diff --git a/tests/playwright/e2e/core/header-contacts-menu.spec.ts b/tests/playwright/e2e/core/header-contacts-menu.spec.ts
index 04eedcb9492..f11f3bc2d25 100644
--- a/tests/playwright/e2e/core/header-contacts-menu.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright/e2e/core/header-contacts-menu.spec.ts
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ test.describe('Header: Contacts menu', () => {
 	test('users from other groups are not seen when user enumeration is restricted to the same group', async ({ page, contactUser }) => {
 		// Enable restriction first, then open the menu.
 		await runOcc(['config:app:set', '--value', 'yes', 'core', 'shareapi_restrict_user_enumeration_to_group'])
-		await new Promise((resolve) => globalThis.setTimeout(resolve, 3000)) // wait for app config cache to expire
 		try {
 			await page.goto('/')
 			const contactsMenu = new ContactsMenuPage(page)
@@ -106,9 +105,7 @@ test.describe('Header: Contacts menu', () => {
 
 			// Close, lift the restriction, reopen — the contact should reappear.
 			await runOcc(['config:app:set', '--value', 'no', 'core', 'shareapi_restrict_user_enumeration_to_group'])
-			const waitForAppConfigCacheTTL = new Promise((resolve) => globalThis.setTimeout(resolve, 3000)) // wait for app config cache to expire
 			await contactsMenu.close()
-			await waitForAppConfigCacheTTL
 
 			await page.reload()
 			await contactsMenu.open()
diff --git a/tests/playwright/start-nextcloud-server.js b/tests/playwright/start-nextcloud-server.js
index ac81788f692..bf4c9d54ea3 100644
--- a/tests/playwright/start-nextcloud-server.js
+++ b/tests/playwright/start-nextcloud-server.js
@@ -49,13 +49,19 @@ async function start() {
 	await configureNextcloud()
 
 	process.stdout.write('\nApply custom configuration for Playwright tests\n')
+	await runExec(['php', '-r', '$db = new SQLite3("data/owncloud.db");$db->busyTimeout(5000);$db->exec("PRAGMA journal_mode = wal;");'])
+	process.stdout.write('├─ Enabled SQLite WAL mode for better performance\n')
+
+	await runOcc(['config:system:set', 'cache_app_config', '--value', 'false', '--type', 'boolean'])
+	process.stdout.write('├─ Disabled caching AppConfig\n') // otherwise test setup using OCC will need to wait 3s so that web cache TTL expires
+
 	await runOcc(['config:system:set', 'appstoreenabled', '--value', 'false', '--type', 'boolean'])
 	process.stdout.write('├─ Disabled app store\n')
+
 	// createRandomUser() generates short passwords that the policy would reject
 	await runOcc(['app:disable', 'password_policy'])
 	process.stdout.write('├─ Disabled password policy for random test users\n')
-	await runExec(['php', '-r', '$db = new SQLite3("data/owncloud.db");$db->busyTimeout(5000);$db->exec("PRAGMA journal_mode = wal;");'])
-	process.stdout.write('├─ Enabled SQLite WAL mode for better performance\n')
+
 	process.stdout.write('├─ Initialize cron job...\n')
 	await runExec(['php', 'cron.php'])
 	process.stdout.write('│  └─ OK !\n')