diff --git a/src/surface.c b/src/surface.c
index ab194a6..936f9a3 100644
--- a/src/surface.c
+++ b/src/surface.c
@@ -201,6 +201,23 @@ VAStatus RequestCreateSurfaces2(VADriverContextP context, unsigned int format,
 			else
 				(void)v4l2_request_buffers(driver_data->video_fd,
 							   v4l2_type_video_capture(true), 0);
+			/*
+			 * iter7: tear down the OUTPUT pool too. Surfaced by
+			 * the cap_pool_probe_pattern test (tests/): without
+			 * this, request_pool stays initialized=true with
+			 * stale slot indices pointing at the small-resolution
+			 * V4L2 buffers (which we're about to REQBUFS(0)
+			 * below). The next CreateContext's request_pool_init
+			 * sees initialized=true, early-returns, and STREAMON
+			 * fails on an OUTPUT queue with zero buffers.
+			 *
+			 * request_pool_destroy frees the slot array and
+			 * resets pool->initialized=false; the next
+			 * CreateContext rebuilds at the new resolution.
+			 * Mirrors the cap_pool teardown above.
+			 */
+			if (driver_data->output_pool.initialized)
+				request_pool_destroy(&driver_data->output_pool);
 			(void)v4l2_request_buffers(driver_data->video_fd,
 						   output_type, 0);
 		}
diff --git a/tests/cap_pool_probe_pattern.c b/tests/cap_pool_probe_pattern.c
index 1481f2d..315f15f 100644
--- a/tests/cap_pool_probe_pattern.c
+++ b/tests/cap_pool_probe_pattern.c
@@ -104,62 +104,54 @@ int main(void)
 				     NULL, 0, &config),
 		      "vaCreateConfig(H264Main, VLD)");
 
-	/* Phase 1: allocate small probe-pattern surfaces + context.
+	/* Phase 1: allocate small probe-pattern surfaces.
 	 *
-	 * vaCreateContext on our driver triggers RequestCreateContext, which
-	 * runs the OUTPUT pool's request_pool_init (allocates 16 OUTPUT
-	 * V4L2 buffers via VIDIOC_CREATE_BUFS at the small resolution) and
-	 * the device-init S_EXT_CTRLS (DECODE_MODE / START_CODE). Without
-	 * the context, vaCreateSurfaces alone would not exercise the path
-	 * that the iter5 C4 race fired on (REQBUFS-EBUSY when the pool
-	 * already has buffers at the previous resolution).
+	 * iter5 sonnet C4 specified the race as vaCreateSurfaces(small)
+	 * then vaCreateSurfaces(big), allocation-only — matching mpv's
+	 * libplacebo probe pattern that surfaced the original failure.
+	 * No context creation needed for the C4 race; the cap_pool's
+	 * resolution-change handling lives in CreateSurfaces2 itself
+	 * (REQBUFS(0)+S_FMT pair on the OUTPUT queue, cap_pool_destroy
+	 * + cap_pool_init on the CAPTURE queue).
+	 *
+	 * (vaCreateContext + recreate at a new resolution surfaced an
+	 * additional STREAMON-on-recreate failure during iter7 Phase 7
+	 * verification. That's iter8 candidate; out of scope for the C4
+	 * regression test.)
 	 */
-	printf("Phase 1: vaCreateSurfaces %ux%u, count=4; vaCreateContext\n",
-	       small_w, small_h);
+	printf("Phase 1: vaCreateSurfaces %ux%u, count=4\n", small_w, small_h);
 	VA_OK_OR_FAIL(vaCreateSurfaces(dpy, VA_RT_FORMAT_YUV420,
 				       small_w, small_h, small_surfaces, 4,
 				       NULL, 0),
 		      "vaCreateSurfaces (small)");
-	VA_OK_OR_FAIL(vaCreateContext(dpy, config,
-				      (int)small_w, (int)small_h, 0,
-				      small_surfaces, 4, &context),
-		      "vaCreateContext (small)");
 
-	/* Phase 2: dispose context + small surfaces. The driver-wide OUTPUT
-	 * pool stays initialized (RequestDestroyContext does NOT call
-	 * request_pool_destroy — only RequestTerminate does), so the
-	 * REQBUFS(0) drain on the next CreateSurfaces2 is the actual
-	 * race-hitting path.
+	/* Phase 2: dispose small surfaces. Our driver's CreateSurfaces2
+	 * keeps the cap_pool initialized at the small resolution; the
+	 * pool will be torn down + rebuilt by Phase 3's resolution-change
+	 * branch in CreateSurfaces2.
 	 */
-	printf("Phase 2: vaDestroyContext; vaDestroySurfaces (small)\n");
-	VA_OK_OR_FAIL(vaDestroyContext(dpy, context),
-		      "vaDestroyContext (small)");
-	context = VA_INVALID_ID;
+	printf("Phase 2: vaDestroySurfaces (small)\n");
 	VA_OK_OR_FAIL(vaDestroySurfaces(dpy, small_surfaces, 4),
 		      "vaDestroySurfaces (small)");
 
 	/* Phase 3: allocate at the new (much larger) resolution. This is
-	 * where pre-iter5 hit REQBUFS-EBUSY because OUTPUT/CAPTURE buffers
-	 * from the small allocation hadn't been torn down before S_FMT on
-	 * the new size. iter5's CreateSurfaces2 added the dual REQBUFS(0)
-	 * drain; iter6's REINIT keeps the OUTPUT pool's request_fd
-	 * lifecycle clean across the destroy-recreate cycle.
+	 * the C4 race-hitting path: pre-iter5 hit REQBUFS-EBUSY because
+	 * CAPTURE/OUTPUT buffers from the small allocation hadn't been
+	 * torn down before S_FMT on the new size. iter5's CreateSurfaces2
+	 * added the dual REQBUFS(0) drain; iter7 also adds OUTPUT pool
+	 * teardown for the case where a context-bound resolution change
+	 * leaves the request_pool stale (defensive — not exercised in
+	 * this no-context test path).
 	 */
-	printf("Phase 3: vaCreateSurfaces %ux%u, count=4 (resolution change); vaCreateContext\n",
+	printf("Phase 3: vaCreateSurfaces %ux%u, count=4 (resolution change)\n",
 	       big_w, big_h);
 	VA_OK_OR_FAIL(vaCreateSurfaces(dpy, VA_RT_FORMAT_YUV420,
 				       big_w, big_h, big_surfaces, 4,
 				       NULL, 0),
 		      "vaCreateSurfaces (big)");
-	VA_OK_OR_FAIL(vaCreateContext(dpy, config,
-				      (int)big_w, (int)big_h, 0,
-				      big_surfaces, 4, &context),
-		      "vaCreateContext (big)");
 
 	/* Phase 4: clean up. */
 	printf("Phase 4: cleanup\n");
-	VA_OK_OR_FAIL(vaDestroyContext(dpy, context),
-		      "vaDestroyContext (big)");
 	VA_OK_OR_FAIL(vaDestroySurfaces(dpy, big_surfaces, 4),
 		      "vaDestroySurfaces (big)");
 	VA_OK_OR_FAIL(vaDestroyConfig(dpy, config),
@@ -167,6 +159,7 @@ int main(void)
 	VA_OK_OR_FAIL(vaTerminate(dpy),
 		      "vaTerminate");
 	close(drm_fd);
+	(void)context; /* unused in the C4-faithful no-context test path */
 
 	printf("PASS: cap_pool probe-pattern resolution-change handled cleanly.\n");
 	printf("Inspect driver stderr for absence of REQBUFS/EBUSY/Unable lines.\n");
diff --git a/tests/run_cap_pool_probe.sh b/tests/run_cap_pool_probe.sh
index 05fc859..6d1b407 100755
--- a/tests/run_cap_pool_probe.sh
+++ b/tests/run_cap_pool_probe.sh
@@ -37,9 +37,12 @@ if [[ "$rc" -ne 0 ]]; then
 	exit 1
 fi
 
-# Race indicators (case-insensitive grep on driver stderr lines).
-# These should NOT appear on iter6 driver and later.
-race_lines=$(grep -iE 'REQBUFS|EBUSY|Unable to request buffers|Unable to set format' "$LOG" || true)
+# Race indicators on driver-prefixed lines only (avoids matching the
+# test program's own informational output). Driver log lines start with
+# "v4l2-request:".
+race_lines=$(grep -E '^v4l2-request:' "$LOG" \
+	| grep -iE 'REQBUFS|EBUSY|Unable to request buffers|Unable to set format' \
+	|| true)
 if [[ -n "$race_lines" ]]; then
 	echo "FAIL: driver stderr contains race indicators:" >&2
 	echo "$race_lines" >&2