diff --git a/tests/ghost/recipe_meta.py b/tests/ghost/recipe_meta.py
index 84853e1..5543f0a 100644
--- a/tests/ghost/recipe_meta.py
+++ b/tests/ghost/recipe_meta.py
@@ -56,11 +56,9 @@ def BACKUP_VERIFY(domain):
     (P4 RED). This proves the dump completed: backup.sql.gz exists, is a VALID gzip, and is non-empty.
     Returning False makes the harness re-run the whole backup with a re-stabilised db (run_recipe_ci
     _perform_op). It is a READ-ONLY probe — it weakens no assertion; it only retries a flaky CAPTURE."""
-    import os
-    import sys
-
-    sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", "..", "runner"))
-    from harness import lifecycle  # noqa: E402
+    # NB: recipe_meta.py is exec()'d into a bare namespace (no __file__), so we CANNOT compute a path
+    # here. The harness already runs with runner/ on sys.path and `harness` imported, so import directly.
+    from harness import lifecycle
 
     try:
         out = lifecycle.exec_in_app(