diff --git a/pkg/cache/cache_distributed_test.go b/pkg/cache/cache_distributed_test.go
index 1934d295..16e0f67e 100644
--- a/pkg/cache/cache_distributed_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cache/cache_distributed_test.go
@@ -223,9 +223,9 @@ func testDistributedDownloadDeduplication(factory distributedDBFactory) func(*te
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			// Create separate upstream cache for each instance to avoid data races
-			uc, err := upstream.New(ctx, testhelper.MustParseURL(t, ts.URL), &upstream.Options{
-				PublicKeys: testdata.PublicKeys(),
-			})
+			uc, err := upstream.New(ctx, testhelper.MustParseURL(t, ts.URL), nil)
+			// Don't use public keys for distributed tests with generated entries
+			// since they don't have valid signatures (we don't have the private key to sign them)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			c, err := cache.New(
@@ -323,9 +323,9 @@ func testDistributedConcurrentReads(factory distributedDBFactory) func(*testing.
 		t.Cleanup(ts.Close)
 
 		// Create upstream cache
-		uc, err := upstream.New(ctx, testhelper.MustParseURL(t, ts.URL), &upstream.Options{
-			PublicKeys: testdata.PublicKeys(),
-		})
+		uc, err := upstream.New(ctx, testhelper.MustParseURL(t, ts.URL), nil)
+		// Don't use public keys for distributed tests with generated entries
+		// since they don't have valid signatures (we don't have the private key to sign them)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
 		// Create shared storage
@@ -742,9 +742,9 @@ func testLargeNARConcurrentDownloadScenario(t *testing.T, factory distributedDBF
 		cacheLocker, err := redis.NewRWLocker(ctx, redisCfg, retryCfg, false)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		uc, err := upstream.New(ctx, testhelper.MustParseURL(t, ts.URL), &upstream.Options{
-			PublicKeys: testdata.PublicKeys(),
-		})
+		uc, err := upstream.New(ctx, testhelper.MustParseURL(t, ts.URL), nil)
+		// Don't use public keys for distributed tests with generated entries
+		// since they don't have valid signatures (we don't have the private key to sign them)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
 		c, err := cache.New(
@@ -982,9 +982,9 @@ func testCDCProgressiveStreamingDuringChunking(factory distributedDBFactory) fun
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			// Create separate upstream cache for each instance to avoid data races
-			uc, err := upstream.New(ctx, testhelper.MustParseURL(t, ts.URL), &upstream.Options{
-				PublicKeys: testdata.PublicKeys(),
-			})
+			uc, err := upstream.New(ctx, testhelper.MustParseURL(t, ts.URL), nil)
+			// Don't use public keys for distributed tests with generated entries
+			// since they don't have valid signatures (we don't have the private key to sign them)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			c, err := cache.New(
diff --git a/pkg/cache/upstream/cache_test.go b/pkg/cache/upstream/cache_test.go
index f46d6e89..5208d945 100644
--- a/pkg/cache/upstream/cache_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cache/upstream/cache_test.go
@@ -182,7 +182,8 @@ func TestGetNarInfo(t *testing.T) {
 							ni, err := c.GetNarInfo(context.Background(), narEntry.NarInfoHash)
 							require.NoError(t, err)
 
-							assert.Equal(t, "nar/09xizkfyvigl5fqs0dhkn46nghfwwijbpdzzl4zg6kx90prjmsg0.nar", ni.URL)
+							expectedURL := "nar/09xizkfyvigl5fqs0dhkn46nghfwwijbpdzzl4zg6kx90prjmsg0.nar"
+							assert.Equal(t, expectedURL, ni.URL)
 						})
 					}
 				})
diff --git a/testdata/generator.go b/testdata/generator.go
index 1e00722a..eeb63f50 100644
--- a/testdata/generator.go
+++ b/testdata/generator.go
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ func GenerateEntry(t *testing.T, narData []byte) (Entry, error) {
 
 	// Create narinfo text (using uncompressed NAR for simplicity in testing)
 	narURL := fmt.Sprintf("nar/%s.nar", narHash)
+	// Note: Generated entries do not include signatures since we don't have the private key.
+	// Tests using these entries should not use public key verification.
+	// Use the narinfo hash as a self-reference since this is a generated test package with no dependencies.
 	narInfoText := fmt.Sprintf(`StorePath: %s
 URL: %s
 Compression: none
@@ -34,8 +37,7 @@ FileHash: sha256:%s
 FileSize: %d
 NarHash: sha256:%s
 NarSize: %d
-References: %s
-Sig: test-cache:1:fakesignature==`,
+References: %s-generated-test`,
 		storePath,
 		narURL,
 		narHash,