diff --git a/client/tests/test_atlas_window_overlay_draw_smoke.gd b/client/tests/test_atlas_window_overlay_draw_smoke.gd
index 7c5171505..17f1f7915 100644
--- a/client/tests/test_atlas_window_overlay_draw_smoke.gd
+++ b/client/tests/test_atlas_window_overlay_draw_smoke.gd
@@ -267,9 +267,14 @@ static func _non_background_fraction(image: Image) -> float:
 ## proving the overlay's draw call itself produces visible output for
 ## legitimate window data, closing the "the composite Rect2 call is
 ## silently a no-op" class of bug regardless of which layer caused it.
-func test_single_window_draw_produces_visible_pixels(
-	_do_skip := _dummy_renderer_active(), _skip_reason := SKIP_REASON
-) -> void:
+func test_single_window_draw_produces_visible_pixels() -> void:
+	# Guarded early-return instead of the _do_skip fuzzer-arg convention:
+	# gdUnit4 leaks one internal <Node> per fuzzer-skipped test, tripping the
+	# orphan detector (exit 101) and bouncing the push gate even at 0 failures
+	# (PR gate run 2026-07-22: "2 skipped | 2 orphans | Exit code: 101").
+	if _dummy_renderer_active():
+		print(SKIP_REASON)
+		return
 	var overlay: AtlasWindowOverlay = AtlasWindowOverlay.new()
 	var stub := _SingleWindowViewerStub.new()
 	stub.window = _mock_window(Vector2i.ZERO, 32)
@@ -301,9 +306,11 @@ func test_single_window_draw_produces_visible_pixels(
 ## have failed. Uses production-realistic scale (live round 4's own Lendel
 ## repro: raw circumference ~19,139 districts) — see the tile-center
 ## comment below for why scale matters here specifically.
-func test_tile_mosaic_draw_produces_visible_pixels(
-	_do_skip := _dummy_renderer_active(), _skip_reason := SKIP_REASON
-) -> void:
+func test_tile_mosaic_draw_produces_visible_pixels() -> void:
+	# Guarded early-return, not _do_skip — see the sibling test's comment.
+	if _dummy_renderer_active():
+		print(SKIP_REASON)
+		return
 	var overlay: AtlasWindowOverlay = AtlasWindowOverlay.new()
 	var stub := _TileModeViewerStub.new()
 	var tile_n: int = AtlasWindowGeometry.TILE_N