diff --git a/tests/unit/Services/ImageModelRegistryTest.php b/tests/unit/Services/ImageModelRegistryTest.php
index 77359e3..3c6d208 100644
--- a/tests/unit/Services/ImageModelRegistryTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/Services/ImageModelRegistryTest.php
@@ -16,6 +16,18 @@ use PRAutoBlogger\Tests\BaseTestCase;
 
 class ImageModelRegistryTest extends BaseTestCase {
 
+	/**
+	 * Stub WP cache functions so the catalog class falls back to the
+	 * hardcoded model list without hitting get_option or update_option.
+	 */
+	protected function setUp(): void {
+		parent::setUp();
+		// Catalog checks for cached data; return false → falls back to hardcoded list.
+		\Brain\Monkey\Functions\when( 'get_option' )->justReturn( false );
+		// Catalog writes cache on sync; stub so it doesn't throw in tests.
+		\Brain\Monkey\Functions\when( 'update_option' )->justReturn( true );
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Every entry returned by get_models() must carry a non-empty id and
 	 * a provider of 'runware' or 'openrouter' (Cloudflare Workers AI was