diff --git a/apps/liteprotocoltester/liteprotocoltester.nim b/apps/liteprotocoltester/liteprotocoltester.nim
index 939332cff..c9d89790a 100644
--- a/apps/liteprotocoltester/liteprotocoltester.nim
+++ b/apps/liteprotocoltester/liteprotocoltester.nim
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ when isMainModule:
     error "Issue converting toWakuConf", error = $error
     quit(QuitFailure)
 
-  var waku = Waku.new(wakuConf).valueOr:
+  var waku = (waitfor Waku.new(wakuConf)).valueOr:
     error "Waku initialization failed", error = error
     quit(QuitFailure)
 
diff --git a/tests/waku_discv5/test_waku_discv5.nim b/tests/waku_discv5/test_waku_discv5.nim
index 79913ce92..734ea4bf9 100644
--- a/tests/waku_discv5/test_waku_discv5.nim
+++ b/tests/waku_discv5/test_waku_discv5.nim
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ suite "Waku Discovery v5":
       let conf = confBuilder.build().valueOr:
         raiseAssert error
 
-      let waku0 = Waku.new(conf).valueOr:
+      let waku0 = (await Waku.new(conf)).valueOr:
         raiseAssert error
       (waitFor startWaku(addr waku0)).isOkOr:
         raiseAssert error
@@ -444,7 +444,7 @@ suite "Waku Discovery v5":
       let conf1 = confBuilder.build().valueOr:
         raiseAssert error
 
-      let waku1 = Waku.new(conf1).valueOr:
+      let waku1 = (await Waku.new(conf1)).valueOr:
         raiseAssert error
       (waitFor startWaku(addr waku1)).isOkOr:
         raiseAssert error
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ suite "Waku Discovery v5":
       let conf2 = confBuilder.build().valueOr:
         raiseAssert error
 
-      let waku2 = Waku.new(conf2).valueOr:
+      let waku2 = (await Waku.new(conf2)).valueOr:
         raiseAssert error
       (waitFor startWaku(addr waku2)).isOkOr:
         raiseAssert error
@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ suite "Waku Discovery v5":
       let conf = confBuilder.build().valueOr:
         raiseAssert error
 
-      let waku = Waku.new(conf).valueOr:
+      let waku = (await Waku.new(conf)).valueOr:
         raiseAssert error
 
       discard setupDiscoveryV5(
@@ -523,7 +523,7 @@ suite "Waku Discovery v5":
       let conf = confBuilder.build().valueOr:
         raiseAssert error
 
-      let waku = Waku.new(conf).valueOr:
+      let waku = (await Waku.new(conf)).valueOr:
         raiseAssert error
 
       discard setupDiscoveryV5(
diff --git a/tests/wakunode2/test_app.nim b/tests/wakunode2/test_app.nim
index 2d62d4956..c7432d6e0 100644
--- a/tests/wakunode2/test_app.nim
+++ b/tests/wakunode2/test_app.nim
@@ -13,11 +13,11 @@ import ../testlib/wakucore, ../testlib/wakunode
 include waku/factory/waku, waku/common/enr/typed_record
 
 suite "Wakunode2 - Waku":
-  test "compilation version should be reported":
+  asynctest "compilation version should be reported":
     ## Given
     let conf = defaultTestWakuConf()
 
-    let waku = Waku.new(conf).valueOr:
+    let waku = (await Waku.new(conf)).valueOr:
       raiseAssert error
 
     ## When
@@ -28,23 +28,23 @@ suite "Wakunode2 - Waku":
       version == git_version
 
 suite "Wakunode2 - Waku initialization":
-  test "peer persistence setup should be successfully mounted":
+  asynctest "peer persistence setup should be successfully mounted":
     ## Given
     var conf = defaultTestWakuConf()
     conf.peerPersistence = true
 
-    let waku = Waku.new(conf).valueOr:
+    let waku = (await Waku.new(conf)).valueOr:
       raiseAssert error
 
     check:
       not waku.node.peerManager.storage.isNil()
 
-  test "node setup is successful with default configuration":
+  asynctest "node setup is successful with default configuration":
     ## Given
     var conf = defaultTestWakuConf()
 
     ## When
-    var waku = Waku.new(conf).valueOr:
+    var waku = (await Waku.new(conf)).valueOr:
       raiseAssert error
 
     (waitFor startWaku(addr waku)).isOkOr:
@@ -62,13 +62,13 @@ suite "Wakunode2 - Waku initialization":
     ## Cleanup
     waitFor waku.stop()
 
-  test "app properly handles dynamic port configuration":
+  asynctest "app properly handles dynamic port configuration":
     ## Given
     var conf = defaultTestWakuConf()
     conf.endpointConf.p2pTcpPort = Port(0)
 
     ## When
-    var waku = Waku.new(conf).valueOr:
+    var waku = (await Waku.new(conf)).valueOr:
       raiseAssert error
 
     (waitFor startWaku(addr waku)).isOkOr: