diff --git a/rdb_test.go b/rdb_test.go
index ee3c72f..d51a1f0 100644
--- a/rdb_test.go
+++ b/rdb_test.go
@@ -47,12 +47,18 @@ func TestEnqueue(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		msg *taskMessage
 	}{
-		{msg: randomTask("send_email", "default", map[string]interface{}{"to": "exampleuser@gmail.com", "from": "noreply@example.com"})},
-		{msg: randomTask("generate_csv", "default", map[string]interface{}{})},
+		{msg: randomTask("send_email", "default",
+			map[string]interface{}{"to": "exampleuser@gmail.com", "from": "noreply@example.com"})},
+		{msg: randomTask("generate_csv", "default",
+			map[string]interface{}{})},
 		{msg: randomTask("sync", "default", nil)},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range tests {
+		// clean up db before each test case.
+		if err := client.FlushDB().Err(); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
 		err := r.enqueue(tc.msg)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Error(err)
@@ -73,45 +79,39 @@ func TestEnqueue(t *testing.T) {
 		if diff := cmp.Diff(*tc.msg, persisted); diff != "" {
 			t.Errorf("persisted data differed from the original input (-want, +got)\n%s", diff)
 		}
-		// clean up before the next test case.
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDequeue(t *testing.T) {
+	r := setup(t)
+	t1 := randomTask("send_email", "default", map[string]interface{}{"subject": "hello!"})
+	tests := []struct {
+		queued     []*taskMessage
+		want       *taskMessage
+		err        error
+		inProgress int64 // length of "in-progress" tasks after dequeue
+	}{
+		{queued: []*taskMessage{t1}, want: t1, err: nil, inProgress: 1},
+		{queued: []*taskMessage{}, want: nil, err: errQueuePopTimeout, inProgress: 0},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		// clean up db before each test case.
 		if err := client.FlushDB().Err(); err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
-	}
-}
-
-func TestDequeueImmediateReturn(t *testing.T) {
-	r := setup(t)
-	msg := randomTask("export_csv", "csv", nil)
-	r.enqueue(msg)
-
-	res, err := r.dequeue("asynq:queues:csv", time.Second)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("r.bpop() failed: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	if !cmp.Equal(res, msg) {
-		t.Errorf("cmp.Equal(res, msg) = %t, want %t", false, true)
-	}
-	jobs := client.LRange(inProgress, 0, -1).Val()
-	if len(jobs) != 1 {
-		t.Fatalf("len(jobs) = %d, want %d", len(jobs), 1)
-	}
-	var tm taskMessage
-	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jobs[0]), &tm); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("json.Marshal() failed: %v", err)
-	}
-	if diff := cmp.Diff(res, &tm); diff != "" {
-		t.Errorf("cmp.Diff(res, tm) = %s", diff)
-	}
-}
-
-func TestDequeueTimeout(t *testing.T) {
-	r := setup(t)
-
-	_, err := r.dequeue("asynq:queues:default", time.Second)
-	if err != errQueuePopTimeout {
-		t.Errorf("err = %v, want %v", err, errQueuePopTimeout)
+		for _, m := range tc.queued {
+			r.enqueue(m)
+		}
+		got, err := r.dequeue(defaultQueue, time.Second)
+		if !cmp.Equal(got, tc.want) || err != tc.err {
+			t.Errorf("(*rdb).dequeue(%q, time.Second) = %v, %v; want %v, %v",
+				defaultQueue, got, err, tc.want, tc.err)
+			continue
+		}
+		if l := client.LLen(inProgress).Val(); l != tc.inProgress {
+			t.Errorf("LIST %q has length %d, want %d", inProgress, l, tc.inProgress)
+		}
 	}
 }
 
@@ -125,16 +125,16 @@ func TestMoveAll(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, task := range seed {
 		bytes, err := json.Marshal(task)
 		if err != nil {
-			t.Errorf("json.Marhsal() failed: %v", err)
+			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 		if err := client.LPush(inProgress, string(bytes)).Err(); err != nil {
-			t.Errorf("LPUSH %q %s failed: %v", inProgress, string(bytes), err)
+			t.Fatal(err)
 		}
 	}
 
 	err := r.moveAll(inProgress, defaultQueue)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("moveAll failed: %v", err)
+		t.Errorf("moveAll(%q, %q) = %v, want nil", inProgress, defaultQueue, err)
 	}
 
 	if l := client.LLen(inProgress).Val(); l != 0 {
@@ -152,11 +152,11 @@ func TestForward(t *testing.T) {
 	secondAgo := time.Now().Add(-time.Second) // use timestamp for the past to avoid advancing time
 	json1, err := json.Marshal(t1)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("json.Marshal() failed: %v", err)
+		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	json2, err := json.Marshal(t2)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("json.Marshal() failed: %v", err)
+		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	client.ZAdd(scheduled, &redis.Z{
 		Member: string(json1),
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ func TestForward(t *testing.T) {
 
 	err = r.forward(scheduled)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("r.forward() failed: %v", err)
+		t.Errorf("(*rdb).forward(%q) = %v, want nil", scheduled, err)
 	}
 
 	if c := client.ZCard(scheduled).Val(); c != 0 {