diff --git a/tests/ui-testing/pages/alertsPages/alertCreationWizard.js b/tests/ui-testing/pages/alertsPages/alertCreationWizard.js
index 8703dfe95a..0dc9154c23 100644
--- a/tests/ui-testing/pages/alertsPages/alertCreationWizard.js
+++ b/tests/ui-testing/pages/alertsPages/alertCreationWizard.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 import { expect } from '@playwright/test';
 import testLogger from '../../playwright-tests/utils/test-logger.js';
+import { openOSelectDropdown } from './oselectHelpers.js';
 
 export class AlertCreationWizard {
     constructor(page, commonActions, locators) {
@@ -153,7 +154,7 @@ export class AlertCreationWizard {
         // Destination selection with fallback
         const destinationDropdown = this.page.locator('[data-test="alert-destinations-select"]');
         await destinationDropdown.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 10000 });
-        await destinationDropdown.click();
+        await openOSelectDropdown(this.page, destinationDropdown);
         await this.page.waitForTimeout(1000);
 
         // Destination dropdown is OSelect (Reka Listbox) post-migration.
@@ -265,7 +266,7 @@ export class AlertCreationWizard {
         // Destination selection with fallback
         const destinationSection = this.page.locator('[data-test="alert-destinations-select"]');
         await destinationSection.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 10000 });
-        await destinationSection.click();
+        await openOSelectDropdown(this.page, destinationSection);
         await this.page.waitForTimeout(1000);
 
         const visibleDestMenuDefItems = this.page.locator('[data-test$="-popover"] [data-test$="-option"]');
@@ -449,7 +450,7 @@ export class AlertCreationWizard {
         // Destination selection using v3 data-test locator
         const destinationDropdown = this.page.locator('[data-test="alert-destinations-select"]');
         await destinationDropdown.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 5000 });
-        await destinationDropdown.click();
+        await openOSelectDropdown(this.page, destinationDropdown);
         await this.page.waitForTimeout(1000);
 
         const visibleDestMenuSqlItems = this.page.locator('[data-test$="-popover"] [data-test$="-option"]');
@@ -619,7 +620,7 @@ export class AlertCreationWizard {
         // Select destination for REAL-TIME alerts
         const destinationDropdown = this.page.locator('[data-test="alert-destinations-select"]');
         await destinationDropdown.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 10000 });
-        await destinationDropdown.click();
+        await openOSelectDropdown(this.page, destinationDropdown);
         await this.page.waitForTimeout(1000);
 
         // Use popover selector for destination
@@ -804,7 +805,7 @@ export class AlertCreationWizard {
 
         const destinationDropdown = this.page.locator('[data-test="alert-destinations-select"]');
         await destinationDropdown.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 5000 });
-        await destinationDropdown.click();
+        await openOSelectDropdown(this.page, destinationDropdown);
         await this.page.waitForTimeout(1000);
 
         // Use popover selector for destination
@@ -1294,7 +1295,7 @@ export class AlertCreationWizard {
 
         const destinationDropdown = this.page.locator('[data-test="alert-destinations-select"]');
         await destinationDropdown.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 10000 });
-        await destinationDropdown.click();
+        await openOSelectDropdown(this.page, destinationDropdown);
         await this.page.waitForTimeout(1000);
 
         // Use popover selector for destination
@@ -1547,7 +1548,7 @@ export class AlertCreationWizard {
         // Destination (v3 uses data-test locator)
         const destinationDropdown = this.page.locator('[data-test="alert-destinations-select"]');
         await destinationDropdown.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 5000 });
-        await destinationDropdown.click();
+        await openOSelectDropdown(this.page, destinationDropdown);
         await this.page.waitForTimeout(1000);
 
         const visibleDestMenuAggItems = this.page.locator('[data-test$="-popover"] [data-test$="-option"]');
@@ -1747,7 +1748,7 @@ export class AlertCreationWizard {
         // Select destination (v3 uses data-test locator)
         const destinationDropdown = this.page.locator('[data-test="alert-destinations-select"]');
         await destinationDropdown.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 5000 });
-        await destinationDropdown.click();
+        await openOSelectDropdown(this.page, destinationDropdown);
         await this.page.waitForTimeout(1000);
 
         const visibleDestMenuPromqlItems = this.page.locator('[data-test$="-popover"] [data-test$="-option"]');
diff --git a/tests/ui-testing/pages/alertsPages/alertsPage.js b/tests/ui-testing/pages/alertsPages/alertsPage.js
index c0cac15444..ece78cc661 100644
--- a/tests/ui-testing/pages/alertsPages/alertsPage.js
+++ b/tests/ui-testing/pages/alertsPages/alertsPage.js
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import { expect } from '@playwright/test';
 import fs from 'fs';
 import { CommonActions } from '../commonActions';
 import { AlertCreationWizard } from './alertCreationWizard.js';
+import { openOSelectDropdown } from './oselectHelpers.js';
 import { AlertManagement } from './alertManagement.js';
 import { AlertBulkOperations } from './alertBulkOperations.js';
 const testLogger = require('../../playwright-tests/utils/test-logger.js');
@@ -836,6 +837,13 @@ export class AlertsPage {
         return this.page.locator(this.locators.advancedTemplateOverrideSelect).first();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Open the Advanced-tab template override OSelect dropdown.
+     */
+    async openAdvancedTemplateOverrideSelect() {
+        await openOSelectDropdown(this.page, this.getAdvancedTemplateOverrideSelect());
+    }
+
     // ==================== FOLDER OPERATIONS ====================
 
     generateRandomString() {
diff --git a/tests/ui-testing/pages/alertsPages/oselectHelpers.js b/tests/ui-testing/pages/alertsPages/oselectHelpers.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bc5859459d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ui-testing/pages/alertsPages/oselectHelpers.js
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/**
+ * Helpers for interacting with the OSelect (reka-ui popover) component used
+ * across the alert forms.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Reliably open an OSelect dropdown given its root locator.
+ *
+ * OSelect forwards the consumer's `data-test` onto an inner `<button>`-trigger;
+ * clicking the root wrapper does NOT toggle the reka-ui popover. The trigger can
+ * also open-then-close on a single Playwright click, so we click until the
+ * popover reports open (`aria-expanded="true"`).
+ *
+ * @param {import('@playwright/test').Page} page
+ * @param {import('@playwright/test').Locator} rootLocator OSelect root, e.g. [data-test="...-select"]
+ * @param {{ retries?: number, settleMs?: number }} [options]
+ */
+export async function openOSelectDropdown(page, rootLocator, { retries = 5, settleMs = 400 } = {}) {
+    const trigger = rootLocator.locator('[data-test$="-trigger"]').first();
+    await trigger.waitFor({ state: 'visible', timeout: 5000 });
+    for (let i = 0; i < retries; i++) {
+        if ((await trigger.getAttribute('aria-expanded')) === 'true') return;
+        await trigger.click();
+        await page.waitForTimeout(settleMs);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/ui-testing/playwright-tests/RegressionSet/Alerts/alerts-bugs.spec.js b/tests/ui-testing/playwright-tests/RegressionSet/Alerts/alerts-bugs.spec.js
index 01d01eb698..00e445d363 100644
--- a/tests/ui-testing/playwright-tests/RegressionSet/Alerts/alerts-bugs.spec.js
+++ b/tests/ui-testing/playwright-tests/RegressionSet/Alerts/alerts-bugs.spec.js
@@ -216,8 +216,8 @@ test.describe("Alerts Regression Bugs — Batch 1", () => {
     await expect(templateOverrideSelect, 'Template override select should be visible').toBeVisible({ timeout: 3000 });
     testLogger.info('✓ Template override field found');
 
-    // Open the select dropdown and pick a template
-    await templateOverrideSelect.click();
+    // Open the select dropdown and pick a template (page object clicks the OSelect trigger).
+    await pm.alertsPage.openAdvancedTemplateOverrideSelect();
     await page.waitForTimeout(500);
 
     const templateOption = pm.alertsPage.getFirstMenuItem();