diff --git a/crates/pds-server/tests/pds_integration.rs b/crates/pds-server/tests/pds_integration.rs
index 59308e8..7bf7c28 100644
--- a/crates/pds-server/tests/pds_integration.rs
+++ b/crates/pds-server/tests/pds_integration.rs
@@ -758,8 +758,14 @@ async fn sync_list_repos_includes_recent_user() {
         return;
     }
     let (c, did, _jwt, _cids) = fresh_user_with_records().await;
-    // Page through listRepos with a small limit until we see our DID.
-    let mut cursor: Option<String> = None;
+    // Page through listRepos until we see our DID. Start the cursor
+    // immediately *below* the target rather than at the beginning of
+    // the table: `repos` grows without bound on a long-lived dev
+    // instance (a few thousand rows already), and scanning from the
+    // top made this test fail purely because the DID sorted past the
+    // iteration cap. Anchoring at the DID keeps the cursor round trip
+    // under test while staying independent of table size.
+    let mut cursor: Option<String> = Some(did_cursor_just_before(&did));
     let mut found = false;
     for _ in 0..50 {
         let url = match &cursor {
@@ -1022,6 +1028,23 @@ fn urlencode(s: &str) -> String {
         .collect()
 }
 
+/// The immediate keyset predecessor of `did`: the same string with
+/// its last byte decremented. `listRepos` filters with `did > cursor`,
+/// so paging from here puts `did` on the first page regardless of how
+/// many repos precede it in the table. Unlike [`did_cursor_lt`] — which
+/// decrements the *first* byte and therefore lands before every
+/// `did:...` — this stays adjacent to the target.
+///
+/// DIDs are ASCII (`did:plc:` + base32), so byte surgery is safe here.
+fn did_cursor_just_before(did: &str) -> String {
+    let mut bytes = did.as_bytes().to_vec();
+    match bytes.last_mut() {
+        Some(b) if *b > 0 => *b -= 1,
+        _ => return did.to_string(),
+    }
+    String::from_utf8(bytes).unwrap_or_else(|_| did.to_string())
+}
+
 fn did_cursor_lt(did: &str) -> String {
     let bytes = did.as_bytes();
     let mut prefix = Vec::with_capacity(bytes.len());