diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bcd0466
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+"""Shared test configuration — sets env vars ONCE before any test module runs.
+
+The env must be consistent for the whole pytest session: server.py freezes
+COLLECTION_NAME/QDRANT_URL at import time, while the integration fixture
+reads os.environ at fixture time. If any test module mutates os.environ after
+that (test_server.py used to set COLLECTION_NAME='test'), the fixture creates
+a different collection than the one server functions query → 404.
+Keep all env wiring here so import order no longer matters.
+"""
+
+import os
+
+os.environ.setdefault("QDRANT_URL", "http://localhost:6333")
+os.environ.setdefault("COLLECTION_NAME", "test_mcp_maildir")
+os.environ.setdefault("EMBEDDING_MODEL_NAME", "BAAI/bge-small-en-v1.5")
diff --git a/tests/test_integration.py b/tests/test_integration.py
index 4220fa4..c74251b 100644
--- a/tests/test_integration.py
+++ b/tests/test_integration.py
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
-"""Integration tests for mcp-maildir with a real Qdrant instance."""
+"""Integration tests for mcp-maildir with a real Qdrant instance.
+
+Env vars (QDRANT_URL, COLLECTION_NAME, EMBEDDING_MODEL_NAME) are set in
+tests/conftest.py — don't set them here, they must match server.py's
+import-time snapshot for every module in the session.
+"""
 
 import os
 import uuid
 import pytest
 
-os.environ["QDRANT_URL"] = "http://localhost:6333"
-os.environ["COLLECTION_NAME"] = "test_mcp_maildir"
-os.environ["EMBEDDING_MODEL_NAME"] = "BAAI/bge-small-en-v1.5"
-
 from server import get_qdrant_client, get_embedding_model, search_emails, read_email
 from qdrant_client.http import models
 
diff --git a/tests/test_server.py b/tests/test_server.py
index 440945e..34ad7db 100644
--- a/tests/test_server.py
+++ b/tests/test_server.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-"""Unit tests for mcp-maildir server pure functions."""
+"""Unit tests for mcp-maildir server pure functions.
 
-import os
-os.environ["QDRANT_URL"] = "http://localhost:6333"
-os.environ["COLLECTION_NAME"] = "test"
+Env vars are set in tests/conftest.py (shared session-wide) — see the
+conftest docstring for why test modules must not touch os.environ.
+"""
 
 from server import (
     normalize_email_address,