diff --git a/e2e/tests/auth.setup.ts b/e2e/tests/auth.setup.ts
index 8ece5c61..a18309ba 100644
--- a/e2e/tests/auth.setup.ts
+++ b/e2e/tests/auth.setup.ts
@@ -2,11 +2,12 @@ import { expect, test as setup } from '@playwright/test'
 import { mkdir } from 'node:fs/promises'
 import { dirname } from 'node:path'
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
+import { routeUrl } from './helpers'
 
 const authState = fileURLToPath(new URL('../playwright/.auth/admin.json', import.meta.url))
 
 setup('authenticate through the demo login UI', async ({ page }) => {
-  await page.goto('/login', { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded' })
+  await page.goto(routeUrl('/login'), { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded' })
 
   await page.getByPlaceholder('Username').fill(process.env.E2E_USERNAME ?? 'admin')
   await page.getByPlaceholder('Password').fill(process.env.E2E_PASSWORD ?? 'admin')
@@ -31,4 +32,3 @@ setup('authenticate through the demo login UI', async ({ page }) => {
   await mkdir(dirname(authState), { recursive: true })
   await page.context().storageState({ path: authState })
 })
-
diff --git a/e2e/tests/helpers.ts b/e2e/tests/helpers.ts
index 9e167fff..0315406a 100644
--- a/e2e/tests/helpers.ts
+++ b/e2e/tests/helpers.ts
@@ -8,11 +8,19 @@ interface PersistedUserState {
   token?: string
 }
 
-export async function gotoRoute(page: Page, route: string) {
-  const response = await page.goto(route, { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded' })
+export function routeUrl(route: string) {
+  return `/#${route.startsWith('/') ? route : `/${route}`}`
+}
 
-  expect(response, `Navigation to ${route} did not return a response`).not.toBeNull()
-  expect(response?.ok(), `Navigation to ${route} returned ${response?.status()}`).toBe(true)
+export async function gotoRoute(page: Page, route: string) {
+  const url = routeUrl(route)
+  const response = await page.goto(url, { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded' })
+
+  if (response) {
+    expect(response.ok(), `Navigation to ${url} returned ${response.status()}`).toBe(true)
+  }
+  await expect.poll(() => new URL(page.url()).pathname).toBe('/')
+  await expect.poll(() => new URL(page.url()).hash).toBe(url.slice(1))
   await expect(page).not.toHaveURL(/\/login(?:\?|$)/)
 }
 
@@ -70,7 +78,7 @@ function containsCode(value: unknown, expectedCode: number): boolean {
 }
 
 export async function expectDemoRefusal(response: APIResponse) {
-  expect(response.status()).toBe(403)
+  expect(response.status()).toBe(500)
   expect(response.headers()['content-type']).toContain('application/json')
 
   const body = await response.json() as unknown
@@ -83,6 +91,5 @@ export function numberFromText(text: string): number {
 }
 
 export async function expectPositiveText(locator: Locator, timeout = 45_000) {
-  await expect.poll(async () => numberFromText(await locator.innerText()), { timeout }).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+  await expect.poll(async () => numberFromText(await locator.textContent() ?? ''), { timeout }).toBeGreaterThan(0)
 }
-