diff --git a/test/helpers.js b/test/helpers.js
index e5fa375..6b6c3cd 100644
--- a/test/helpers.js
+++ b/test/helpers.js
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ async function createStores (n, t) {
   for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
     const storage = await tmpDir()
     const primaryKey = Buffer.alloc(32, i)
-    stores.push(new Corestore(storage, { primaryKey }))
+    stores.push(new Corestore(storage, { primaryKey, unsafe: true }))
   }
 
   t.teardown(() => Promise.all(stores.map(s => s.close())), { order: 2 })