diff --git a/packages/worker/test/env.d.ts b/packages/worker/test/env.d.ts
index 2e115dc..ce10fb9 100644
--- a/packages/worker/test/env.d.ts
+++ b/packages/worker/test/env.d.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ declare global {
   namespace Cloudflare {
     interface Env extends AppEnv {
       TEST_MIGRATIONS: D1Migration[];
-      BUCKET: R2Bucket; // tests always provide R2; override the app's optional binding
+      // The harness always injects R2 (vitest.config.ts `miniflare.r2Buckets`), so override
+      // the app's optional `BUCKET?` to non-optional here. R2-absent behavior is exercised by
+      // tests that locally set `env.BUCKET = undefined`.
+      BUCKET: R2Bucket;
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/worker/test/smoke.test.ts b/packages/worker/test/smoke.test.ts
index 38cf6ae..701369e 100644
--- a/packages/worker/test/smoke.test.ts
+++ b/packages/worker/test/smoke.test.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@ import { env } from "cloudflare:test";
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 
 describe("test harness", () => {
+  // R2 is OPTIONAL in production (wrangler.toml's [[r2_buckets]] may be removed). The test
+  // harness guarantees BUCKET regardless by injecting it via vitest.config.ts `miniflare.r2Buckets`
+  // — decoupled from wrangler.toml — so the storage suite runs even on a fork that dropped R2.
+  // The R2-absent runtime path is covered separately by tests that set `env.BUCKET = undefined`
+  // (e.g. settle.test.ts, retention.test.ts, upload.test.ts, admin.test.ts).
   it("binds D1 and R2", () => {
     expect(env.DB).toBeDefined();
     expect(env.BUCKET).toBeDefined();
diff --git a/packages/worker/vitest.config.ts b/packages/worker/vitest.config.ts
index f680e5b..8b62dca 100644
--- a/packages/worker/vitest.config.ts
+++ b/packages/worker/vitest.config.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,15 @@ export default defineConfig(async () => {
         wrangler: { configPath: "./wrangler.toml" },
         miniflare: {
           bindings: { TEST_MIGRATIONS: migrations },
+          // Declare the Worker's bindings here, not via wrangler.toml, so the test
+          // harness is decoupled from deployment-specific config. R2 is OPTIONAL in
+          // production (wrangler.toml's [[r2_buckets]] may be removed — see env.ts
+          // `BUCKET?`), so a fork that drops it must still get a working test bucket;
+          // otherwise `env.BUCKET` is undefined and the storage suite breaks. miniflare
+          // options take precedence over (and merge with) the wrangler config, while
+          // compatibility_date/flags + vars still come from wrangler.toml.
+          d1Databases: ["DB"],
+          r2Buckets: ["BUCKET"],
         },
       }),
     ],