diff --git a/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/src/bin/pv-sat/tests.rs b/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/src/bin/pv-sat/tests.rs
index c632147f69..533447d153 100644
--- a/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/src/bin/pv-sat/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/src/bin/pv-sat/tests.rs
@@ -90,6 +90,11 @@ fn corpus() -> tempfile::TempDir {
     let dir = tempfile::tempdir().expect("tempdir");
     for entry in std::fs::read_dir(src).expect("fixture") {
         let entry = entry.expect("entry");
+        // The ont4/ont4b gates lint this fixture in place (#5446), and pv leaves a `.pv/` directory in it; copy
+        // the corpus files only, never that directory.
+        if !entry.file_type().expect("file type").is_file() {
+            continue;
+        }
         std::fs::copy(entry.path(), dir.path().join(entry.file_name())).expect("copy");
     }
     dir
diff --git a/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/tests/ont4_relations_gate.rs b/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/tests/ont4_relations_gate.rs
index 1fc8f2b871..6e5855a057 100644
--- a/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/tests/ont4_relations_gate.rs
+++ b/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/tests/ont4_relations_gate.rs
@@ -178,7 +178,8 @@ fn the_legacy_ratchet_rejects_a_rise_and_passes_a_hold() {
 /// R-8: the gate is computed in every `pv lint` run, not only under `--gate`.
 #[test]
 fn the_full_run_computes_the_relations_gate() {
-    let dir = s(&repo_contracts());
+    // A small fixture corpus: the gate list does not depend on the corpus, and the repo tree costs ~27 s in a debug pv (#5446).
+    let dir = s(&fixture("relations-ok"));
     let r = pv(&["lint", &dir, "--format", "json"]);
     let v = json_of(&r);
     let names: Vec<String> = v["gates"]
diff --git a/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/tests/ont4b_shapes_gate.rs b/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/tests/ont4b_shapes_gate.rs
index 59014352b8..da73452c40 100644
--- a/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/tests/ont4b_shapes_gate.rs
+++ b/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/tests/ont4b_shapes_gate.rs
@@ -262,7 +262,8 @@ fn the_tracked_repo_graph_is_fresh() {
 /// R-8: the gate is computed in every `pv lint` run.
 #[test]
 fn the_full_run_computes_the_shapes_gate() {
-    let r = pv(&["lint", &s(&repo_contracts()), "--format", "json"]);
+    // A small fixture corpus: the gate list does not depend on the corpus, and the repo tree costs ~27 s in a debug pv (#5446).
+    let r = pv(&["lint", &s(&fixture("relations-ok")), "--format", "json"]);
     let v = json_of(&r);
     let names: Vec<String> = v["gates"]
         .as_array()
diff --git a/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/tests/ont5_consistency_gate.rs b/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/tests/ont5_consistency_gate.rs
index 7b8d7b4cd0..db0506e891 100644
--- a/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/tests/ont5_consistency_gate.rs
+++ b/crates/aprender-contracts-cli/tests/ont5_consistency_gate.rs
@@ -68,6 +68,11 @@ fn corpus() -> tempfile::TempDir {
     for entry in std::fs::read_dir(repo().join("tests/fixtures/ont/relations-ok")).expect("fixture")
     {
         let entry = entry.expect("entry");
+        // The ont4/ont4b gates lint this fixture in place (#5446), and pv leaves a `.pv/` directory in it; a parallel
+        // test must copy the corpus files only, never that directory.
+        if !entry.file_type().expect("file type").is_file() {
+            continue;
+        }
         std::fs::copy(entry.path(), dir.path().join(entry.file_name())).expect("copy");
     }
     dir
diff --git a/crates/aprender-contracts/src/lint/consistency_gate_tests.rs b/crates/aprender-contracts/src/lint/consistency_gate_tests.rs
index c8131b4935..6154d5b593 100644
--- a/crates/aprender-contracts/src/lint/consistency_gate_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/aprender-contracts/src/lint/consistency_gate_tests.rs
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ fn corpus(consistent: bool) -> tempfile::TempDir {
     let dir = tempfile::tempdir().expect("tempdir");
     for entry in std::fs::read_dir(fixture()).expect("fixture dir") {
         let entry = entry.expect("entry");
+        // The ont4/ont4b/ont5 gate tests lint this fixture in place (#5446) and pv leaves a `.pv/` directory in it.
+        if !entry.file_type().expect("file type").is_file() {
+            continue;
+        }
         let mut text = std::fs::read_to_string(entry.path()).expect("fixture file");
         if consistent && entry.file_name() == "a.yaml" {
             assert!(