diff --git a/pkg/kv/cosmosdb/main_test.go b/pkg/kv/cosmosdb/main_test.go
index 050f74df571..e6edcac47c2 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/cosmosdb/main_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/cosmosdb/main_test.go
@@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ var (
 )
 
 func TestCosmosDB(t *testing.T) {
-	kvtest.DriverTest(t, func(t testing.TB, ctx context.Context) kv.Store {
-		if runtime.GOOS == "darwin" {
-			t.Skipf("this test hangs for macOS users, and fails. skipping - see Issue#8476 for more details")
-		}
+	if runtime.GOOS == "darwin" {
+		t.Skipf("this test hangs for macOS users, and fails. skipping - see Issue#8476 for more details")
+	}
 
+	kvtest.DriverTest(t, func(t testing.TB, ctx context.Context) kv.Store {
 		t.Helper()
 
 		databaseClient, err := client.NewDatabase(testParams.Database)
@@ -72,14 +72,21 @@ func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
 	}
 	defer cleanupFunc()
 
+	const clientTimeout = 30 * time.Second
 	testParams = &kvparams.CosmosDB{
 		Endpoint: databaseURI,
 		Key:      "C2y6yDjf5/R+ob0N8A7Cgv30VRDJIWEHLM+4QDU5DE2nQ9nDuVTqobD4b8mGGyPMbIZnqyMsEcaGQy67XIw/Jw==",
 		Database: "test-db",
-		Client: &http.Client{Timeout: 30 * time.Second, Transport: &http.Transport{
-			// tests, safe
-			TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{InsecureSkipVerify: true}, //nolint:gosec // ignore self-signed cert for local testing using the emulator
-		}},
+		Client: &http.Client{
+			Timeout: clientTimeout,
+			Transport: &http.Transport{
+				TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{
+					// ignore self-signed cert for local testing using the emulator
+					//nolint:gosec
+					InsecureSkipVerify: true,
+				},
+			},
+		},
 		StrongConsistency: false,
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/testutil/cosmosdb.go b/pkg/testutil/cosmosdb.go
index e481932e50c..68756c32269 100644
--- a/pkg/testutil/cosmosdb.go
+++ b/pkg/testutil/cosmosdb.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ func GetCosmosDBInstance() (string, func(), error) {
 
 	cosmosdbDockerRunOptions := &dockertest.RunOptions{
 		Repository: "mcr.microsoft.com/cosmosdb/linux/azure-cosmos-emulator",
-		Tag:        "latest",
+		Tag:        "vnext-preview",
 		Env: []string{
 			"AZURE_COSMOS_EMULATOR_PARTITION_COUNT=100",
 		},
@@ -59,6 +59,14 @@ func GetCosmosDBInstance() (string, func(), error) {
 		return "", nil, fmt.Errorf("joining urls: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	const clientTimeout = 5 * time.Second
+	client := http.Client{
+		Transport: &http.Transport{
+			TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{InsecureSkipVerify: true}, //nolint:gosec // ignore self-signed cert for local testing using the emulator
+		},
+		Timeout: clientTimeout,
+	}
+
 	dockerPool.MaxWait = maxWait
 	log.Printf("Waiting up to %v for emulator to start", dockerPool.MaxWait)
 	// Note: this hangs for macOS users, and fails. See https://github.com/treeverse/lakeFS/issues/8476
@@ -66,9 +74,6 @@ func GetCosmosDBInstance() (string, func(), error) {
 		// waiting for cosmosdb container to be ready by issuing an HTTP get request with
 		// exponential backoff retry. The response is not really meaningful for that case
 		// and so is ignored
-		client := http.Client{Transport: &http.Transport{
-			TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{InsecureSkipVerify: true}, //nolint:gosec // ignore self-signed cert for local testing using the emulator
-		}}
 		resp, err := client.Get(p)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err