diff --git a/apps/web/cypress/support/step_definitions/common.steps.ts b/apps/web/cypress/support/step_definitions/common.steps.ts
index 10e38bd..b428189 100644
--- a/apps/web/cypress/support/step_definitions/common.steps.ts
+++ b/apps/web/cypress/support/step_definitions/common.steps.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Before, Given, Then, When } from "@badeball/cypress-cucumber-preprocessor";
+import { Given, Then, When } from "@badeball/cypress-cucumber-preprocessor";
 import { buildProfile, currentProfile, resetProfile, setCurrentProfile } from "../profile";
 
 // Steps shared across every feature — signing in/out, navigation, and
@@ -13,15 +13,22 @@ import { buildProfile, currentProfile, resetProfile, setCurrentProfile } from ".
 // (see .github/workflows/ci.yml); apps/api's own Mocha/Cucumber suites
 // cover real API behavior against a real database.
 
-Before(() => {
-  resetProfile();
-});
-
 Given("I am not signed in", () => {
   cy.intercept("GET", "**/auth/me", { statusCode: 401 });
 });
 
+// No `Before()` hook for this reset (deliberately) — registering any
+// Cucumber hook makes the preprocessor's browser runtime read
+// `messages.HookType.{BEFORE,AFTER}_TEST_CASE` to report it, and that enum
+// doesn't exist on the older, CommonJS-only `@cucumber/messages` this repo
+// is pinned to (see `pnpm.overrides` in package.json, and this branch's
+// commit history for why) — every scenario crashed on "Cannot read
+// properties of undefined (reading 'BEFORE_TEST_CASE')" the moment this
+// file registered one. Resetting right here instead, at the one step every
+// profile-building chain always starts with, is equivalent for our
+// purposes without needing a hook at all.
 Given("I am signed in as {string} {string}", (firstName: string, lastName: string) => {
+  resetProfile();
   setCurrentProfile(
     buildProfile({
       firstName,