diff --git a/wrolpi/conftest.py b/wrolpi/conftest.py
index fe57acb0..11a1cb3b 100644
--- a/wrolpi/conftest.py
+++ b/wrolpi/conftest.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import logging
 import multiprocessing
 import pathlib
 import shutil
+import sys
 import tempfile
 import threading
 import zipfile
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ from itertools import zip_longest
 from typing import List, Callable, Dict, Sequence, Union, Coroutine, Awaitable, Optional
 from typing import Tuple, Set
 from unittest import mock
-from unittest.mock import MagicMock, AsyncMock
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, AsyncMock, patch
 from uuid import uuid1, uuid4
 
 import pytest
@@ -185,6 +186,7 @@ async def async_client(test_directory) -> SanicASGITestClient:
     try:
         yield client
     finally:
+        api_app.stop()
         logger.debug('Destroying async_client')
 
 
@@ -841,3 +843,10 @@ def mock_downloader_download_file():
             contents = contents_
 
         yield set_contents
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def start_status_worker():
+    """Enable the status worker for testing."""
+    with mock.patch('wrolpi.status.DISABLE_STATUS_WORKER', False):
+        yield
diff --git a/wrolpi/status.py b/wrolpi/status.py
index 508f166e..78d36a3a 100755
--- a/wrolpi/status.py
+++ b/wrolpi/status.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ from wrolpi.api_utils import api_app, perpetual_signal
 from wrolpi.cmd import which, run_command
 from wrolpi.common import logger, get_warn_once, unique_by_predicate, partition, TRACE_LEVEL
 from wrolpi.dates import now
+from wrolpi.vars import PYTEST
 
 try:
     import psutil
@@ -565,11 +566,18 @@ async def get_power_stats() -> PowerStats:
     return PowerStats()
 
 
+DISABLE_STATUS_WORKER = bool(PYTEST)  # Do not run status worker while testing, unless explicitly needed.
+
+
 @perpetual_signal(sleep=5)
 async def status_worker(count: int = None, sleep_time: int = 5):
     """A background process which will gather historical data about system statistics."""
     shared_status = api_app.shared_ctx.status
 
+    if PYTEST and DISABLE_STATUS_WORKER:
+        # Tests are running, status worker has not been enabled by `start_status_worker` fixture.
+        return
+
     if count is not None and count <= 0:
         logger.debug('Status worker ran out of count')
         return dict(**shared_status)
@@ -579,13 +587,13 @@ async def status_worker(count: int = None, sleep_time: int = 5):
         # Update global `status` dict with stats that are gathered instantly.
         cpu_stats, load_stats, drives_stats, memory_stats, processes_stats, iostat_stats, power_stats = \
             await asyncio.gather(
-                get_cpu_stats(),
-                get_load_stats(),
-                get_drives_stats(),
-                get_memory_stats(),
-                get_processes_stats(),
-                get_iostat_stats(),
-                get_power_stats(),
+                asyncio.create_task(get_cpu_stats(), name='get_cpu_stats'),
+                asyncio.create_task(get_load_stats(), name='get_load_stats'),
+                asyncio.create_task(get_drives_stats(), name='get_drives_stats'),
+                asyncio.create_task(get_memory_stats(), name='get_memory_stats'),
+                asyncio.create_task(get_processes_stats(), name='get_processes_stats'),
+                asyncio.create_task(get_iostat_stats(), name='get_iostat_stats'),
+                asyncio.create_task(get_power_stats(), name='get_power_stats'),
             )
         shared_status.update({
             'cpu_stats': cpu_stats.__json__(),