diff --git a/packages/cli/src/test-utils/render.test.tsx b/packages/cli/src/test-utils/render.test.tsx
index 28ac50b595..1940112171 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/test-utils/render.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/test-utils/render.test.tsx
@@ -4,21 +4,13 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
 
-import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { useState, useEffect, act } from 'react';
 import { Text } from 'ink';
 import { renderHook, render } from './render.js';
 import { waitFor } from './async.js';
 
 describe.sequential('render', () => {
-  beforeEach(() => {
-    vi.useFakeTimers();
-  });
-
-  afterEach(() => {
-    vi.useRealTimers();
-  });
-
   it('should render a component', async () => {
     const { lastFrame, unmount } = await render(<Text>Hello World</Text>);
     expect(lastFrame()).toBe('Hello World\n');
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/test-utils/render.tsx b/packages/cli/src/test-utils/render.tsx
index b7c2d03349..db0d82750c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/test-utils/render.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/test-utils/render.tsx
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
   type RenderOptions,
 } from 'ink';
 import { EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
+import { Writable } from 'node:stream';
 import { Box } from 'ink';
 import { Terminal } from '@xterm/headless';
 import { vi } from 'vitest';
@@ -298,9 +299,6 @@ class XtermStdout extends EventEmitter {
       if (vi.isFakeTimers()) {
         await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(100);
       } else {
-        await act(async () => {
-          await new Promise((resolve) => process.nextTick(resolve));
-        });
         await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 100));
       }
     }
@@ -430,9 +428,14 @@ export const render = async (
 
   let instance!: InkInstance;
   stdout.clear();
+  const dummyStdout = new Writable({
+    write(_chunk, _encoding, callback) {
+      callback();
+    },
+  });
   act(() => {
     instance = inkRenderDirect(tree, {
-      stdout: stdout as unknown as NodeJS.WriteStream,
+      stdout: dummyStdout as unknown as NodeJS.WriteStream,
 
       stderr: stderr as unknown as NodeJS.WriteStream,