diff --git a/integrationtests/self/key_update_test.go b/integrationtests/self/key_update_test.go
index ae72299e..d70c1a8e 100644
--- a/integrationtests/self/key_update_test.go
+++ b/integrationtests/self/key_update_test.go
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/quic-go/quic-go"
-	"github.com/quic-go/quic-go/internal/handshake"
 	"github.com/quic-go/quic-go/internal/protocol"
 	"github.com/quic-go/quic-go/logging"
 
@@ -15,9 +14,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestKeyUpdates(t *testing.T) {
-	origKeyUpdateInterval := handshake.KeyUpdateInterval
-	t.Cleanup(func() { handshake.KeyUpdateInterval = origKeyUpdateInterval })
-	handshake.KeyUpdateInterval = 1 // update keys as frequently as possible
+	t.Setenv("QUIC_GO_TEST_KEY_UPDATE_INTERVAL", "1") // update keys as frequently as possible
 
 	var sentHeaders []*logging.ShortHeader
 	var receivedHeaders []*logging.ShortHeader
diff --git a/integrationtests/self/self_test.go b/integrationtests/self/self_test.go
index 7516cafc..6df7863b 100644
--- a/integrationtests/self/self_test.go
+++ b/integrationtests/self/self_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package self_test
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"crypto/x509"
@@ -11,9 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"math/rand/v2"
 	"net"
 	"os"
-	"runtime/pprof"
 	"strconv"
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -161,12 +158,6 @@ func newUDPConnLocalhost(t testing.TB) *net.UDPConn {
 	return conn
 }
 
-func areTransportsRunning() bool {
-	var b bytes.Buffer
-	pprof.Lookup("goroutine").WriteTo(&b, 1)
-	return strings.Contains(b.String(), "quic-go.(*Transport).listen")
-}
-
 func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
 	var versionParam string
 	flag.StringVar(&versionParam, "version", "1", "QUIC version")
@@ -184,15 +175,7 @@ func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
 	}
 	fmt.Printf("using QUIC version: %s\n", version)
 
-	status := m.Run()
-	if status != 0 {
-		os.Exit(status)
-	}
-	if areTransportsRunning() {
-		fmt.Println("stray transport goroutines found")
-		os.Exit(1)
-	}
-	os.Exit(status)
+	os.Exit(m.Run())
 }
 
 func scaleDuration(d time.Duration) time.Duration {
diff --git a/internal/handshake/updatable_aead.go b/internal/handshake/updatable_aead.go
index ceaa8047..0aca46fe 100644
--- a/internal/handshake/updatable_aead.go
+++ b/internal/handshake/updatable_aead.go
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ import (
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+	"testing"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/quic-go/quic-go/internal/protocol"
@@ -14,9 +17,15 @@ import (
 	"github.com/quic-go/quic-go/logging"
 )
 
-// KeyUpdateInterval is the maximum number of packets we send or receive before initiating a key update.
-// It's a package-level variable to allow modifying it for testing purposes.
-var KeyUpdateInterval uint64 = protocol.KeyUpdateInterval
+func keyUpdateInterval() uint64 {
+	// Reparsing the environment variable is not very performant, but it's only done in tests.
+	if testing.Testing() {
+		if v, err := strconv.ParseUint(os.Getenv("QUIC_GO_TEST_KEY_UPDATE_INTERVAL"), 10, 64); err == nil {
+			return v
+		}
+	}
+	return protocol.KeyUpdateInterval
+}
 
 // FirstKeyUpdateInterval is the maximum number of packets we send or receive before initiating the first key update.
 // It's a package-level variable to allow modifying it for testing purposes.
@@ -293,11 +302,11 @@ func (a *updatableAEAD) shouldInitiateKeyUpdate() bool {
 			return true
 		}
 	}
-	if a.numRcvdWithCurrentKey >= KeyUpdateInterval {
+	if a.numRcvdWithCurrentKey >= keyUpdateInterval() {
 		a.logger.Debugf("Received %d packets with current key phase. Initiating key update to the next key phase: %d", a.numRcvdWithCurrentKey, a.keyPhase+1)
 		return true
 	}
-	if a.numSentWithCurrentKey >= KeyUpdateInterval {
+	if a.numSentWithCurrentKey >= keyUpdateInterval() {
 		a.logger.Debugf("Sent %d packets with current key phase. Initiating key update to the next key phase: %d", a.numSentWithCurrentKey, a.keyPhase+1)
 		return true
 	}
diff --git a/internal/handshake/updatable_aead_test.go b/internal/handshake/updatable_aead_test.go
index 2b4cefa9..36e0638e 100644
--- a/internal/handshake/updatable_aead_test.go
+++ b/internal/handshake/updatable_aead_test.go
@@ -330,15 +330,12 @@ func TestRejectFrequentKeyUpdates(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func setKeyUpdateIntervals(t *testing.T, firstKeyUpdateInterval, keyUpdateInterval uint64) {
-	origKeyUpdateInterval := KeyUpdateInterval
+	t.Setenv("QUIC_GO_TEST_KEY_UPDATE_INTERVAL", fmt.Sprintf("%d", keyUpdateInterval))
+
 	origFirstKeyUpdateInterval := FirstKeyUpdateInterval
-	KeyUpdateInterval = keyUpdateInterval
 	FirstKeyUpdateInterval = firstKeyUpdateInterval
 
-	t.Cleanup(func() {
-		KeyUpdateInterval = origKeyUpdateInterval
-		FirstKeyUpdateInterval = origFirstKeyUpdateInterval
-	})
+	t.Cleanup(func() { FirstKeyUpdateInterval = origFirstKeyUpdateInterval })
 }
 
 func TestInitiateKeyUpdateAfterSendingMaxPackets(t *testing.T) {
@@ -382,7 +379,7 @@ func TestInitiateKeyUpdateAfterSendingMaxPackets(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestKeyUpdateEnforceACKKeyPhase(t *testing.T) {
 	const firstKeyUpdateInterval = 5
-	setKeyUpdateIntervals(t, firstKeyUpdateInterval, KeyUpdateInterval)
+	setKeyUpdateIntervals(t, firstKeyUpdateInterval, protocol.KeyUpdateInterval)
 
 	_, server, serverTracer := setupEndpoints(t, &utils.RTTStats{})
 	server.SetHandshakeConfirmed()