diff --git a/android/src/main/java/com/tailscale/ipn/App.kt b/android/src/main/java/com/tailscale/ipn/App.kt
index f6242769ed..5bfc09d42f 100644
--- a/android/src/main/java/com/tailscale/ipn/App.kt
+++ b/android/src/main/java/com/tailscale/ipn/App.kt
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ import androidx.security.crypto.MasterKey
 import com.tailscale.ipn.mdm.MDMSettings
 import com.tailscale.ipn.mdm.MDMSettingsChangedReceiver
 import com.tailscale.ipn.ui.localapi.Client
-import com.tailscale.ipn.ui.localapi.Request
 import com.tailscale.ipn.ui.model.Ipn
 import com.tailscale.ipn.ui.model.Netmap
 import com.tailscale.ipn.ui.notifier.FavoritesManager
@@ -255,7 +254,6 @@ class App : UninitializedApp(), libtailscale.AppContext, ViewModelStoreOwner {
   fun startLibtailscale(directFileRoot: String, hardwareAttestation: Boolean) {
     app = Libtailscale.start(this.filesDir.absolutePath, directFileRoot, hardwareAttestation, this)
     ShareFileHelper.init(this, app, directFileRoot, applicationScope)
-    Request.setApp(app)
     Notifier.setApp(app)
     Notifier.start(applicationScope)
   }
diff --git a/android/src/main/java/com/tailscale/ipn/ui/localapi/Client.kt b/android/src/main/java/com/tailscale/ipn/ui/localapi/Client.kt
index 146a1a0463..64749ce308 100644
--- a/android/src/main/java/com/tailscale/ipn/ui/localapi/Client.kt
+++ b/android/src/main/java/com/tailscale/ipn/ui/localapi/Client.kt
@@ -68,12 +68,12 @@ typealias PingResultHandler = (Result<IpnState.PingResult>) -> Unit
  * Client provides a mechanism for calling Go's LocalAPIClient. Every LocalAPI endpoint has a
  * corresponding method on this Client.
  */
-class Client(private val scope: CoroutineScope) {
+class Client(
+    private val scope: CoroutineScope,
+    private val appProvider: () -> libtailscale.Application = { App.get().getLibtailscaleApp() },
+) {
   private val TAG = Client::class.simpleName
 
-  // Access libtailscale.Application lazily
-  private val app: libtailscale.Application by lazy { App.get().getLibtailscaleApp() }
-
   fun start(options: Ipn.Options, responseHandler: (Result<Unit>) -> Unit) {
     val body = Json.encodeToString(options).toByteArray()
     return post(Endpoint.START, body, responseHandler = responseHandler)
@@ -213,6 +213,7 @@ class Client(private val scope: CoroutineScope) {
   ) {
     Request(
             scope = scope,
+            appProvider = appProvider,
             method = "GET",
             path = path,
             body = body,
@@ -229,6 +230,7 @@ class Client(private val scope: CoroutineScope) {
   ) {
     Request(
             scope = scope,
+            appProvider = appProvider,
             method = "PUT",
             path = path,
             body = body,
@@ -246,6 +248,7 @@ class Client(private val scope: CoroutineScope) {
   ) {
     Request(
             scope = scope,
+            appProvider = appProvider,
             method = "POST",
             path = path,
             body = body,
@@ -263,6 +266,7 @@ class Client(private val scope: CoroutineScope) {
   ) {
     Request(
             scope = scope,
+            appProvider = appProvider,
             method = "POST",
             path = path,
             parts = parts,
@@ -280,6 +284,7 @@ class Client(private val scope: CoroutineScope) {
   ) {
     Request(
             scope = scope,
+            appProvider = appProvider,
             method = "PATCH",
             path = path,
             body = body,
@@ -295,6 +300,7 @@ class Client(private val scope: CoroutineScope) {
   ) {
     Request(
             scope = scope,
+            appProvider = appProvider,
             method = "DELETE",
             path = path,
             responseType = typeOf<T>(),
@@ -304,8 +310,9 @@ class Client(private val scope: CoroutineScope) {
   }
 }
 
-class Request<T>(
+private class Request<T>(
     private val scope: CoroutineScope,
+    private val appProvider: () -> libtailscale.Application,
     private val method: String,
     path: String,
     private val body: ByteArray? = null,
@@ -320,20 +327,14 @@ class Request<T>(
     private const val TAG = "LocalAPIRequest"
 
     private val jsonDecoder = Json { ignoreUnknownKeys = true }
-
-    private lateinit var app: libtailscale.Application
-
-    @JvmStatic
-    fun setApp(newApp: libtailscale.Application) {
-      app = newApp
-    }
   }
 
   @OptIn(ExperimentalSerializationApi::class)
   fun execute() {
     scope.launch(Dispatchers.IO) {
-      TSLog.d(TAG, "Executing request:${method}:${fullPath} on app $app")
       try {
+        val app = appProvider()
+        TSLog.d(TAG, "Executing request:${method}:${fullPath} on app $app")
         val resp =
             if (parts != null)
                 app.callLocalAPIMultipart(
diff --git a/android/src/test/kotlin/com/tailscale/ipn/ui/localapi/ClientTest.kt b/android/src/test/kotlin/com/tailscale/ipn/ui/localapi/ClientTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..50db892f68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/android/src/test/kotlin/com/tailscale/ipn/ui/localapi/ClientTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+// Copyright (c) Tailscale Inc & AUTHORS
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+package com.tailscale.ipn.ui.localapi
+
+import android.util.Log
+import com.tailscale.ipn.ui.model.IpnState
+import com.tailscale.ipn.util.TSLog
+import kotlinx.coroutines.CompletableDeferred
+import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
+import kotlinx.coroutines.test.runTest
+import kotlinx.coroutines.withTimeout
+import org.junit.After
+import org.junit.Assert.assertEquals
+import org.junit.Assert.assertSame
+import org.junit.Before
+import org.junit.Test
+import org.mockito.MockedStatic
+import org.mockito.Mockito
+import org.mockito.kotlin.mock
+
+class ClientTest {
+  private lateinit var androidLog: MockedStatic<Log>
+  private lateinit var originalLogWrapper: TSLog.LibtailscaleWrapper
+
+  @Before
+  fun setUp() {
+    androidLog = Mockito.mockStatic(Log::class.java)
+    originalLogWrapper = TSLog.libtailscaleWrapper
+    TSLog.libtailscaleWrapper = mock()
+  }
+
+  @After
+  fun tearDown() {
+    TSLog.libtailscaleWrapper = originalLogWrapper
+    androidLog.close()
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun constructingClientDoesNotResolveApp() = runTest {
+    var calls = 0
+    Client(this) {
+      calls++
+      throw IllegalStateException("Unexpected initialization")
+    }
+    assertEquals(0, calls)
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun providerFailureIsDeliveredToCallback() = runBlocking {
+    val failure = IllegalStateException("Backend initialization failed")
+    val response = CompletableDeferred<Result<IpnState.Status>>()
+    val client = Client(this) { throw failure }
+
+    client.status { response.complete(it) }
+
+    val result = withTimeout(5_000) { response.await() }
+    assertSame(failure, result.exceptionOrNull())
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun providerIsResolvedForEachRequest() = runBlocking {
+    val failures =
+        listOf(
+            IllegalStateException("First backend"),
+            IllegalStateException("Second backend"),
+        )
+    var calls = 0
+    val client = Client(this) { throw failures[calls++] }
+
+    suspend fun request(): Result<IpnState.Status> {
+      val response = CompletableDeferred<Result<IpnState.Status>>()
+      client.status { response.complete(it) }
+      return withTimeout(5_000) { response.await() }
+    }
+
+    assertSame(failures[0], request().exceptionOrNull())
+    assertSame(failures[1], request().exceptionOrNull())
+    assertEquals(2, calls)
+  }
+}