diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 4c50eb6..349c5dd 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/gin-gonic/gin v1.12.0
 	github.com/jackc/pgx/v5 v5.11.0
 	github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1
-	github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-go v0.44.0
 	github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-go/modules/postgres v0.44.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel v1.46.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/metric v1.46.0
@@ -93,6 +92,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/shirou/gopsutil/v4 v4.26.6 // indirect
 	github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.9.4 // indirect
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.12.1 // indirect
+	github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-go v0.44.0 // indirect
 	github.com/tklauser/go-sysconf v0.4.0 // indirect
 	github.com/tklauser/numcpus v0.12.0 // indirect
 	github.com/twitchyliquid64/golang-asm v0.15.1 // indirect
diff --git a/internal/core/repository/psql/user_repository_integration_test.go b/internal/core/repository/psql/user_repository_integration_test.go
index 3c9a9c9..03bb098 100644
--- a/internal/core/repository/psql/user_repository_integration_test.go
+++ b/internal/core/repository/psql/user_repository_integration_test.go
@@ -18,27 +18,24 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
-	"time"
 
 	"github.com/duynhlab/user-service/internal/core/domain"
 	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5"
 	"github.com/jackc/pgx/v5/pgxpool"
-	"github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-go"
 	"github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-go/modules/postgres"
-	"github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-go/wait"
 )
 
 func newTestDB(t *testing.T) *pgxpool.Pool {
 	t.Helper()
 	ctx := context.Background()
 
-	container, err := postgres.Run(ctx, "postgres:16-alpine",
+	container, err := postgres.Run(ctx, "postgres:18-alpine",
 		postgres.WithDatabase("user"),
 		postgres.WithUsername("user"),
 		postgres.WithPassword("secret"),
-		testcontainers.WithWaitStrategy(
-			wait.ForListeningPort("5432/tcp").WithStartupTimeout(90*time.Second),
-		),
+		// Ready twice (initdb restarts the server once), then the published
+		// port: the module's own strategy, so a test never races the restart.
+		postgres.BasicWaitStrategies(),
 	)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("start postgres container: %v", err)