diff --git a/tools/e2e/18-pause.mjs b/tools/e2e/18-pause.mjs
index 44e31fa6..1aabe95d 100644
--- a/tools/e2e/18-pause.mjs
+++ b/tools/e2e/18-pause.mjs
@@ -169,9 +169,12 @@ export async function pause(t) {
     move: await outputs('p-move'),
   };
   check(
+    // Not a fixed number of decimals: the live value is formatted with trailing zeros trimmed, and
+    // a slow frame of exactly 50 ms reads as "0.05", not "0.050". CI failed on exactly that
+    // (task 175), while the frame time here always lands on three digits.
     'while playing, each output shows the value it last carried in front of its name',
     live.owner[0] === 'Pause box  object' &&
-      /^0\.\d{3} {2}dt$/.test(live.update[1]) &&
+      /^0\.\d+ {2}dt$/.test(live.update[1]) &&
       live.move[1] === 'false  blocked x',
     JSON.stringify(live),
   );