diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests/helpers.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests/helpers.rs
index c63b617ab3..46d9595bfb 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests/helpers.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests/helpers.rs
@@ -63,6 +63,25 @@ pub(super) fn normalize_snapshot_paths(text: impl Into<String>) -> String {
     }
 }
 
+/// Normalizes platform-specific test paths without collapsing box alignment.
+pub(super) fn normalize_box_snapshot_paths(text: &str) -> String {
+    text.lines()
+        .map(|rendered| {
+            let normalized = normalize_snapshot_paths(rendered);
+            let padding = rendered
+                .chars()
+                .count()
+                .saturating_sub(normalized.chars().count());
+            if let Some((content, suffix)) = normalized.rsplit_once('│') {
+                format!("{content}{}│{suffix}", " ".repeat(padding))
+            } else {
+                normalized
+            }
+        })
+        .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+        .join("\n")
+}
+
 pub(super) fn normalized_backend_snapshot<T: std::fmt::Display>(value: &T) -> String {
     let platform_test_cwd = test_path_display("/tmp/project");
     let rendered = format!("{value}");
@@ -79,7 +98,7 @@ pub(super) fn normalized_backend_snapshot<T: std::fmt::Display>(value: &T) -> St
                 .and_then(|line| line.strip_suffix('"'))
             {
                 let width = content.chars().count();
-                let normalized = normalize_snapshot_paths(content);
+                let normalized = normalize_box_snapshot_paths(content);
                 format!("\"{normalized:width$}\"")
             } else {
                 normalize_snapshot_paths(line)
diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests/status_and_layout.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests/status_and_layout.rs
index 6383aa6ace..2a6688a765 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests/status_and_layout.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests/status_and_layout.rs
@@ -1649,24 +1649,7 @@ async fn startup_header_handoff_visible_states_snapshot() {
                 if cell.as_any().is::<history_cell::SessionInfoCell>() =>
             {
                 let rendered = lines_to_single_string(&cell.display_lines(width));
-                let normalized = normalize_snapshot_paths(&rendered);
-                // Keep box alignment after shortening Windows test paths.
-                break normalized
-                    .lines()
-                    .zip(rendered.lines())
-                    .map(|(normalized, rendered)| {
-                        let padding = rendered
-                            .chars()
-                            .count()
-                            .saturating_sub(normalized.chars().count());
-                        if let Some(content) = normalized.strip_suffix('│') {
-                            format!("{content}{}│", " ".repeat(padding))
-                        } else {
-                            normalized.to_string()
-                        }
-                    })
-                    .collect::<Vec<_>>()
-                    .join("\n");
+                break normalize_box_snapshot_paths(&rendered);
             }
             Ok(_) => continue,
             other => panic!("expected queued configured header, got {other:?}"),