diff --git a/tap-snapshots/test/lib/commands/config.js.test.cjs b/tap-snapshots/test/lib/commands/config.js.test.cjs
index b86820a306029..ace89ec9a719d 100644
--- a/tap-snapshots/test/lib/commands/config.js.test.cjs
+++ b/tap-snapshots/test/lib/commands/config.js.test.cjs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 exports[`test/lib/commands/config.js TAP config list --json > output matches snapshot 1`] = `
 {
   "cache": "{CACHE}",
+  "color": {COLOR},
   "json": true,
   "projectloaded": "yes",
   "userloaded": "yes",
@@ -29,7 +30,6 @@ exports[`test/lib/commands/config.js TAP config list --json > output matches sna
   "call": "",
   "cert": null,
   "cidr": null,
-  "color": {COLOR},
   "commit-hooks": true,
   "cpu": null,
   "depth": null,
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ cafile = null
 call = "" 
 cert = null 
 cidr = null 
-color = {COLOR}
+; color = {COLOR}
 commit-hooks = true 
 cpu = null 
 depth = null 
@@ -345,6 +345,7 @@ projectloaded = "yes"
 ; "cli" config from command line options
 
 cache = "{CACHE}" 
+color = {COLOR}
 long = true
 `
 
@@ -364,6 +365,7 @@ projectloaded = "yes"
 ; "cli" config from command line options
 
 cache = "{CACHE}" 
+color = {COLOR}
 
 ; node bin location = {NODE-BIN-LOCATION}
 ; node version = {NODE-VERSION}
@@ -378,6 +380,7 @@ exports[`test/lib/commands/config.js TAP config list with publishConfig global >
 ; "cli" config from command line options
 
 cache = "{CACHE}" 
+color = {COLOR}
 global = true 
 
 ; node bin location = {NODE-BIN-LOCATION}
@@ -393,6 +396,7 @@ exports[`test/lib/commands/config.js TAP config list with publishConfig local >
 ; "cli" config from command line options
 
 cache = "{CACHE}" 
+color = {COLOR}
 
 ; node bin location = {NODE-BIN-LOCATION}
 ; node version = {NODE-VERSION}
diff --git a/test/lib/cli/exit-handler.js b/test/lib/cli/exit-handler.js
index 73cc57cb9a676..a95ac75e56c14 100644
--- a/test/lib/cli/exit-handler.js
+++ b/test/lib/cli/exit-handler.js
@@ -652,6 +652,7 @@ t.test('do no fancy handling for shellouts', async t => {
     argv: ['-c', 'exit'],
     config: {
       timing: false,
+      progress: false,
       ...opts.config,
     },
     ...opts,
diff --git a/test/lib/commands/config.js b/test/lib/commands/config.js
index 0806326e2e8e4..11ac9a7477eb1 100644
--- a/test/lib/commands/config.js
+++ b/test/lib/commands/config.js
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ const loadMockNpm = (t, opts = {}) => _loadMockNpm(t, {
     // Reset configs that mock npm sets by default
     'fetch-retries': undefined,
     loglevel: undefined,
-    color: undefined,
+    color: false,
   },
 })
 
diff --git a/test/lib/commands/pack.js b/test/lib/commands/pack.js
index 3ea67c78d996a..fd525114cde9f 100644
--- a/test/lib/commands/pack.js
+++ b/test/lib/commands/pack.js
@@ -82,7 +82,10 @@ t.test('should log scoped package output as valid json', async t => {
         },
       }),
     },
-    config: { json: true },
+    config: {
+      json: true,
+      progress: false,
+    },
   })
   await npm.exec('pack', [])
   const filename = 'myscope-test-package-1.0.0.tgz'
diff --git a/workspaces/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js b/workspaces/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js
index 3a35810a76e83..d0d159976c5db 100644
--- a/workspaces/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js
+++ b/workspaces/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js
@@ -1022,6 +1022,10 @@ This is a one-time fix-up, please be patient...
           // may well be an optional dep that has gone missing.  it'll
           // fail later anyway.
           for (const e of this.#problemEdges(placed)) {
+            // XXX This is somehow load bearing.  This makes tests that print
+            // the ideal tree of a tree with tarball dependencies fail. This
+            // can't be changed or removed till we figure out why
+            // The test is named "tarball deps with transitive tarball deps"
             promises.push(() =>
               this.#fetchManifest(npa.resolve(e.name, e.spec, fromPath(placed, e)))
                 .catch(() => null)
@@ -1204,6 +1208,7 @@ This is a one-time fix-up, please be patient...
     const options = {
       ...this.options,
       avoid: this.#avoidRange(spec.name),
+      fullMetadata: true,
     }
     // get the intended spec and stored metadata from yarn.lock file,
     // if available and valid.
@@ -1212,19 +1217,10 @@ This is a one-time fix-up, please be patient...
     if (this.#manifests.has(spec.raw)) {
       return this.#manifests.get(spec.raw)
     } else {
-      const cleanRawSpec = redact(spec.rawSpec)
-      log.silly('fetch manifest', spec.raw.replace(spec.rawSpec, cleanRawSpec))
-      const o = {
-        ...options,
-        fullMetadata: true,
-      }
-      const p = pacote.manifest(spec, o)
-        .then((mani) => {
-          this.#manifests.set(spec.raw, mani)
-          return mani
-        })
-      this.#manifests.set(spec.raw, p)
-      return p
+      log.silly('fetch manifest', spec.raw.replace(spec.rawSpec, redact(spec.rawSpec)))
+      const mani = await pacote.manifest(spec, options)
+      this.#manifests.set(spec.raw, mani)
+      return mani
     }
   }