diff --git a/src/paperless/tests/parsers/conftest.py b/src/paperless/tests/parsers/conftest.py
index 843ffdb88..0ae8c3865 100644
--- a/src/paperless/tests/parsers/conftest.py
+++ b/src/paperless/tests/parsers/conftest.py
@@ -114,7 +114,26 @@ def remote_parser() -> Generator[RemoteDocumentParser, None, None]:
 
 
 @pytest.fixture()
-def azure_settings(settings: SettingsWrapper) -> SettingsWrapper:
+def empty_remote_ocr_app_config(mocker: MockerFixture) -> MagicMock:
+    # empty app config without accessing db
+    app_config = mocker.MagicMock(
+        remote_ocr_engine=None,
+        remote_ocr_api_key=None,
+        remote_ocr_endpoint=None,
+        remote_ocr_mode=None,
+    )
+    mocker.patch(
+        "paperless.config.BaseConfig._get_config_instance",
+        return_value=app_config,
+    )
+    return app_config
+
+
+@pytest.fixture()
+def azure_settings(
+    settings: SettingsWrapper,
+    empty_remote_ocr_app_config: MagicMock,
+) -> SettingsWrapper:
     """Configure Django settings for a valid Azure AI OCR engine.
 
     Sets ``REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE``, ``REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY``, and
@@ -133,7 +152,10 @@ def azure_settings(settings: SettingsWrapper) -> SettingsWrapper:
 
 
 @pytest.fixture()
-def no_engine_settings(settings: SettingsWrapper) -> SettingsWrapper:
+def no_engine_settings(
+    settings: SettingsWrapper,
+    empty_remote_ocr_app_config: MagicMock,
+) -> SettingsWrapper:
     """Configure Django settings with no remote engine configured.
 
     Returns
diff --git a/src/paperless/tests/parsers/test_remote_parser.py b/src/paperless/tests/parsers/test_remote_parser.py
index 278219c36..e55bc5de7 100644
--- a/src/paperless/tests/parsers/test_remote_parser.py
+++ b/src/paperless/tests/parsers/test_remote_parser.py
@@ -34,10 +34,6 @@ if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from pytest_mock import MockerFixture
 
 
-# Remote ocr config from ApplicationConfiguration needs DB access
-pytestmark = pytest.mark.django_db
-
-
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Module-local fixtures
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -203,21 +199,21 @@ class TestRemoteParserScore:
 
     def test_score_returns_none_when_api_key_missing(
         self,
-        settings: SettingsWrapper,
+        no_engine_settings: SettingsWrapper,
     ) -> None:
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = "azureai"
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY = None
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT = "https://test.cognitiveservices.azure.com"
+        no_engine_settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = "azureai"
+        no_engine_settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT = (
+            "https://test.cognitiveservices.azure.com"
+        )
         result = RemoteDocumentParser.score("application/pdf", "doc.pdf")
         assert result is None
 
     def test_score_returns_none_when_endpoint_missing(
         self,
-        settings: SettingsWrapper,
+        no_engine_settings: SettingsWrapper,
     ) -> None:
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = "azureai"
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY = "key"
-        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT = None
+        no_engine_settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = "azureai"
+        no_engine_settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY = "key"
         result = RemoteDocumentParser.score("application/pdf", "doc.pdf")
         assert result is None
 
@@ -232,9 +228,15 @@ class TestRemoteParserScore:
         score = RemoteDocumentParser.score("application/pdf", "doc.pdf")
         assert score is not None and score > 10
 
-    @pytest.mark.usefixtures("no_engine_settings")
-    def test_score_uses_app_config_when_env_unset(self) -> None:
+    @pytest.mark.django_db
+    def test_score_uses_app_config_when_env_unset(
+        self,
+        settings: SettingsWrapper,
+    ) -> None:
         """The app config alone is enough to activate the parser."""
+        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENGINE = None
+        settings.REMOTE_OCR_API_KEY = None
+        settings.REMOTE_OCR_ENDPOINT = None
         config = ApplicationConfiguration.objects.first()
         assert config is not None
         config.remote_ocr_engine = "azureai"