diff --git a/test/units/testsuite-09.journal.sh b/test/units/testsuite-09.journal.sh
index c6c1f6eccb..2ef192c7a8 100755
--- a/test/units/testsuite-09.journal.sh
+++ b/test/units/testsuite-09.journal.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ set -o pipefail
 . "$(dirname "$0")"/util.sh
 
 get_first_boot_id() {
-    journalctl -b "${1:?}" -o json | jq -sr '.[0]._BOOT_ID'
+    journalctl -b "${1:?}" -o json -n +1 | jq -r '._BOOT_ID'
 }
 
 get_last_boot_id() {
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ get_last_boot_id() {
 }
 
 get_first_timestamp() {
-    journalctl -b "${1:?}" -o json | jq -sr '.[0].__REALTIME_TIMESTAMP'
+    journalctl -b "${1:?}" -o json -n +1 | jq -r '.__REALTIME_TIMESTAMP'
 }
 
 get_last_timestamp() {
diff --git a/test/units/testsuite-82.sh b/test/units/testsuite-82.sh
index b6b6615997..fec29eef12 100755
--- a/test/units/testsuite-82.sh
+++ b/test/units/testsuite-82.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,19 @@
 set -ex
 set -o pipefail
 
+at_exit() {
+    # Since the soft-reboot drops the enqueued end.service, we won't shutdown
+    # the test VM if the test fails and have to wait for the watchdog to kill
+    # us (which may take quite a long time). Let's just forcibly kill the machine
+    # instead to save CI resources.
+    if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
+        echo >&2 "Test failed, shutting down the machine..."
+        systemctl poweroff -ff
+    fi
+}
+
+trap at_exit EXIT
+
 systemd-analyze log-level debug
 
 export SYSTEMD_LOG_LEVEL=debug
@@ -84,7 +97,8 @@ elif [ -f /run/testsuite82.touch ]; then
     test "$x" = "wuffwuff"
 
     # Check that we got a PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata signal with the right type
-    test "$(jq .payload.data[1].type.data </run/testsuite82.signal)" = "\"soft-reboot\""
+    cat /run/testsuite82.signal
+    test "$(jq -r '.payload.data[1].type.data' </run/testsuite82.signal)" = "soft-reboot"
 
     # Upload another entry
     T="/dev/shm/fdstore.$RANDOM"
@@ -181,9 +195,9 @@ EOF
 
     # Check that we can set up an inhibitor, and that busctl monitor sees the
     # PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata signal and that it says 'soft-reboot'.
-    systemd-run --unit busctl.service --property StandardOutput=file:/run/testsuite82.signal \
+    systemd-run --unit busctl.service -p Type=exec --property StandardOutput=file:/run/testsuite82.signal \
         busctl monitor --json=pretty --match 'sender=org.freedesktop.login1,path=/org/freedesktop/login1,interface=org.freedesktop.login1.Manager,member=PrepareForShutdownWithMetadata,type=signal'
-    systemd-run --unit inhibit.service \
+    systemd-run --unit inhibit.service -p Type=exec \
         systemd-inhibit --what=shutdown --who=test --why=test --mode=delay \
             sleep infinity