diff --git a/crates/wright-cli/src/ui.rs b/crates/wright-cli/src/ui.rs
index 882bc3e1..f6dfd071 100644
--- a/crates/wright-cli/src/ui.rs
+++ b/crates/wright-cli/src/ui.rs
@@ -349,20 +349,17 @@ mod server {
         content_type: &str,
         body: Vec<u8>,
     ) -> tiny_http::Response<Cursor<Vec<u8>>> {
-        // `Connection: close` on every answer: the server loop handles one
-        // request at a time, and a browser keep-alive or preconnect socket
-        // would otherwise stall every later request waiting on its first
-        // request line.
+        // Keep-alive stays enabled on purpose: each connection's reader task
+        // parks on its own socket inside tiny_http's unbounded worker pool, so
+        // an idle or preconnected socket never stalls the serial dispatch
+        // loop. Answering `Connection: close` instead would drop requests the
+        // browser had already dispatched onto a socket it believed reusable.
         tiny_http::Response::empty(status)
             .with_data(Cursor::new(body.clone()), Some(body.len()))
             .with_header(
                 tiny_http::Header::from_bytes("Content-Type".as_bytes(), content_type.as_bytes())
                     .expect("content types are ASCII"),
             )
-            .with_header(
-                tiny_http::Header::from_bytes("Connection".as_bytes(), "close".as_bytes())
-                    .expect("Connection: close is ASCII"),
-            )
     }
 
     /// Open the session URL in the system browser with the platform's
diff --git a/ui/scripts/e2e.mjs b/ui/scripts/e2e.mjs
index 0b384e1e..a099d3f1 100644
--- a/ui/scripts/e2e.mjs
+++ b/ui/scripts/e2e.mjs
@@ -488,7 +488,9 @@ async function main() {
     cdp?.close()
     chrome?.kill('SIGKILL')
     ui.kill()
-    rmSync(profile, { recursive: true, force: true })
+    // Chrome keeps writing profile files briefly after SIGKILL; retry the
+    // removal instead of flaking the run on a teardown race.
+    rmSync(profile, { recursive: true, force: true, maxRetries: 20, retryDelay: 100 })
   }
 
   if (failures > 0) {