diff --git a/tests/e2e/auth-smoke.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/auth-smoke.spec.ts
index d876caff..b62bdd44 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/auth-smoke.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/auth-smoke.spec.ts
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ async function createEventWithPhotos(page: Page, adminToken?: string, attempt =
       },
     });
     expect(loginResponse.ok()).toBeTruthy();
-    const loginData = await loginResponse.json();
-    token = loginData.token;
-    expect(token).toBeTruthy();
+    const cookies = await page.context().cookies();
+    token = cookies.find((c) => c.name === 'admin_token')?.value;
+    expect(token, 'admin_token cookie missing from the login response').toBeTruthy();
   }
 
   const eventName = `Playwright Smoke ${Date.now()}`;
diff --git a/tests/e2e/customer-portal-flow.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/customer-portal-flow.spec.ts
index b50a3c96..f6f90381 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/customer-portal-flow.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/customer-portal-flow.spec.ts
@@ -40,9 +40,14 @@ async function adminLogin(page: Page): Promise<string> {
     failOnStatusCode: false,
   });
   expect(res.ok()).toBeTruthy();
-  const json = await res.json();
-  expect(json.token).toBeTruthy();
-  return json.token;
+  // The admin JWT is delivered as the httpOnly `admin_token` cookie, not in
+  // the response body. Server-side the cookie and an Authorization: Bearer
+  // header are interchangeable, so read it back out of the context jar and
+  // keep threading it as a Bearer — every downstream call stays as it was.
+  const cookies = await page.context().cookies();
+  const token = cookies.find((c) => c.name === 'admin_token')?.value;
+  expect(token, 'admin_token cookie missing from the login response').toBeTruthy();
+  return token as string;
 }
 
 async function setCustomerPortalEnabled(page: Page, adminToken: string, enabled: boolean) {
diff --git a/tests/e2e/optional-email-event-creation.spec.ts b/tests/e2e/optional-email-event-creation.spec.ts
index 641a1bf2..56e018df 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/optional-email-event-creation.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/e2e/optional-email-event-creation.spec.ts
@@ -8,9 +8,14 @@ async function getAdminToken(page: Page): Promise<string> {
     data: { username: ADMIN_EMAIL, password: ADMIN_PASSWORD },
   });
   expect(res.ok()).toBeTruthy();
-  const body = await res.json();
-  expect(body.token).toBeTruthy();
-  return body.token;
+  // The admin JWT is delivered as the httpOnly `admin_token` cookie, not in
+  // the response body. Server-side the cookie and an Authorization: Bearer
+  // header are interchangeable, so read it back out of the context jar and
+  // keep threading it as a Bearer — every downstream call stays as it was.
+  const cookies = await page.context().cookies();
+  const token = cookies.find((c) => c.name === 'admin_token')?.value;
+  expect(token, 'admin_token cookie missing from the login response').toBeTruthy();
+  return token as string;
 }
 
 async function updateEventSettings(