   const record = value as Record<string, unknown>;
   for (const [key, expectedValue] of Object.entries(expected)) {
     expect(record[key], key).toEqual(expectedValue);
diff --git a/src/plugin-sdk/provider-stream.test.ts b/src/plugin-sdk/provider-stream.test.ts
index e5c92e96296..ede7f94f10a 100644
--- a/src/plugin-sdk/provider-stream.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugin-sdk/provider-stream.test.ts
@@ -39,8 +39,6 @@ function requireStreamFn(streamFn: StreamFn | null | undefined) {
 }
 
 function requireRecord(value: unknown, label: string): Record<string, unknown> {
-  expect(value).toBeTypeOf("object");
-  expect(value).not.toBeNull();
   if (!value || typeof value !== "object" || Array.isArray(value)) {
     throw new Error(`expected ${label} to be an object`);
   }