diff --git a/.github/workflows/backend-integration.yml b/.github/workflows/backend-integration.yml
index 5ba537068..61e55d3c7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/backend-integration.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/backend-integration.yml
@@ -73,11 +73,21 @@ jobs:
         run: npm run build
         working-directory: ${{ matrix.node }}/integration/backend
 
+      - name: Verify config file exists
+        run: |
+          ls -la mempool-config.test.json
+          echo "Current directory: ${PWD}"
+          echo "Config file will be: ${{ github.workspace }}/${{ matrix.node }}/integration/backend/mempool-config.test.json"
+          test -f mempool-config.test.json || (echo "ERROR: Config file not found!" && exit 1)
+        working-directory: ${{ matrix.node }}/integration/backend
+
       - name: Run integration tests (DB auto-starts via Jest)
-        run: npm run test:integration
+        run: |
+          echo "MEMPOOL_CONFIG_FILE=$MEMPOOL_CONFIG_FILE"
+          npm run test:integration
         working-directory: ${{ matrix.node }}/integration/backend
         env:
-          MEMPOOL_CONFIG_FILE: ./mempool-config.test.json
+          MEMPOOL_CONFIG_FILE: ${{ github.workspace }}/${{ matrix.node }}/integration/backend/mempool-config.test.json
 
       - name: Start MariaDB for server test
         run: docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml up -d
@@ -119,7 +129,7 @@ jobs:
           fi
         working-directory: ${{ matrix.node }}/integration/backend
         env:
-          MEMPOOL_CONFIG_FILE: ./mempool-config.test.json
+          MEMPOOL_CONFIG_FILE: ${{ github.workspace }}/${{ matrix.node }}/integration/backend/mempool-config.test.json
 
       - name: Cleanup containers
         if: always()
diff --git a/backend/package.json b/backend/package.json
index aec9b94b3..5a86f015f 100644
--- a/backend/package.json
+++ b/backend/package.json
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
     "reindex-all-blocks": "npm run start-production --update-pools --reindex-blocks",
     "test": "./node_modules/.bin/jest --coverage",
     "test:ci": "CI=true ./node_modules/.bin/jest --coverage",
-    "test:integration": "MEMPOOL_CONFIG_FILE=$(pwd)/mempool-config.test.json ./node_modules/.bin/jest --config=jest.integration.config.ts --runInBand --forceExit",
+    "test:integration": "./node_modules/.bin/jest --config=jest.integration.config.ts --runInBand --forceExit",
     "test:with-db": "bash ./scripts/test-with-db.sh",
     "lint": "./node_modules/.bin/eslint . --ext .ts",
     "lint:fix": "./node_modules/.bin/eslint . --ext .ts --fix",
diff --git a/backend/scripts/test-with-db.sh b/backend/scripts/test-with-db.sh
index 5b29be8ae..4790b3ca3 100755
--- a/backend/scripts/test-with-db.sh
+++ b/backend/scripts/test-with-db.sh
@@ -79,11 +79,15 @@ npm run build
 # Run integration tests with absolute path to config
 # SKIP_DB_SETUP=1 and SKIP_DB_TEARDOWN=1 tell Jest that we're managing the database lifecycle
 echo -e "${GREEN}Running integration tests...${NC}"
-SKIP_DB_SETUP=1 SKIP_DB_TEARDOWN=1 MEMPOOL_CONFIG_FILE="$BACKEND_DIR/mempool-config.test.json" npm run test:integration
+export MEMPOOL_CONFIG_FILE="$BACKEND_DIR/mempool-config.test.json"
+export SKIP_DB_SETUP=1
+export SKIP_DB_TEARDOWN=1
+npm run test:integration
 
 # Start the backend server in the background
+# MEMPOOL_CONFIG_FILE is already exported above
 echo -e "${GREEN}Starting backend server...${NC}"
-MEMPOOL_CONFIG_FILE="$BACKEND_DIR/mempool-config.test.json" node dist/index.js &
+node dist/index.js &
 SERVER_PID=$!
 
 # Wait for server to start and verify connection