diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/drivers/net/psp.py b/tools/testing/selftests/drivers/net/psp.py
index 5a81f40cac7d..0a2329f41431 100755
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/drivers/net/psp.py
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/drivers/net/psp.py
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import struct
 import termios
 import time
 
+from contextlib import contextmanager
+
 from lib.py import defer
 from lib.py import ksft_run, ksft_exit, ksft_pr
 from lib.py import ksft_true, ksft_eq, ksft_ne, ksft_gt, ksft_raises
@@ -58,6 +60,17 @@ def _make_psp_conn(cfg, version=0, ipver=None):
     return s
 
 
+@contextmanager
+def _make_lo_conn():
+    # After tx-assoc, the client's egress is dropped, since lo has no
+    # psp_dev, so its FIN never reaches the server. Closing the server
+    # resets the unaccepted child, and the client accepts the cleartext
+    # RST because it hasn't received any PSP traffic yet.
+    with socket.create_server(("localhost", 0)) as srv, \
+         socket.create_connection(srv.getsockname()[:2]) as s:
+        yield s
+
+
 def _close_conn(cfg, s):
     _send_with_ack(cfg, b'data close\0')
     s.close()
@@ -200,20 +213,18 @@ def dev_rotate_spi(cfg):
     _init_psp_dev(cfg)
 
     top_a = top_b = 0
-    with socket.socket(socket.AF_INET6, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s:
+    with _make_lo_conn() as s:
         assoc_a = cfg.pspnl.rx_assoc({"version": 0,
                                      "dev-id": cfg.psp_dev_id,
                                      "sock-fd": s.fileno()})
         top_a = assoc_a['rx-key']['spi'] >> 31
-        s.close()
     rot = cfg.pspnl.key_rotate({"id": cfg.psp_dev_id})
-    with socket.socket(socket.AF_INET6, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s:
+    with _make_lo_conn() as s:
         ksft_eq(rot['id'], cfg.psp_dev_id)
         assoc_b = cfg.pspnl.rx_assoc({"version": 0,
                                     "dev-id": cfg.psp_dev_id,
                                     "sock-fd": s.fileno()})
         top_b = assoc_b['rx-key']['spi'] >> 31
-        s.close()
     ksft_ne(top_a, top_b)
 
 
@@ -221,7 +232,7 @@ def assoc_basic(cfg):
     """ Test creating associations """
     _init_psp_dev(cfg)
 
-    with socket.socket(socket.AF_INET6, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s:
+    with _make_lo_conn() as s:
         assoc = cfg.pspnl.rx_assoc({"version": 0,
                                   "dev-id": cfg.psp_dev_id,
                                   "sock-fd": s.fileno()})
@@ -234,7 +245,6 @@ def assoc_basic(cfg):
                                   "tx-key": assoc['rx-key'],
                                   "sock-fd": s.fileno()})
         ksft_eq(len(assoc), 0)
-        s.close()
 
 
 def assoc_bad_dev(cfg):
@@ -320,7 +330,7 @@ def assoc_version_mismatch(cfg):
     # Translate versions to integers
     versions = [cfg.pspnl.consts["version"].entries[v].value for v in versions]
 
-    with socket.socket(socket.AF_INET6, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s:
+    with _make_lo_conn() as s:
         rx = cfg.pspnl.rx_assoc({"version": versions[0],
                                  "dev-id": cfg.psp_dev_id,
                                  "sock-fd": s.fileno()})
@@ -393,7 +403,7 @@ def assoc_twice(cfg):
 
         return assoc
 
-    with socket.socket(socket.AF_INET6, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s:
+    with _make_lo_conn() as s:
         assoc = rx_assoc_check(s)
         tx = cfg.pspnl.tx_assoc({"dev-id": cfg.psp_dev_id,
                                "version": 0,
@@ -402,7 +412,7 @@ def assoc_twice(cfg):
         ksft_eq(len(tx), 0)
 
         # Use the same Tx assoc second time
-        with socket.socket(socket.AF_INET6, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s2:
+        with _make_lo_conn() as s2:
             rx_assoc_check(s2)
             tx = cfg.pspnl.tx_assoc({"dev-id": cfg.psp_dev_id,
                                    "version": 0,
@@ -410,8 +420,6 @@ def assoc_twice(cfg):
                                    "sock-fd": s2.fileno()})
             ksft_eq(len(tx), 0)
 
-        s.close()
-
 
 def _data_basic_send(cfg, version, ipver):
     """ Test basic data send """