diff --git a/test/integration/client_idle_timeout_test.exs b/test/integration/client_idle_timeout_test.exs
index ce8e8e95..04d3708e 100644
--- a/test/integration/client_idle_timeout_test.exs
+++ b/test/integration/client_idle_timeout_test.exs
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 defmodule Supavisor.Integration.ClientIdleTimeoutTest do
   use Supavisor.DataCase, async: false
 
+  alias Supavisor.Support.ProtocolClient
+
   @moduletag :integration
 
   @idle_timeout_ms 1000
@@ -10,7 +12,7 @@ defmodule Supavisor.Integration.ClientIdleTimeoutTest do
   end
 
   test "server disconnects a client that sits idle past client_idle_timeout", %{db_conf: db_conf} do
-    {:gen_tcp, sock} = db_conf |> idle_tenant() |> scram_connect()
+    sock = db_conf |> idle_tenant() |> connect()
 
     assert {:error, :closed} = :gen_tcp.recv(sock, 0, @idle_timeout_ms * 5)
   end
@@ -48,59 +50,13 @@ defmodule Supavisor.Integration.ClientIdleTimeoutTest do
       tenant: tenant_id,
       port: Application.get_env(:supavisor, :proxy_port_transaction),
       user: db_conf[:username],
-      password: db_conf[:password],
-      database: to_string(db_conf[:database])
+      password: db_conf[:password]
     }
   end
 
-  defp scram_connect(%{tenant: tenant, port: port, user: user, password: password, database: db}) do
+  defp connect(%{tenant: tenant, port: port, user: user, password: password}) do
     {:ok, sock} = :gen_tcp.connect(~c"127.0.0.1", port, [:binary, active: false])
-
-    startup =
-      :pgo_protocol.encode_startup_message([{"user", "#{user}.#{tenant}"}, {"database", db}])
-
-    :ok = :gen_tcp.send(sock, startup)
-
-    # SASL auth request
-    {:ok, <<?R, _::32, 10::32, _methods::binary>>} = :gen_tcp.recv(sock, 0, 5000)
-
-    # SCRAM client-first
-    nonce = :pgo_scram.get_nonce(16)
-    client_first = :pgo_scram.get_client_first(user, nonce)
-    client_first_size = :erlang.iolist_size(client_first)
-    sasl_initial = ["SCRAM-SHA-256", 0, <<client_first_size::32>>, client_first]
-    :ok = :gen_tcp.send(sock, :pgo_protocol.encode_scram_response_message(sasl_initial))
-
-    # SCRAM server-first
-    {:ok, <<?R, _::32, 11::32, server_first::binary>>} = :gen_tcp.recv(sock, 0, 5000)
-    server_first_parts = :pgo_scram.parse_server_first(server_first, nonce)
-
-    # SCRAM client-final
-    {client_final, server_proof} =
-      :pgo_scram.get_client_final(server_first_parts, nonce, user, password)
-
-    :ok = :gen_tcp.send(sock, :pgo_protocol.encode_scram_response_message(client_final))
-
-    # SCRAM server-final + auth ok + params + ReadyForQuery
-    {:ok, auth_data} = :gen_tcp.recv(sock, 0, 5000)
-
-    {[<<?R, _::32, 12::32, server_final::binary>> | _], ""} =
-      Supavisor.Protocol.split_pkts(auth_data)
-
-    {:ok, ^server_proof} = :pgo_scram.parse_server_final(server_final)
-    recv_until_ready_for_query(sock, auth_data)
-
-    {:gen_tcp, sock}
-  end
-
-  defp recv_until_ready_for_query(sock, buf) do
-    {pkts, ""} = Supavisor.Protocol.split_pkts(buf)
-
-    if Enum.any?(pkts, &match?(<<?Z, _::binary>>, &1)) do
-      :ok
-    else
-      {:ok, more} = :gen_tcp.recv(sock, 0, 5000)
-      recv_until_ready_for_query(sock, more)
-    end
+    ProtocolClient.authenticate(sock, "#{user}.#{tenant}", password)
+    sock
   end
 end
diff --git a/test/integration/protocol_integration_test.exs b/test/integration/protocol_integration_test.exs
index 4f1d2a2d..c89eeefe 100644
--- a/test/integration/protocol_integration_test.exs
+++ b/test/integration/protocol_integration_test.exs
@@ -60,38 +60,8 @@ defmodule Supavisor.Integration.ProtocolIntegrationTest do
 
       {:ok, sock} = :gen_tcp.connect(~c"127.0.0.1", port, [:binary, active: false])
 
-      startup = :pgo_protocol.encode_startup_message([{"user", "#{user}.#{tenant}"}])
-      :ok = :gen_tcp.send(sock, startup)
-
-      # SASL auth request
-      {:ok, <<?R, _::32, 10::32, methods_bin::binary>>} = :gen_tcp.recv(sock, 0, 5000)
-      assert "SCRAM-SHA-256" in :pgo_protocol.decode_strings(methods_bin)
-
-      # SCRAM client-first
-      nonce = :pgo_scram.get_nonce(16)
-      client_first = :pgo_scram.get_client_first(user, nonce)
-      client_first_size = :erlang.iolist_size(client_first)
-      sasl_initial = ["SCRAM-SHA-256", 0, <<client_first_size::32>>, client_first]
-      :ok = :gen_tcp.send(sock, :pgo_protocol.encode_scram_response_message(sasl_initial))
-
-      # SCRAM server-first
-      {:ok, <<?R, _::32, 11::32, server_first::binary>>} = :gen_tcp.recv(sock, 0, 5000)
-      server_first_parts = :pgo_scram.parse_server_first(server_first, nonce)
-
-      # SCRAM client-final
-      {client_final, server_proof} =
-        :pgo_scram.get_client_final(server_first_parts, nonce, user, password)
-
-      :ok = :gen_tcp.send(sock, :pgo_protocol.encode_scram_response_message(client_final))
-
-      # SCRAM server-final + auth ok + params + ReadyForQuery
-      {:ok, auth_data} = :gen_tcp.recv(sock, 0, 5000)
-
-      {[<<?R, _::32, 12::32, server_final::binary>> | _], ""} =
-        Supavisor.Protocol.split_pkts(auth_data)
-
-      {:ok, ^server_proof} = :pgo_scram.parse_server_final(server_final)
-      ProtocolClient.recv_until_ready_for_query(sock, auth_data)
+      # authenticate/3 sends a user-only startup without database parameter
+      ProtocolClient.authenticate(sock, "#{user}.#{tenant}", password)
 
       # Verify the connection defaults to the correct database
       :ok = :gen_tcp.send(sock, :pgo_protocol.encode_query_message("SELECT current_database()"))