diff --git a/src/PostgREST/SchemaCache.hs b/src/PostgREST/SchemaCache.hs
index 0c30e7623..f1f28ce7e 100644
--- a/src/PostgREST/SchemaCache.hs
+++ b/src/PostgREST/SchemaCache.hs
@@ -145,9 +145,6 @@ type SqlQuery = ByteString
 
 querySchemaCache :: AppConfig -> SQL.Transaction SchemaCache
 querySchemaCache AppConfig{..} = do
-  _       <-
-    let sleepCall = SQL.Statement "select pg_sleep($1 / 1000.0)" (param HE.int4) HD.noResult prepared in
-    whenJust configInternalSCSleep (`SQL.statement` sleepCall) -- only used for testing
   SQL.sql "set local schema ''" -- This voids the search path. The following queries need this for getting the fully qualified name(schema.name) of every db object
   pgVer   <- SQL.statement mempty $ pgVersionStatement prepared
   tabs    <- SQL.statement schemas $ allTables pgVer prepared
@@ -158,6 +155,9 @@ querySchemaCache AppConfig{..} = do
   reps    <- SQL.statement schemas $ dataRepresentations prepared
   mHdlers <- SQL.statement schemas $ mediaHandlers pgVer prepared
   tzones  <- SQL.statement mempty $ timezones prepared
+  _       <-
+    let sleepCall = SQL.Statement "select pg_sleep($1 / 1000.0)" (param HE.int4) HD.noResult prepared in
+    whenJust configInternalSCSleep (`SQL.statement` sleepCall) -- only used for testing
 
   let tabsWViewsPks = addViewPrimaryKeys tabs keyDeps
       rels          = addInverseRels $ addM2MRels tabsWViewsPks $ addViewM2OAndO2ORels keyDeps m2oRels
diff --git a/test/io/config.py b/test/io/config.py
index ea6b125fe..2960971b9 100644
--- a/test/io/config.py
+++ b/test/io/config.py
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ def slow_schema_cache_env(defaultenv):
     "Slow schema cache load environment PostgREST."
     return {
         **defaultenv,
-        "PGRST_INTERNAL_SCHEMA_CACHE_SLEEP": "1",  # this does a pg_sleep internally, it will cause the schema cache query to be slow
+        "PGRST_INTERNAL_SCHEMA_CACHE_SLEEP": "1000",  # this does a pg_sleep internally, it will cause the schema cache query to be slow
         # the slow schema cache query will keep using one pool connection until it finishes
         # to prevent requests waiting for PGRST_DB_POOL_ACQUISITION_TIMEOUT we'll increase the pool size (must be >= 2)
         "PGRST_DB_POOL": "2",
diff --git a/test/io/test_io.py b/test/io/test_io.py
index e825841aa..e86e97632 100644
--- a/test/io/test_io.py
+++ b/test/io/test_io.py
@@ -714,7 +714,7 @@ def test_admin_ready_includes_schema_cache_state(defaultenv, metapostgrest):
     }
 
     with run(env=env) as postgrest:
-        # The schema cache query takes at least 500ms, due do PGRST_INTERNAL_SCHEMA_CACHE_SLEEP above.
+        # The schema cache query takes at least 500ms, due to PGRST_INTERNAL_SCHEMA_CACHE_SLEEP above.
         # Make it impossible to load the schema cache, by setting statement timeout to 400ms.
         set_statement_timeout(metapostgrest, role, 400)
 
@@ -1024,7 +1024,9 @@ def test_isolation_level(defaultenv):
 def test_schema_cache_concurrent_notifications(slow_schema_cache_env):
     "schema cache should be up-to-date whenever a notification is sent while another reload is in progress, see https://github.com/PostgREST/postgrest/issues/2791"
 
-    internal_sleep = int(slow_schema_cache_env["PGRST_INTERNAL_SCHEMA_CACHE_SLEEP"])
+    internal_sleep = (
+        int(slow_schema_cache_env["PGRST_INTERNAL_SCHEMA_CACHE_SLEEP"]) / 1000
+    )
 
     with run(env=slow_schema_cache_env, wait_for_readiness=False) as postgrest:
         time.sleep(2 * internal_sleep + 0.1)  # wait for readiness manually