diff --git a/compose/backend/neurosynth_compose/tests/request_utils.py b/compose/backend/neurosynth_compose/tests/request_utils.py
index 5d8000db..be1b41d9 100644
--- a/compose/backend/neurosynth_compose/tests/request_utils.py
+++ b/compose/backend/neurosynth_compose/tests/request_utils.py
@@ -85,7 +85,12 @@ def _make_request(
                     kwargs["files"] = data
                     kwargs["headers"].pop("Content-Type", None)
                 else:
-                    kwargs["data"] = data
+                    payload = data
+                    if json_dump and isinstance(payload, (dict, list)):
+                        payload = json.dumps(payload)
+                    if isinstance(payload, str):
+                        payload = payload.encode("utf-8")
+                    kwargs["content"] = payload
             response = request_function(route, **kwargs)
             return ResponseWrapper(response)
 
diff --git a/store/backend/neurostore/tests/api/test_pipeline_resources.py b/store/backend/neurostore/tests/api/test_pipeline_resources.py
index e6655714..32059591 100644
--- a/store/backend/neurostore/tests/api/test_pipeline_resources.py
+++ b/store/backend/neurostore/tests/api/test_pipeline_resources.py
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ def test_config_pipeline_study_results(
     if expected_count > 0:
         # Get the config from the database using config_id
         config_id = data["results"][0]["config_id"]
-        pipeline_config = PipelineConfig.query.get(config_id)
+        pipeline_config = db.session.get(PipelineConfig, config_id)
         assert pipeline_config is not None
 
         # Check the value using the config from database
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ def test_combined_filters(auth_client, result1, result2, result3):
     result = data["results"][0]
     assert result["result_data"]["string_field"] == "test value"
     # Validate against database config
-    pipeline_config = PipelineConfig.query.get(result["config_id"])
+    pipeline_config = db.session.get(PipelineConfig, result["config_id"])
     assert pipeline_config is not None
     assert pipeline_config.config_args["extraction_model"] == "gpt-4"
 
diff --git a/store/backend/neurostore/tests/conftest.py b/store/backend/neurostore/tests/conftest.py
index 8f1da705..0ca9e870 100644
--- a/store/backend/neurostore/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/store/backend/neurostore/tests/conftest.py
@@ -267,12 +267,12 @@ def session(db):
     yield session
 
     cache.clear()
-    try:
+    txn = session.get_transaction()
+    if txn is not None and txn.is_active:
         session.rollback()
-    except:  # noqa
-        pass
     session.close()
-    transaction.rollback()
+    if transaction.is_active:
+        transaction.rollback()
     connection.close()
 
 
diff --git a/store/backend/neurostore/tests/request_utils.py b/store/backend/neurostore/tests/request_utils.py
index 0a60e8cb..d70cb0b1 100644
--- a/store/backend/neurostore/tests/request_utils.py
+++ b/store/backend/neurostore/tests/request_utils.py
@@ -63,7 +63,24 @@ def _make_request(
 
             return request_function(route, **kwargs)
         else:
-            return request_function(route, json=data, headers=headers, params=params)
+            kwargs = {"headers": headers, "params": params}
+
+            if data is not None:
+                if (
+                    content_type.startswith("application/json")
+                    and json_dump
+                    and isinstance(data, (dict, list))
+                ):
+                    kwargs["json"] = data
+                else:
+                    payload = data
+                    if json_dump and isinstance(data, (dict, list)):
+                        payload = json.dumps(data)
+                    if isinstance(payload, str):
+                        payload = payload.encode("utf-8")
+                    kwargs["content"] = payload
+
+            return request_function(route, **kwargs)
 
     get = partialmethod(_make_request, "get")
     post = partialmethod(_make_request, "post")