diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 04d4971..139f69c 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "pydantic-settings>=2",
     "modern-di-typer>=3,<4",
     "httpx2>=2",
-    "httpware[pydantic]>=0.15.0",
+    "httpware[pydantic]>=0.18.0",
 ]
 
 [project.scripts]
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 589a182..e9c4bd4 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -105,9 +105,9 @@ def gitlab_transport() -> httpx2.MockTransport:
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def gitlab_client(gitlab_transport: httpx2.MockTransport) -> collections.abc.Iterator[httpx2.Client]:
+def gitlab_http(gitlab_transport: httpx2.MockTransport) -> collections.abc.Iterator[httpware.Client]:
     config: typing.Final = GitLabConfig(endpoint=GITLAB_ENDPOINT, token=pydantic.SecretStr(GITLAB_TOKEN))
-    with httpx2.Client(
+    with httpware.Client(
         transport=gitlab_transport,
         base_url=GITLAB_ENDPOINT,
         timeout=_REQUEST_TIMEOUT,
@@ -116,11 +116,6 @@ def gitlab_client(gitlab_transport: httpx2.MockTransport) -> collections.abc.Ite
         yield client
 
 
-@pytest.fixture
-def gitlab_http(gitlab_client: httpx2.Client) -> httpware.Client:
-    return httpware.Client(httpx2_client=gitlab_client)
-
-
 @pytest.fixture
 def gitlab_provider(gitlab_http: httpware.Client) -> GitLabProvider:
     config: typing.Final = GitLabConfig(endpoint=GITLAB_ENDPOINT, token=pydantic.SecretStr(GITLAB_TOKEN))
diff --git a/tests/integration/README.md b/tests/integration/README.md
index f1c1d3c..964386c 100644
--- a/tests/integration/README.md
+++ b/tests/integration/README.md
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Integration tests inject `httpx2.MockTransport` into the production `httpware.Cl
 Two seams exist, depending on the test entry point:
 
 - **CLI-level tests** (`test_cli_*.py`) drive `semvertag.__main__` through Typer's `CliRunner` and let the DI container build the production stack. They override `ioc.ProvidersGroup.gitlab_client` with a mock-backed `httpware.Client` via the `install_mock_transport` fixture in `conftest.py`.
-- **Provider-level tests** (`test_gitlab_provider.py`) bypass the container and call the `_make_provider(handler)` helper, which constructs an `httpware.Client(httpx2_client=httpx2.Client(transport=httpx2.MockTransport(handler), base_url=...))` directly.
+- **Provider-level tests** (`test_gitlab_provider.py`) bypass the container and call the `_make_provider(handler)` helper, which constructs an `httpware.Client(transport=httpx2.MockTransport(handler), base_url=...)` directly.
 
 ## Disabling retry sleeps
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/conftest.py b/tests/integration/conftest.py
index 8a317da..d7ef2ca 100644
--- a/tests/integration/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/integration/conftest.py
@@ -55,12 +55,7 @@ def cli_env(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
 def install_mock_transport() -> typing.Iterator[collections.abc.Callable[[HandlerCallable], None]]:
     def install(handler: HandlerCallable) -> None:
         mock_transport: typing.Final = httpx2.MockTransport(handler)
-        mock_client: typing.Final = httpware.Client(
-            httpx2_client=httpx2.Client(
-                transport=mock_transport,
-                base_url=GITLAB_ENDPOINT,
-            )
-        )
+        mock_client: typing.Final = httpware.Client(transport=mock_transport, base_url=GITLAB_ENDPOINT)
         ioc.container.override(ioc.ProvidersGroup.gitlab_client, mock_client)
 
     with ioc.container:
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_github_provider.py b/tests/integration/test_github_provider.py
index 3ce9d59..1f2509d 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_github_provider.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_github_provider.py
@@ -60,11 +60,10 @@ def _make_provider(
     handler: HandlerCallable,
     *,
     default_branch: str | None = None,
-) -> tuple[GitHubProvider, httpx2.Client]:
-    transport = httpx2.MockTransport(handler)
+) -> tuple[GitHubProvider, httpware.Client]:
     config = GitHubConfig(endpoint=GITHUB_ENDPOINT, token=pydantic.SecretStr(GITHUB_TOKEN))
-    inner = httpx2.Client(
-        transport=transport,
+    client = httpware.Client(
+        transport=httpx2.MockTransport(handler),
         base_url=GITHUB_ENDPOINT,
         headers={
             "Authorization": f"Bearer {config.token.get_secret_value()}",
@@ -72,11 +71,8 @@ def _make_provider(
             "X-GitHub-Api-Version": "2022-11-28",
         },
     )
-    client = httpware.Client(httpx2_client=inner)
     provider = GitHubProvider(config=config, repo=GITHUB_REPO, http=client, default_branch=default_branch)
-    # Return the inner httpx2.Client so tests can use it as a context manager
-    # for teardown; httpware.Client doesn't own its lifecycle when constructed via httpx2_client=.
-    return provider, inner
+    return provider, client
 
 
 # Protocol conformance
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_gitlab_provider.py b/tests/integration/test_gitlab_provider.py
index 3df0f3f..d078500 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_gitlab_provider.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_gitlab_provider.py
@@ -44,21 +44,17 @@ def _make_provider(
     handler: HandlerCallable,
     *,
     default_branch: str | None = None,
-) -> tuple[GitLabProvider, httpx2.Client]:
-    transport: typing.Final = httpx2.MockTransport(handler)
+) -> tuple[GitLabProvider, httpware.Client]:
     config: typing.Final = GitLabConfig(endpoint=GITLAB_ENDPOINT, token=pydantic.SecretStr(GITLAB_TOKEN))
-    inner_client: typing.Final = httpx2.Client(
-        transport=transport,
+    http: typing.Final = httpware.Client(
+        transport=httpx2.MockTransport(handler),
         base_url=GITLAB_ENDPOINT,
         headers={_TOKEN_HEADER: config.token.get_secret_value()},
     )
-    http: typing.Final = httpware.Client(httpx2_client=inner_client)
     provider: typing.Final = GitLabProvider(
         config=config, project_id=GITLAB_PROJECT_ID, http=http, default_branch=default_branch
     )
-    # Return the inner httpx2.Client so tests can use it as a context manager
-    # for teardown; httpware.Client doesn't own its lifecycle when constructed via httpx2_client=.
-    return provider, inner_client
+    return provider, http
 
 
 # Protocol conformance