diff --git a/clients/da-vinci-client/src/test/java/com/linkedin/davinci/kafka/consumer/StoreIngestionTaskTest.java b/clients/da-vinci-client/src/test/java/com/linkedin/davinci/kafka/consumer/StoreIngestionTaskTest.java
index 420d681dce..b7734cd84f 100644
--- a/clients/da-vinci-client/src/test/java/com/linkedin/davinci/kafka/consumer/StoreIngestionTaskTest.java
+++ b/clients/da-vinci-client/src/test/java/com/linkedin/davinci/kafka/consumer/StoreIngestionTaskTest.java
@@ -4252,7 +4252,8 @@ public void testBatchOnlyStoreDataRecovery() {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Tests that the following scenario no longer occurs after adding a lock on {@link LeaderFollowerStateType}:
+   * Simulate the consumer thread processing a batch of polled messages while another thread modifies the leader-follower
+   * state in PCS. The following scenario must no longer occur after adding a lock on {@link LeaderFollowerStateType}:
    * 1. Consumer thread calls {@link StoreIngestionTask#produceToStoreBufferServiceOrKafka} to process polled messages
    * 2. Execution reaches {@link LeaderFollowerStoreIngestionTask#shouldProcessRecord}, which compares the message's
    * topic with the topic that should be consumed from, according to {@link PartitionConsumptionState}
@@ -4271,11 +4272,19 @@ public void testBatchOnlyStoreDataRecovery() {
    */
   @Test(dataProvider = "aaConfigProvider")
   public void testShouldProcessRecord(AAConfig aaConfig) throws Exception {
+    // Create a batch of polled messages for the consumer thread to process. Only one message is necessary
     PubSubTopicPartition topicPartition = new PubSubTopicPartitionImpl(pubSubTopic, PARTITION_FOO);
     PubSubHelper.MutablePubSubMessage pubSubMessage = PubSubHelper.getDummyPubSubMessage(false);
     pubSubMessage.setTopicPartition(topicPartition);
     List<PubSubMessage<KafkaKey, KafkaMessageEnvelope, Long>> consumedMessages = Arrays.asList(pubSubMessage);
+
+    // Set the RT topic stuff on the PCS along with the leader state to eliminate the scary exceptions due to test setup
     PubSubTopic rtTopic = pubSubTopicRepository.getTopic(Version.composeRealTimeTopic(storeNameWithoutVersionInfo));
+    TopicSwitch topicSwitch = new TopicSwitch();
+    topicSwitch.sourceKafkaServers = Arrays.asList(inMemoryRemoteKafkaBroker.getKafkaBootstrapServer());
+    topicSwitch.sourceTopicName = rtTopic.getName();
+    TopicSwitchWrapper topicSwitchWrapper =
+        new TopicSwitchWrapper(topicSwitch, pubSubTopicRepository.getTopic(topicSwitch.sourceTopicName.toString()));
 
     runTest(Collections.singleton(PARTITION_FOO), () -> {
       TestUtils.waitForNonDeterministicAssertion(
@@ -4288,8 +4297,8 @@ public void testShouldProcessRecord(AAConfig aaConfig) throws Exception {
 
       Thread stateTransitionThread = new Thread(() -> {
         /*
-         * Waits for the main test thread to go past shouldProcessRecord() to wait at waitUntilValueSchemaAvailable()
-         * inside waitReadyToProcessRecord(), then frees the main test thread by making the value schema available
+         * Wait for the main test thread to go past shouldProcessRecord() and reach waitUntilValueSchemaAvailable()
+         * inside waitReadyToProcessRecord(), then free the main test thread by making the value schema available
          */
         Utils.sleep(1000L);
         doReturn(true).when(mockSchemaRepo).hasValueSchema(storeNameWithoutVersionInfo, 0);
@@ -4300,6 +4309,7 @@ public void testShouldProcessRecord(AAConfig aaConfig) throws Exception {
          * done. Otherwise, validateRecordBeforeProducingToLocalKafka() would fail and induce an ingestion exception.
          */
         PartitionConsumptionState pcs = storeIngestionTaskUnderTest.getPartitionConsumptionState(PARTITION_FOO);
+        pcs.setTopicSwitch(topicSwitchWrapper);
         pcs.getOffsetRecord().setLeaderTopic(rtTopic);
         pcs.setLeaderFollowerState(LeaderFollowerStateType.LEADER);
       });
@@ -4317,7 +4327,7 @@ public void testShouldProcessRecord(AAConfig aaConfig) throws Exception {
         throw new RuntimeException(e);
       }
 
-      // This exception appears if the PCS is in leader state, but the processed message is from local VT
+      // Created in validateRecordBeforeProducingToLocalKafka() if the message is from local VT, but we're the leader
       Assert.assertNull(storeIngestionTaskUnderTest.getPartitionIngestionExceptionList().get(PARTITION_FOO));
     }, aaConfig);
   }