diff --git a/v2/backend.go b/v2/backend.go
index a8c7775a..4e5d313f 100644
--- a/v2/backend.go
+++ b/v2/backend.go
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ func NewBackendPublicKey(ds ds.TxnDatastore, cfg *RecordBackendConfig) (be *Reco
 // The values returned from [ProvidersBackend.Fetch] will be of type
 // [*providerSet] (unexported). The cfg parameter can be nil, in which case the
 // [DefaultProviderBackendConfig] will be used.
-func NewBackendProvider(pstore peerstore.Peerstore, dstore ds.Batching, cfg *ProvidersBackendConfig) (be *ProvidersBackend, err error) {
+func NewBackendProvider(pstore peerstore.Peerstore, dstore ds.Datastore, cfg *ProvidersBackendConfig) (be *ProvidersBackend, err error) {
 	if cfg == nil {
 		if cfg, err = DefaultProviderBackendConfig(); err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("default provider backend config: %w", err)
diff --git a/v2/backend_provider.go b/v2/backend_provider.go
index 1ddd764f..3be9d88a 100644
--- a/v2/backend_provider.go
+++ b/v2/backend_provider.go
@@ -257,14 +257,15 @@ func (p *ProvidersBackend) StartGarbageCollection() {
 	p.gcCancel = cancel
 	p.gcDone = make(chan struct{})
 
-	p.log.Info("Provider backend's started garbage collection schedule")
+	// init ticker outside the goroutine to prevent race condition with
+	// clock mock in garbage collection test.
+	ticker := p.cfg.clk.Ticker(p.cfg.GCInterval)
 
 	go func() {
 		defer close(p.gcDone)
-
-		ticker := p.cfg.clk.Ticker(p.cfg.GCInterval)
 		defer ticker.Stop()
 
+		p.log.Info("Provider backend started garbage collection schedule")
 		for {
 			select {
 			case <-ctx.Done():
diff --git a/v2/backend_provider_test.go b/v2/backend_provider_test.go
index 10407e54..d3ab465d 100644
--- a/v2/backend_provider_test.go
+++ b/v2/backend_provider_test.go
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/benbjohnson/clock"
 	ds "github.com/ipfs/go-datastore"
-	syncds "github.com/ipfs/go-datastore/sync"
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -22,7 +21,9 @@ func newBackendProvider(t testing.TB, cfg *ProvidersBackendConfig) *ProvidersBac
 	h, err := libp2p.New(libp2p.NoListenAddrs)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	dstore := syncds.MutexWrap(ds.NewMapDatastore())
+	dstore, err := InMemoryDatastore()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
 	t.Cleanup(func() {
 		if err = dstore.Close(); err != nil {
 			t.Logf("closing datastore: %s", err)