diff --git a/helper/bwrap_test.go b/helper/bwrap_test.go
index be0a465..a7804e3 100644
--- a/helper/bwrap_test.go
+++ b/helper/bwrap_test.go
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ func TestBwrap(t *testing.T) {
 				nil,
 				sc, nil,
 			)
-		}, "exec")
+		})
 	})
 }
 
diff --git a/helper/cmd.go b/helper/cmd.go
index 4fe978a..bfdd348 100644
--- a/helper/cmd.go
+++ b/helper/cmd.go
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func (h *helperCmd) Start() error {
 	// Check for doubled Start calls before we defer failure cleanup. If the prior
 	// call to Start succeeded, we don't want to spuriously close its pipes.
 	if h.Cmd != nil && h.Cmd.Process != nil {
-		return errors.New("exec: already started")
+		return errors.New("helper: already started")
 	}
 
 	h.Env = slices.Grow(h.Env, 2)
diff --git a/helper/cmd_test.go b/helper/cmd_test.go
index 9c64098..a761d82 100644
--- a/helper/cmd_test.go
+++ b/helper/cmd_test.go
@@ -34,6 +34,6 @@ func TestCmd(t *testing.T) {
 			return helper.NewDirect(ctx, os.Args[0], argsWt, stat, argF, func(cmd *exec.Cmd) {
 				setOutput(&cmd.Stdout, &cmd.Stderr)
 			}, nil)
-		}, "exec")
+		})
 	})
 }
diff --git a/helper/helper_test.go b/helper/helper_test.go
index 27c3171..ced3bb8 100644
--- a/helper/helper_test.go
+++ b/helper/helper_test.go
@@ -48,10 +48,11 @@ func argFChecked(argsFd, statFd int) (args []string) {
 }
 
 // this function tests an implementation of the helper.Helper interface
-func testHelper(t *testing.T,
-	createHelper func(ctx context.Context, setOutput func(stdoutP, stderrP *io.Writer), stat bool) helper.Helper,
-	prefix string,
-) {
+func testHelper(t *testing.T, createHelper func(ctx context.Context, setOutput func(stdoutP, stderrP *io.Writer), stat bool) helper.Helper) {
+	oldWaitDelay := helper.WaitDelay
+	helper.WaitDelay = 16 * time.Second
+	t.Cleanup(func() { helper.WaitDelay = oldWaitDelay })
+
 	t.Run("start helper with status channel and wait", func(t *testing.T) {
 		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
 		stdout, stderr := new(strings.Builder), new(strings.Builder)
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ func testHelper(t *testing.T,
 		cancel()
 
 		t.Run("start already started helper", func(t *testing.T) {
-			wantErr := prefix + ": already started"
+			wantErr := "helper: already started"
 			if err := h.Start(); err != nil && err.Error() != wantErr {
 				t.Errorf("Start: error = %v, wantErr %v",
 					err, wantErr)