diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_moa_numeric_config.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_moa_numeric_config.py
index 3a71bf8a93..8e00ca09f1 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_moa_numeric_config.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_moa_numeric_config.py
@@ -1,56 +1,34 @@
 """Malformed numeric MoA settings must degrade to defaults, not break the CLI or JSON."""
 
 import json
-import os
-from pathlib import Path
-import subprocess
-import sys
+import math
 
 import pytest
-import yaml
 
 from hermes_cli.moa_config import normalize_moa_config
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("fanout", [
     {"mode": "every_n", "n": float("inf")},
-    {"mode": "every_n", "n": float("-inf")},
-    {"mode": "every_n", "n": "inf"},
     {"mode": "every_n", "n": "-inf"},
     "every_n:inf",
-    "every_n:-inf",
+    "every_n:nan",
 ])
-def test_moa_list_tolerates_nonfinite_fanout(tmp_path, fanout):
-    home = tmp_path / "profile"
-    home.mkdir()
-    (home / "config.yaml").write_text(yaml.safe_dump({"moa": {"fanout": fanout}}))
-    env = {**os.environ, "HERMES_HOME": str(home)}
-    result = subprocess.run(
-        [sys.executable, "-m", "hermes_cli.main", "moa", "list"],
-        cwd=Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2],
-        env=env, capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=45,
-    )
-    assert result.returncode == 0, result.stdout + result.stderr
-    normalized = normalize_moa_config({"fanout": fanout})
-    assert normalized["fanout"] == normalize_moa_config({})["fanout"]
+def test_nonfinite_fanout_falls_back_to_default_cadence(fanout):
+    assert normalize_moa_config({"fanout": fanout})["fanout"] == normalize_moa_config({})["fanout"]
+    assert normalize_moa_config({"fanout": {"mode": "every_n", "n": "3.0"}})["fanout"] == "every_n:3"
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("temperature", [float("nan"), float("inf"), float("-inf"), "NaN", "inf", "-inf"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("temperature", [float("nan"), float("inf"), "-inf", "NaN"])
 def test_nonfinite_temperatures_do_not_escape_into_json(temperature):
-    raw = {
+    normalized = normalize_moa_config({
         "reference_temperature": temperature,
         "aggregator_temperature": temperature,
-    }
-    normalized = normalize_moa_config(raw)
+    })
     assert normalized["reference_temperature"] is None
     assert normalized["aggregator_temperature"] is None
     json.dumps(normalized, allow_nan=False)
 
-    finite = normalize_moa_config({
-        "reference_temperature": 0,
-        "aggregator_temperature": "0.75",
-        "fanout": {"mode": "every_n", "n": "3.0"},
-    })
-    assert finite["reference_temperature"] == 0
+    finite = normalize_moa_config({"reference_temperature": 0, "aggregator_temperature": "0.75"})
+    assert finite["reference_temperature"] == 0 and math.isfinite(finite["reference_temperature"])
     assert finite["aggregator_temperature"] == 0.75
-    assert finite["fanout"] == "every_n:3"