diff --git a/hatch.toml b/hatch.toml
index 12d567fc3..b5516931d 100644
--- a/hatch.toml
+++ b/hatch.toml
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ overrides.matrix.deps.python = [
     { if = [ "min" ], value = "3.11" },
     { if = [ "stable", "pre" ], value = "3.13" },
 ]
+overrides.matrix.deps.features = [
+    { if = [ "stable", "pre" ], value = "test-full" },
+]
 
 [[envs.hatch-test.matrix]]
 deps = [ "stable", "pre", "min" ]
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index c826b767e..a07fb52ef 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ test = [
     "pytest-randomly",
     "pytest-memray",
     "pytest-mock",
-    "filelock",
     "matplotlib",
     "scikit-learn",
     "openpyxl",
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index b38ab4a65..65d1b1fb8 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import atexit
 from functools import partial
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, cast
 
 import dask
 import joblib
@@ -13,16 +14,56 @@
     from dask.base import normalize_seq
 else:
     from dask.tokenize import normalize_seq
-from filelock import FileLock
 from scipy import sparse
 
 import anndata as ad
 from anndata.tests.helpers import subset_func  # noqa: F401
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from collections.abc import Generator
     from types import EllipsisType
 
+    from xdist.workermanage import WorkerController
+
+
+_dask_cluster_addr: str
+
+
+def pytest_configure(config: pytest.Config) -> None:
+    # We use this hook because it is run on sequential sessions,
+    # and both pytest-xdist’s controller and workers
+    global _dask_cluster_addr  # noqa: PLW0603
+
+    if "--collect-only" in config.args:
+        return  # no need to do work
+
+    _dask_cluster_addr = _get_cluster_address(config)
+
+
+def pytest_configure_node(node: WorkerController) -> None:
+    # send the cluster address to the workers
+    node.workerinput["dask_cluster_addr"] = _dask_cluster_addr
+
+
+def _get_cluster_address(config: pytest.Config) -> str:
+    """Start the dask cluster or (in a pytest-xdist worker) get its address."""
+    # If we’re on a worker, we can use the data sent in `pytest_configure_node` above
+    if workerinput := cast("dict[str, str]", getattr(config, "workerinput", {})):
+        return workerinput["dask_cluster_addr"]
+
+    # if we’re on the controller or running sequentially, we start the cluster
+    import dask.distributed as dd
+
+    clust = dd.LocalCluster(n_workers=1, threads_per_worker=1)
+    clust.__enter__()
+    atexit.register(clust.close)
+    return clust.scheduler_address
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def local_cluster_addr() -> str:
+    """Get the dask cluster address"""
+    return _dask_cluster_addr
+
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def backing_h5ad(tmp_path):
@@ -77,39 +118,6 @@ def equivalent_ellipsis_index(
     return ellipsis_index_with_equivalent[1]
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
-def local_cluster_addr(
-    tmp_path_factory: pytest.TempPathFactory, worker_id: str
-) -> Generator[str, None, None]:
-    # Adapted from https://pytest-xdist.readthedocs.io/en/latest/how-to.html#making-session-scoped-fixtures-execute-only-once
-    import dask.distributed as dd
-
-    def make_cluster() -> dd.LocalCluster:
-        return dd.LocalCluster(n_workers=1, threads_per_worker=1)
-
-    if worker_id == "master":
-        with make_cluster() as cluster:
-            yield cluster.scheduler_address
-            return
-
-    # get the temp directory shared by all workers
-    root_tmp_dir = tmp_path_factory.getbasetemp().parent
-
-    fn = root_tmp_dir / "dask_scheduler_address.txt"
-    lock = FileLock(str(fn) + ".lock")
-    lock.acquire()  # can’t use context manager, because we need to release the lock before yielding
-    address = fn.read_text() if fn.is_file() else None
-    if address:
-        lock.release()
-        yield address
-        return
-
-    with make_cluster() as cluster:
-        fn.write_text(cluster.scheduler_address)
-        lock.release()
-        yield cluster.scheduler_address
-
-
 #####################
 # Dask tokenization #
 #####################