diff --git a/lib/data/hub.dart b/lib/data/hub.dart
index 23112c3..d0dc1cd 100644
--- a/lib/data/hub.dart
+++ b/lib/data/hub.dart
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 // Methods return UI-friendly types so pages stay free of
 // protobuf imports.
 
+import 'dart:async' show unawaited;
 import 'dart:io';
 import 'dart:typed_data';
 
@@ -196,6 +197,24 @@ class HubService {
     }
   }
 
+  /// Test hook: close the gRPC channel and replace the client with
+  /// a fresh, not-yet-dialled one (same endpoint + token). Suites
+  /// that pump the real app against no hub end with this so the
+  /// channel's internal reconnect/idle timers cannot outlive the
+  /// test body — a real socket failure landing late otherwise arms
+  /// a new backoff timer and trips the framework's pending-timer
+  /// invariant (the a11y suite's long-standing flake).
+  @visibleForTesting
+  void debugResetChannel() {
+    final old = _client;
+    _client = HubClient(endpoint: old.endpoint, authToken: _lastAuthToken);
+    // Deliberately not awaited: shutdown() wedges on a socket that
+    // is mid-connect, but the channel marks itself shut down and
+    // cancels its timers synchronously at the start — which is all
+    // this hook needs.
+    unawaited(old.close().catchError((_) {}));
+  }
+
   /// Reload the token from disk and reconnect using the current
   /// endpoint. Called by Settings after the operator pastes or
   /// clears a token.
diff --git a/test/a11y_test.dart b/test/a11y_test.dart
index 3ef853a..981e52b 100644
--- a/test/a11y_test.dart
+++ b/test/a11y_test.dart
@@ -88,6 +88,19 @@ void main() {
       // !timersPending after the test body.
       await tester.pumpWidget(const SizedBox.shrink());
       await tester.pump(const Duration(minutes: 1));
+      // The suite's long-standing pending-timer flake, finally
+      // caught with a creation stack: when the last gRPC stream
+      // closes, Http2ClientConnection._handleActiveStateChanged
+      // arms the channel's 5-minute idleTimeout timer — even on a
+      // shut-down connection — so a 1-minute drain never covered
+      // it. Close the channel in real-async space (lets in-flight
+      // socket callbacks land), then pump PAST the idle timeout so
+      // the timer fires inside the test body.
+      await tester.runAsync(() async {
+        HubService.instance.debugResetChannel();
+        await Future<void>.delayed(const Duration(milliseconds: 100));
+      });
+      await tester.pump(const Duration(minutes: 6));
       expect(
         violations,
         isEmpty,