diff --git a/client/internal/engine_test.go b/client/internal/engine_test.go
index 7fa423b6a..f4e540c84 100644
--- a/client/internal/engine_test.go
+++ b/client/internal/engine_test.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/peer/guard"
 	icemaker "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/peer/ice"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/internal/routemanager"
+	nbssh "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/ssh"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/client/system"
 	nbdns "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/dns"
 	mgmt "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/client"
@@ -203,6 +204,13 @@ func TestEngine_SSH(t *testing.T) {
 		return
 	}
 
+	// Generate SSH key for the test
+	sshKey, err := nbssh.GeneratePrivateKey(nbssh.ED25519)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+		return
+	}
+
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
 	defer cancel()
 
@@ -218,6 +226,7 @@ func TestEngine_SSH(t *testing.T) {
 			WgPrivateKey:     key,
 			WgPort:           33100,
 			ServerSSHAllowed: true,
+			SSHKey:           sshKey,
 		},
 		MobileDependency{},
 		peer.NewRecorder("https://mgm"),
@@ -229,14 +238,7 @@ func TestEngine_SSH(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	err = engine.Start()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Skip("skipping TestEngine_SSH due to interface creation failure in CI:", err)
-	}
-
-	// Additional check to ensure wgInterface was created successfully
-	if engine.wgInterface == nil {
-		t.Skip("skipping TestEngine_SSH: wgInterface not initialized (likely due to CI permissions)")
-	}
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	defer func() {
 		err := engine.Stop()
@@ -262,9 +264,7 @@ func TestEngine_SSH(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	err = engine.updateNetworkMap(networkMap)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	assert.Nil(t, engine.sshServer)
 
@@ -278,9 +278,7 @@ func TestEngine_SSH(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	err = engine.updateNetworkMap(networkMap)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	time.Sleep(250 * time.Millisecond)
 	assert.NotNil(t, engine.sshServer)
@@ -293,9 +291,7 @@ func TestEngine_SSH(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	err = engine.updateNetworkMap(networkMap)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	// time.Sleep(250 * time.Millisecond)
 	assert.NotNil(t, engine.sshServer)
@@ -310,9 +306,7 @@ func TestEngine_SSH(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	err = engine.updateNetworkMap(networkMap)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	assert.Nil(t, engine.sshServer)
 }
diff --git a/client/ssh/client_test.go b/client/ssh/client_test.go
index 5cd28814e..dd8642cf4 100644
--- a/client/ssh/client_test.go
+++ b/client/ssh/client_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package ssh
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net"
@@ -14,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	cryptossh "golang.org/x/crypto/ssh"
 )
 
 func TestSSHClient_DialWithKey(t *testing.T) {
@@ -703,19 +705,35 @@ func TestSSHClient_SignalHandling(t *testing.T) {
 	defer cmdCancel()
 
 	// Start a long-running command that will be cancelled
+	// Use a command that should work reliably across platforms
 	err = client.ExecuteCommandWithPTY(cmdCtx, "sleep 10")
 
-	// The command may return nil (clean exit on signal) or an error
-	// What matters is that the context was actually cancelled
+	// What we care about is that the command was terminated due to context cancellation
+	// This can manifest in several ways:
+	// 1. Context deadline exceeded error
+	// 2. ExitMissingError (clean termination without exit status)  
+	// 3. No error but command completed due to cancellation
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Logf("Received error: %s", err.Error())
-		// Accept either context deadline exceeded or other cancellation-related errors
-		isContextError := strings.Contains(err.Error(), "context deadline exceeded") ||
-			strings.Contains(err.Error(), "context canceled")
-		assert.True(t, isContextError, "Should be cancelled due to timeout, got: %s", err.Error())
+		// Accept context errors or ExitMissingError (both indicate successful cancellation)
+		var exitMissingErr *cryptossh.ExitMissingError
+		isValidCancellation := errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) ||
+			errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) ||
+			errors.As(err, &exitMissingErr)
+		
+		// If we got a valid cancellation error, the test passes
+		if isValidCancellation {
+			t.Logf("Command was successfully cancelled")
+			return
+		}
+		
+		// If we got some other error, that's unexpected
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected error type: %s", err.Error())
+		return
 	}
 
-	// Verify the context was actually cancelled (this is the important check)
+	// If no error was returned, the command might have been cancelled cleanly
+	// In this case, we should verify the context was actually cancelled
 	assert.Error(t, cmdCtx.Err(), "Context should be cancelled due to timeout")
 }