diff --git a/cirq-core/cirq/ops/boolean_hamiltonian_test.py b/cirq-core/cirq/ops/boolean_hamiltonian_test.py
index 0110da86d29..a7c5c65eee7 100644
--- a/cirq-core/cirq/ops/boolean_hamiltonian_test.py
+++ b/cirq-core/cirq/ops/boolean_hamiltonian_test.py
@@ -128,9 +128,9 @@ def test_gray_code_sorting(n_bits, expected_hs):
         hs = hs_template.copy()
         random.shuffle(hs)
 
-        sorted_hs = sorted(list(hs), key=functools.cmp_to_key(bh._gray_code_comparator))
+        sorted_hs = sorted(hs, key=functools.cmp_to_key(bh._gray_code_comparator))
 
-        np.testing.assert_array_equal(sorted_hs, expected_hs)
+        assert sorted_hs == expected_hs
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
diff --git a/cirq-core/cirq/transformers/transformer_primitives_test.py b/cirq-core/cirq/transformers/transformer_primitives_test.py
index 9c7a8c7c31f..92106f18c5e 100644
--- a/cirq-core/cirq/transformers/transformer_primitives_test.py
+++ b/cirq-core/cirq/transformers/transformer_primitives_test.py
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ def test_merge_operations_complexity(op_density):
         lambda _, __: None,
         lambda op1, _: op1,
         lambda _, op2: op2,
-        lambda op1, op2: prng.choice([op1, op2, None]),
+        lambda op1, op2: (op1, op2, None)[prng.choice(3)],
     ]:
 
         def wrapped_merge_func(op1, op2):