diff --git a/xCAT-test/unit/makentp_ntp_deps.t b/xCAT-test/unit/makentp_ntp_deps.t
index 68180ee34..3716d852e 100644
--- a/xCAT-test/unit/makentp_ntp_deps.t
+++ b/xCAT-test/unit/makentp_ntp_deps.t
@@ -1,58 +1,131 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env perl
 use strict;
 use warnings;
+
+use FindBin;
+use File::Temp qw(tempdir);
 use Test::More;
 
-# Regression: makentp/setupntp configure a server-capable NTP daemon (chronyd/ntpd) on the MN.
-# On a minimal Ubuntu 24.04 MN chrony was absent (Ubuntu ships only the client-only
-# systemd-timesyncd), hwclock moved to util-linux-extra (absent) so setupntp aborted its whole NTP
-# setup, and timesyncd was left fighting the NTP daemon -- reddening reg_linux_diskfull_installation_flat.
+# setupntp configures a server-capable NTP daemon on the management node. On a stock Ubuntu MN
+# three things went wrong: hwclock had moved to util-linux-extra and was absent, so the fatal
+# executable check aborted the ENTIRE NTP setup including the clock step that does not use it;
+# systemd-timesyncd was left running and kept disciplining the clock against the daemon being
+# configured; and the xcat package did not pull in a daemon that can serve time at all.
+#
+# The first three are behaviours of the script, so run it. The last is a property of the
+# packaging manifests, so read those.
 
-use File::Spec;
-use FindBin;
-my $repo_root = File::Spec->rel2abs( File::Spec->catdir( $FindBin::Bin, '..', '..' ) );
-sub slurp {
-    my ($rel) = @_;
-    my $path = File::Spec->catfile( $repo_root, split m{/}, $rel );
-    local $/;
-    open my $fh, '<', $path or return undef;
-    <$fh>;
+my $repo = "$FindBin::Bin/../..";
+my $setupntp_path = "$repo/xCAT/postscripts/setupntp";
+plan skip_all => 'setupntp not found' unless -r $setupntp_path;
+plan skip_all => 'setupntp targets Linux management nodes' unless $^O eq 'linux';
+
+open(my $fh, '<', $setupntp_path) or die "open $setupntp_path: $!";
+my @lines = <$fh>;
+close $fh;
+my $source = join '', @lines;
+
+# setupntp forces its own PATH and refuses to run unless UID is 0, so its commands cannot be
+# stubbed from outside and it cannot run as an ordinary user. Take the script's own helper
+# functions and the section that configures the daemon, and drive them with shell functions --
+# which bash resolves ahead of PATH, and which `type` and `command -v` both report as present.
+my ($helpers) = $source =~ /\A(.*?)^\[ "\$\{UID\}" -eq "0" \]/ms;
+my ($body)    = $source =~ /^(check_exec_or_exit cp cat logger grep\n.*?)^CHRONY_CONF=/ms;
+BAIL_OUT('could not take the helper functions from setupntp')          unless $helpers;
+BAIL_OUT('could not take the daemon setup section from setupntp')      unless $body;
+
+sub run_setupntp {
+    my (%opt) = @_;
+    my $root = tempdir(CLEANUP => 1);
+
+    # Record every call the section makes, and answer as the case requires.
+    my $doubles = <<"BASH";
+log() { printf '%s\\n' "\$*" >>"$root/calls"; }
+systemctl()   { log "systemctl \$*"; return 0; }
+timedatectl() { log "timedatectl \$*"; return 0; }
+chronyd()     { log "chronyd \$*"; return 0; }
+logger()      { log "logger \$*"; return 0; }
+rm()          { log "rm \$*"; return 0; }
+BASH
+    $doubles .= $opt{hwclock}
+      ? qq{hwclock() { log "hwclock \$*"; return 0; }\n}
+      # hwclock genuinely absent: hide it from both probes the script can use
+      : qq{command() { if [ "\$1" = "-v" ] && [ "\$2" = "hwclock" ]; then return 1; fi; builtin command "\$@"; }\n}
+        . qq{type() { if [ "\$1" = "hwclock" ]; then return 1; fi; builtin type "\$@"; }\n};
+
+    $doubles .= "declare -a NTP_SERVERS=(" . ($opt{server} ? qq{"$opt{server}"} : '') . ")\n";
+    $doubles .= "log_label=xcat\n";
+
+    my $rc = system('bash', '-c', $doubles . $helpers . $body);
+
+    my $calls = '';
+    if (open my $ch, '<', "$root/calls") { local $/; $calls = <$ch>; close $ch }
+    return { rc => $rc >> 8, calls => $calls };
 }
 
-my $setupntp = slurp('xCAT/postscripts/setupntp');
-SKIP: {
-    skip 'setupntp not found', 4 unless defined $setupntp;
-    unlike($setupntp, qr/check_exec_or_exit[^\n]*\bhwclock\b/,
-        'setupntp does NOT hard-require hwclock in check_exec_or_exit');
-    like($setupntp, qr/command -v hwclock/,
-        'setupntp guards its hwclock use so a missing hwclock is non-fatal');
-    like($setupntp, qr/systemctl\s+(?:stop|disable)\s+systemd-timesyncd/,
-        'setupntp stops/disables systemd-timesyncd so it does not fight the NTP daemon');
-    like($setupntp, qr/chronyd\s+-f\s+\S*\s+-q/,
-        'setupntp still steps the system clock via a one-shot chronyd -q');
+# --- a management node with no hwclock: the bug this fix exists for --------
+{
+    my $r = run_setupntp(hwclock => 0);
+
+    is($r->{rc}, 0, 'setupntp completes on a node with no hwclock instead of aborting');
+    like($r->{calls}, qr/^chronyd .*-q/m,
+        'the system clock is still stepped, which is the part that never needed hwclock');
+    unlike($r->{calls}, qr/^hwclock/m, 'and no attempt is made to use the missing hwclock');
+    like($r->{calls}, qr/hwclock not present/,
+        'the skipped RTC persist is reported rather than passing silently');
 }
 
+# --- a management node that has hwclock ------------------------------------
+{
+    my $r = run_setupntp(hwclock => 1);
+
+    is($r->{rc}, 0, 'setupntp completes on a node that has hwclock');
+    like($r->{calls}, qr/^hwclock --systohc --utc$/m,
+        'the stepped system clock is persisted to the RTC when hwclock is available');
+    like($r->{calls}, qr/^chronyd .*-q/m, 'the clock is stepped in this case too');
+}
+
+# --- systemd-timesyncd must yield to the NTP daemon ------------------------
+foreach my $case ([ 'with hwclock', 1 ], [ 'without hwclock', 0 ]) {
+    my ($name, $hwclock) = @$case;
+    my $r = run_setupntp(hwclock => $hwclock);
+
+    like($r->{calls}, qr/^systemctl stop systemd-timesyncd\.service$/m,
+        "$name: systemd-timesyncd is stopped so it stops disciplining the clock");
+    like($r->{calls}, qr/^systemctl disable systemd-timesyncd\.service$/m,
+        "$name: systemd-timesyncd is disabled so it does not come back on the next boot");
+}
+
+# --- the configured NTP server reaches the clock step ----------------------
+{
+    my $r = run_setupntp(hwclock => 1, server => 'ntp.example.com');
+    like($r->{calls}, qr/^chronyd .*server ntp\.example\.com iburst/m,
+        'the clock is stepped against the NTP server the node was given');
+}
+{
+    my $r = run_setupntp(hwclock => 1);
+    like($r->{calls}, qr/^chronyd .*pool pool\.ntp\.org iburst/m,
+        'a node given no NTP server falls back to the public pool');
+}
+
+# --- the packaging must supply a daemon that can serve time ----------------
+# These are manifest contents, not behaviour: there is nothing to execute.
+sub slurp { my $p = shift; open my $h, '<', "$repo/$p" or return undef; local $/; <$h> }
+
 my $ctrl = slurp('xCAT/debian/control');
 SKIP: {
     skip 'debian/control not found', 2 unless defined $ctrl;
     like($ctrl, qr/^Depends:.*\bchrony \| ntp\b/m,
-        'xcat debian package Depends on chrony | ntp (server-capable NTP daemon)');
+        'the xcat debian package depends on a server-capable NTP daemon');
     like($ctrl, qr/^Recommends:.*\butil-linux-extra\b/m,
-        'xcat debian package Recommends util-linux-extra (provides hwclock on noble+)');
+        'and recommends the package that carries hwclock on noble and later');
 }
 
 my $spec = slurp('xCAT/xCAT.spec');
 SKIP: {
     skip 'xCAT.spec not found', 1 unless defined $spec;
     like($spec, qr/^Requires:\s*\(chrony or ntp\)/m,
-        'xCAT rpm Requires (chrony or ntp) for makentp');
-}
-
-my $makentp = slurp('xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/makentp.pm');
-SKIP: {
-    skip 'makentp.pm not found', 1 unless defined $makentp;
-    like($makentp, qr/xCAT::NTP::Backend->choose/,
-        'makentp selects the NTP daemon through the xCAT::NTP::Backend selector');
+        'the xCAT rpm requires a server-capable NTP daemon');
 }
 
 done_testing();