diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 15571cf144e..caaf1b3de4b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 - [[PR575]](https://github.com/lanl/singularity-eos/pull/575) Pin variant submodule to the same commit as the spackage
 
 ### Infrastructure (changes irrelevant to downstream codes)
+- [[PR594]](https://github.com/lanl/singularity-eos/pull/594) clean up tests in preparation for ports-of-call variant transition
 - [[PR588]](https://github.com/lanl/singularity-eos/pull/588) Add DensityEnergyFromPressureTemperature in unit system test
 - [[PR576]](https://github.com/lanl/singularity-eos/pull/576) Clean up some header includes to use the C++ versions
 - [[PR559]](https://github.com/lanl/singularity-eos/pull/559) Document the intent of the virtual keyword in solvers
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index dce185feed2..c7f1a7da17e 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -121,11 +121,19 @@ if(SINGULARITY_BUILD_CLOSURE)
   catch_discover_tests(closure_unit_tests PROPERTIES TIMEOUT 120)
 
   if(SINGULARITY_USE_SPINER)
-    add_executable(test_pte test_pte.cpp)
-    target_link_libraries(test_pte PRIVATE Catch2::Catch2
-                                         singularity-eos::singularity-eos)
-    target_include_directories(test_pte PRIVATE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
-    add_test(pte test_pte)
+    if(SINGULARITY_USE_KOKKOS AND Kokkos_ENABLE_HIP
+      AND CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION VERSION_LESS "19.0.0")
+      message(WARNING
+        "Test PTE appears to encounter a compiler bug for LLVM builds targeting AMD GPUs "
+        "for compiler versions ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION} < 19, and the test is disabled. "
+        "Note this corresponds to rocm versions less than 6.4.")
+    else()
+      add_executable(test_pte test_pte.cpp)
+      target_link_libraries(test_pte PRIVATE Catch2::Catch2
+                                           singularity-eos::singularity-eos)
+      target_include_directories(test_pte PRIVATE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
+      add_test(pte test_pte)
+    endif()
 
     add_executable(test_pte_2phase test_pte_2phaseVinetSn.cpp)
     target_link_libraries(test_pte_2phase PRIVATE Catch2::Catch2
diff --git a/test/test_pte.cpp b/test/test_pte.cpp
index 007458e092d..bee30f1adbb 100644
--- a/test/test_pte.cpp
+++ b/test/test_pte.cpp
@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ using atomic_view = Kokkos::MemoryTraits<Kokkos::Atomic>;
 #endif
 
 template <template <typename... Types> class Method_t>
-auto TestPTE(const std::string name, const std::size_t nscratch_vars,
-             std::size_t &nsuccess) {
+void TestPTE(const std::string name, const std::size_t nscratch_vars,
+             std::size_t &nsuccess, std::vector<Real> &host_vals) {
   constexpr Real EPS = 1e-5;
   Real time;
   nsuccess = 0;
@@ -236,15 +236,20 @@ auto TestPTE(const std::string name, const std::size_t nscratch_vars,
   std::cout << "\n\tTotal = " << tot << "\n" << std::endl;
 
 #ifdef PORTABILITY_STRATEGY_KOKKOS
-  return rho_v;
-#else
+  Kokkos::deep_copy(rho_vh, rho_v);
+#endif // PORTABILITY_STRATEGY_KOKKOS
+  host_vals.resize(NPTS);
+  for (int i = 0; i < NPTS; ++i) {
+    host_vals[i] = rho_hm(i);
+  }
+#ifndef PORTABILITY_STRATEGY_KOKKOS
+  free(rho_d);
   free(vfrac_d);
   free(sie_d);
   free(temp_d);
   free(press_d);
   free(scratch_d);
-  return rho_d;
-#endif // PORTABILITY_STRATEGY_KOKKOS
+#endif // NOT PORTABILITY_STRATEGY_KOKKOS
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
@@ -257,34 +262,34 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 
     // scratch required for PTE solver
     std::size_t ns_rt;
+    std::vector<Real> rho_rt;
     auto nscratch_vars_rt = PTESolverRhoTRequiredScratch(NMAT);
-    auto rho_rt = TestPTE<PTESolverRhoT>("PTESolverRhoT", nscratch_vars_rt, ns_rt);
+    TestPTE<PTESolverRhoT>("PTESolverRhoT", nscratch_vars_rt, ns_rt, rho_rt);
     nsuccess += ns_rt;
 
     // // scratch required for PTE solver
     std::size_t ns_pt;
+    std::vector<Real> rho_pt;
     auto nscratch_vars_pt = PTESolverPTRequiredScratch(NMAT);
-    auto rho_pt = TestPTE<PTESolverPT>("PTESolverPT", nscratch_vars_pt, ns_pt);
+    TestPTE<PTESolverPT>("PTESolverPT", nscratch_vars_pt, ns_pt, rho_pt);
     nsuccess += ns_pt;
 
     int nmatch = 0;
-    portableReduce(
-        "Check rho match", 0, NMAT,
-        PORTABLE_LAMBDA(const int i, int &nm) {
-          bool they_match = isClose(rho_rt(i), rho_pt(i));
-          if (!they_match) {
-            printf("Densities don't match for %d: %.14e %.14e %.14e\n", i, rho_rt(i),
-                   rho_pt(i), rho_rt(i) - rho_pt(i));
-          }
-          nm += they_match;
-        },
-        nmatch);
-    printf("Nmatch = %d / %d\n", nmatch, NMAT);
-
-#ifndef PORTABILITY_STRATEGY_KOKKOS
-    free(rho_rt);
-    free(rho_pt);
-#endif // PORTABILITY_STRATEGY_KOKKOS
+    int i = 0; // flat index
+    std::vector<bool> matmatch(NMAT, true);
+    for (int t = 0; t < NTRIAL; ++t) {
+      for (int m = 0; m < NMAT; ++m) {
+        bool they_match = isClose(rho_rt[i], rho_pt[i]);
+        if (!they_match && matmatch[m]) { // only print once per material
+          printf("Densities don't match for %d %d: %.14e %.14e %.14e\n", t, m, rho_rt[i],
+                 rho_pt[i], rho_rt[i] - rho_pt[i]);
+        }
+        matmatch[m] = matmatch[m] && they_match;
+        nmatch += they_match;
+        i++;
+      }
+    }
+    printf("Nmatch = %d / %d\n", nmatch, i);
   }
 #ifdef PORTABILITY_STRATEGY_KOKKOS
   Kokkos::finalize();
diff --git a/test/test_spiner_transform.cpp b/test/test_spiner_transform.cpp
index 0baeedaddf6..c904ae14b25 100644
--- a/test/test_spiner_transform.cpp
+++ b/test/test_spiner_transform.cpp
@@ -17,25 +17,23 @@
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <iostream> // debug
 
-#include <ports-of-call/portability.hpp>
-#include <singularity-eos/base/indexable_types.hpp>
-#include <singularity-eos/eos/eos_spiner_common.hpp>
-#include <singularity-eos/eos/eos_spiner_sie_transforms.hpp>
-
 #ifndef CATCH_CONFIG_FAST_COMPILE
 #define CATCH_CONFIG_FAST_COMPILE
 #include <catch2/catch_test_macros.hpp>
 #endif
 
-#include <test/eos_unit_test_helpers.hpp>
+#ifdef SINGULARITY_USE_SPINER_WITH_HDF5
+#ifdef SINGULARITY_USE_SPINER
+
+#include <ports-of-call/portability.hpp>
+#include <singularity-eos/base/indexable_types.hpp>
+#include <singularity-eos/eos/eos_spiner_common.hpp>
+#include <singularity-eos/eos/eos_spiner_sie_transforms.hpp>
 
-#ifdef SPINER_USE_HDF5
 #include <singularity-eos/base/spiner_table_utils.hpp>
 #include <spiner/databox.hpp>
 #include <spiner/interpolation.hpp>
-#endif
-
-#ifdef SINGULARITY_USE_SPINER
+#include <test/eos_unit_test_helpers.hpp>
 
 using namespace singularity;
 using namespace transformations;
@@ -278,3 +276,4 @@ SCENARIO("AllTransform behaves correctly", "[TransformTest]") {
 }
 
 #endif // SINGULARITY_USE_SPINER
+#endif // SINGULARITY_USE_SPINER_WITH_HDF5