diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 26b08a4..8184e3d 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -19,25 +19,25 @@
 Since we're using session-scoped fixtures, declare everything in here.
 """
 
-import pytest_asyncio
+import asyncio
+
+import pytest
 from hexkit.providers.akafka.testutils import get_kafka_fixture
 from hexkit.providers.mongodb.testutils import get_mongodb_fixture
-from hexkit.providers.testing.utils import get_event_loop
 
 from tests.fixtures.joint import JointFixture, get_joint_fixture
 
 
-@pytest_asyncio.fixture(autouse=True)
-async def reset_state(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def reset_state(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Clear joint_fixture state before tests.
 
     This is a function-level fixture because it needs to run in each test.
     """
+    loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
     joint_fixture.remove_db_data()
-    await joint_fixture.load_test_data()
-
+    loop.run_until_complete(joint_fixture.load_test_data())
 
-event_loop = get_event_loop("session")
 
 kafka_fixture = get_kafka_fixture("session")
 mongodb_fixture = get_mongodb_fixture("session")
diff --git a/tests/test_api.py b/tests/test_api.py
index b03f88b..bdc510c 100644
--- a/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_api.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ def compare(
         assert results.hits == hits
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_health_check(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test that the health check endpoint works."""
     response = await joint_fixture.rest_client.get("/health")
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ async def test_health_check(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert response.json() == {"status": "OK"}
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_search_options(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Verify that we can request the configured resource class information correctly"""
     response = await joint_fixture.rest_client.get(url="/rpc/search-options")
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ async def test_search_options(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert response.json() == joint_fixture.config.model_dump()["searchable_classes"]
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_malformed_document(
     joint_fixture: JointFixture, caplog: pytest.LogCaptureFixture
 ):
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ async def test_malformed_document(
         assert "type=string_type, input_value=42, input_type=int" in msg
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_search(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Basic query to pull back all documents for class name"""
     search_parameters: JsonObject = {
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ async def test_search(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     compare(results=results, count=3, hit_length=3)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_search_with_limit(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Make sure we get a count of 3 but only 1 hit"""
     search_parameters: JsonObject = {
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ async def test_search_with_limit(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     compare(results=results, count=3, hit_length=1, hits=hits)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_search_keywords(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Make sure the query string is passed through intact"""
     search_parameters: JsonObject = {
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ async def test_search_keywords(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     compare(results=results, count=2, hit_length=2)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_search_filters(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Make sure filters work"""
     search_parameters: JsonObject = {
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ async def test_search_filters(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     compare(results=results, count=1, hit_length=1)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_search_invalid_class(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Verify that searching with a bad class name results in a 422"""
     search_parameters: JsonObject = {
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ async def test_search_invalid_class(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
         await joint_fixture.call_search_endpoint(search_parameters)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_auto_recreation_of_indexes(
     joint_fixture: JointFixture, caplog: pytest.LogCaptureFixture
 ):
diff --git a/tests/test_consumer.py b/tests/test_consumer.py
index 7553c7a..9a80953 100644
--- a/tests/test_consumer.py
+++ b/tests/test_consumer.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
         ("1HotelAlpha-id", False),  # this ID exists in the test data already
     ],
 )
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_resource_upsert(
     joint_fixture: JointFixture, resource_id: str, is_insert: bool
 ):
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ async def test_resource_upsert(
     assert resource not in results_all.hits
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_resource_delete(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test resource deletion via event consumption"""
     # get all the documents in the collection
diff --git a/tests/test_index_creation.py b/tests/test_index_creation.py
index abe7fa5..b6898f6 100644
--- a/tests/test_index_creation.py
+++ b/tests/test_index_creation.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("create_index_manually", (False, True))
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_index_creation(joint_fixture: JointFixture, create_index_manually: bool):
     """Test the index creation function."""
     # indexes will have been created in fixture setup, so we actually need to del those
diff --git a/tests/test_logging.py b/tests/test_logging.py
index 09d8368..cbed68c 100644
--- a/tests/test_logging.py
+++ b/tests/test_logging.py
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
         "Deletion failure due to non-existent accession",
     ],
 )
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_event_sub_logging(
     joint_fixture: JointFixture,
     caplog,
diff --git a/tests/test_relevance.py b/tests/test_relevance.py
index 08eac56..ab7efe5 100644
--- a/tests/test_relevance.py
+++ b/tests/test_relevance.py
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ def sorted_reference_results(
     return [result["_id"] for result in sorted_results]
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_happy_relevance(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Make sure default works as expected"""
     query = "test"
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ async def test_happy_relevance(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert [hit.id_ for hit in results.hits] == reference_ids
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_happy_relevance_descending_id(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Make sure default Pydantic model parameter works as expected"""
     query = "test"
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ async def test_happy_relevance_descending_id(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert [hit.id_ for hit in results.hits] == reference_ids
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_with_absent_term(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Make sure nothing is pulled back with an absent term (sanity check)"""
     search_parameters = {
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ async def test_with_absent_term(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert results.count == 0
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_limited_term(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Make sure only results with the term are retrieved"""
     query = "alternative"
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ async def test_limited_term(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert [hit.id_ for hit in results.hits] == reference_ids
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_two_words(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test with two different terms that appear in different fields"""
     query = "alternative test"
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ async def test_two_words(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert [hit.id_ for hit in results.hits] == reference_ids
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_with_filters(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test with filters applied but no sorting parameters"""
     query = "test"
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ async def test_with_filters(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert [hit.id_ for hit in results.hits] == reference_ids
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_with_filters_and_sorts(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test with filters applied and at least one sorting parameter (not relevance)"""
     query = "test"
diff --git a/tests/test_resources.py b/tests/test_resources.py
index 29164c6..7573f8f 100644
--- a/tests/test_resources.py
+++ b/tests/test_resources.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 from tests.fixtures.joint import JointFixture
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_basic_query(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Make sure we can pull back the documents as expected"""
     # pull back all 3 test documents
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ async def test_basic_query(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert results.count == 3
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_text_search(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test basic text search"""
     results_text = await joint_fixture.query_handler.handle_query(
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ async def test_text_search(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert results_text.hits[0].id_ == "1HotelAlpha-id"
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_filters_work(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test a query with filters selected but no query string"""
     results_filtered = await joint_fixture.query_handler.handle_query(
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ async def test_filters_work(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert results_multi_filter.hits[0].id_ == "1HotelAlpha-id"
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_facets_returned(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Verify that facet fields are returned correctly"""
     results_faceted = await joint_fixture.query_handler.handle_query(
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ async def test_facets_returned(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
             assert kitchen_options[0].count == 1
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_limit_parameter(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test that the limit parameter works"""
     results_limited = await joint_fixture.query_handler.handle_query(
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ async def test_limit_parameter(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert len(results_limited.hits) == 2
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_skip_parameter(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test that the skip parameter works"""
     results_skip = await joint_fixture.query_handler.handle_query(
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ async def test_skip_parameter(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert [x.id_ for x in results_skip.hits] == ["2HotelBeta-id", "3zoo-id"]
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_all_parameters(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Sanity check - make sure it all works together"""
     results_all = await joint_fixture.query_handler.handle_query(
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ async def test_all_parameters(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert results_all.hits[0].id_ == "2HotelBeta-id"
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_resource_load(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test the load function in the query handler"""
     # get all the documents in the collection
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ async def test_resource_load(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert validated_resource.content == resource.content
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_loading_non_configured_resource(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test that we get the right warning for loading a non-configured class_name"""
     # define and load a new resource
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ async def test_loading_non_configured_resource(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
         )
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_error_from_malformed_resource(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Make sure we get an error when the DB has malformed content, since that has to be fixed"""
     # define and load a new resource without all the required facets
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ async def test_error_from_malformed_resource(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
         )
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_absent_resource(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Make sure we get an error when looking for a resource type that doesn't exist"""
     with pytest.raises(joint_fixture.query_handler.ClassNotConfiguredError):
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ async def test_absent_resource(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
         )
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_resource_deletion(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Make sure we can delete a resource.
 
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ async def test_resource_deletion(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
         assert resource.id_ != "1HotelAlpha-id"
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_resource_deletion_failure(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test for correct error when failing to delete a resource"""
     all_resources = await joint_fixture.query_handler.handle_query(
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ async def test_resource_deletion_failure(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert all_resources_again.count == all_resources.count
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_resource_deletion_not_configured(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test for correct error when trying to delete a non-configured resource"""
     with pytest.raises(joint_fixture.query_handler.ClassNotConfiguredError):
diff --git a/tests/test_sorting.py b/tests/test_sorting.py
index 7c2e7ba..be5542b 100644
--- a/tests/test_sorting.py
+++ b/tests/test_sorting.py
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ def multi_column_sort(
         )
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_api_without_sort_parameters(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Make sure default Pydantic model parameter works as expected"""
     search_parameters: JsonObject = {
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ async def test_api_without_sort_parameters(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert results.hits == expected
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_sort_with_id_not_last(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test sorting parameters that contain id_, but id_ is not final sorting field.
 
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ async def test_sort_with_id_not_last(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert results.hits == multi_column_sort(results.hits, sorts_in_model_form)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_sort_with_params_but_not_id(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test supplying sorting parameters but omitting id_.
 
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ async def test_sort_with_params_but_not_id(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     assert results.hits == multi_column_sort(results.hits, BASIC_SORT_PARAMETERS)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_sort_with_invalid_field(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test supplying an invalid field name as a sort field.
 
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ async def test_sort_with_invalid_field(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("order", [-7, 17, "some_string"])
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_sort_with_invalid_sort_order(joint_fixture: JointFixture, order):
     """Test supplying an invalid value for the sort order"""
     search_parameters: JsonObject = {
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ async def test_sort_with_invalid_sort_order(joint_fixture: JointFixture, order):
     assert response.status_code == 422
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_sort_with_invalid_field_and_sort_order(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Test with both invalid field name and invalid sort order."""
     search_parameters: JsonObject = {
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ async def test_sort_with_invalid_field_and_sort_order(joint_fixture: JointFixtur
     assert response.status_code == 422
 
 
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
+@pytest.mark.asyncio(scope="session")
 async def test_sort_with_duplicate_field(joint_fixture: JointFixture):
     """Supply sorting parameters with two instances of the same sort field.