diff --git a/test/tap/tests/test_tsdb_api-t.cpp b/test/tap/tests/test_tsdb_api-t.cpp
index 0e929aef9..cb5697831 100644
--- a/test/tap/tests/test_tsdb_api-t.cpp
+++ b/test/tap/tests/test_tsdb_api-t.cpp
@@ -111,27 +111,45 @@ int main() {
 	diag("Enabling TSDB, Web, and REST API...");
 	int rc;
 	rc = mysql_query(admin, "SET tsdb-enabled='1'");
-	if (rc) diag("SET tsdb-enabled failed: %s", mysql_error(admin));
+	if (rc) {
+		diag("SET tsdb-enabled failed: %s", mysql_error(admin));
+		return EXIT_FAILURE;
+	}
 	drain_results(admin);
 
 	rc = mysql_query(admin, "SET tsdb-sample_interval='1'");
-	if (rc) diag("SET tsdb-sample_interval failed: %s", mysql_error(admin));
+	if (rc) {
+		diag("SET tsdb-sample_interval failed: %s", mysql_error(admin));
+		return EXIT_FAILURE;
+	}
 	drain_results(admin);
 
 	rc = mysql_query(admin, "SET admin-restapi_enabled='1'");
-	if (rc) diag("SET admin-restapi_enabled failed: %s", mysql_error(admin));
+	if (rc) {
+		diag("SET admin-restapi_enabled failed: %s", mysql_error(admin));
+		return EXIT_FAILURE;
+	}
 	drain_results(admin);
 
 	rc = mysql_query(admin, "SET admin-web_enabled='1'");
-	if (rc) diag("SET admin-web_enabled failed: %s", mysql_error(admin));
+	if (rc) {
+		diag("SET admin-web_enabled failed: %s", mysql_error(admin));
+		return EXIT_FAILURE;
+	}
 	drain_results(admin);
 
 	rc = mysql_query(admin, "LOAD TSDB VARIABLES TO RUNTIME");
-	if (rc) diag("LOAD TSDB VARIABLES failed: %s", mysql_error(admin));
+	if (rc) {
+		diag("LOAD TSDB VARIABLES failed: %s", mysql_error(admin));
+		return EXIT_FAILURE;
+	}
 	drain_results(admin);
 
 	rc = mysql_query(admin, "LOAD ADMIN VARIABLES TO RUNTIME");
-	if (rc) diag("LOAD ADMIN VARIABLES failed: %s", mysql_error(admin));
+	if (rc) {
+		diag("LOAD ADMIN VARIABLES failed: %s", mysql_error(admin));
+		return EXIT_FAILURE;
+	}
 	drain_results(admin);
 
 	// Verify the settings were applied
@@ -154,9 +172,9 @@ int main() {
 	diag("Waiting for initialization and data collection (7s)...");
 	sleep(7);
 
-	// Use the same host as admin connection for HTTP endpoints
-	string base_url = string("https://") + cl.host + ":6080";
-	string rest_url = string("http://") + cl.host + ":6070";
+	// Use admin interface host for HTTP endpoints
+	string base_url = string("https://") + cl.admin_host + ":6080";
+	string rest_url = string("http://") + cl.admin_host + ":6070";
 	diag("Web dashboard URL: %s", base_url.c_str());
 	diag("REST API URL: %s", rest_url.c_str());
 
@@ -186,7 +204,7 @@ int main() {
 	diag("Testing GET /api/tsdb/status");
 	response.clear();
 	string auth_creds = string(cl.admin_username) + ":" + string(cl.admin_password);
-	diag("Using authentication: %s", auth_creds.c_str());
+	diag("Using authentication with username: %s", cl.admin_username);
 	http_rc = http_get((rest_url + "/api/tsdb/status").c_str(), response, auth_creds.c_str());
 	ok(http_rc == 200, "API /api/tsdb/status returns 200 (got %ld)", http_rc);
 	if (http_rc != 200) {
diff --git a/test/tap/tests/test_tsdb_variables-t.cpp b/test/tap/tests/test_tsdb_variables-t.cpp
index 0da08bdcb..9845ddaf2 100644
--- a/test/tap/tests/test_tsdb_variables-t.cpp
+++ b/test/tap/tests/test_tsdb_variables-t.cpp
@@ -247,12 +247,16 @@ int main() {
 
 	// Also check for our specific test metric
 	string test_metric_count;
-	fetch_single_string(admin,
+	bool test_metric_ok = fetch_single_string(admin,
 		"SELECT COUNT(*) FROM stats_history.tsdb_metrics_hour WHERE metric_name='test_downsample_metric'",
 		test_metric_count);
 	diag("Test metric rows in tsdb_metrics_hour: %s", test_metric_count.c_str());
 
-	ok(ds_ok && atoi(ds_count.c_str()) > 0, "Downsample produced rows in tsdb_metrics_hour (count: %s)", ds_count.c_str());
+	ok(
+		ds_ok && test_metric_ok && atoi(test_metric_count.c_str()) > 0,
+		"Downsample produced rows for test_downsample_metric (metric rows: %s, total rows: %s)",
+		test_metric_count.c_str(), ds_count.c_str()
+	);
 
 	// Cleanup: remove test data
 	diag("Cleaning up test data...");