diff --git a/Docs/Tasks.md b/Docs/Tasks.md
index bfc6087..991e97a 100644
--- a/Docs/Tasks.md
+++ b/Docs/Tasks.md
@@ -495,6 +495,8 @@ A test that forces `_backend_cmd_supported = False` (by mocking a socket error)
 
 ### Task 17 — Remove unittest.mock.Mock check from production runtime_state
 
+**Status:** Completed
+
 **Severity:** Low
 
 **Where:**
diff --git a/backend/app/utils/runtime_state.py b/backend/app/utils/runtime_state.py
index b251d2b..3a7e8f4 100644
--- a/backend/app/utils/runtime_state.py
+++ b/backend/app/utils/runtime_state.py
@@ -15,11 +15,6 @@ from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any
 
 from starlette.datastructures import State
 
-try:
-    from unittest.mock import Mock as _Mock
-except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover
-    _Mock = None
-
 from app.models.config import PendingRecovery
 from app.models.server import ServerStatus
 
@@ -47,7 +42,7 @@ class RuntimeState:
     server_status: ServerStatus = field(default_factory=lambda: ServerStatus(online=False))
     pending_recovery: PendingRecovery | None = None
     last_activation: ActivationRecord | None = None
-    runtime_settings: "Settings" | None = None
+    runtime_settings: Settings | None = None
 
 
 class ApplicationState(State):
@@ -104,8 +99,6 @@ def get_app_settings(app: Any) -> Settings:
 def get_effective_settings(app: Any) -> Settings:
     """Return the effective settings for the current application instance."""
     runtime_settings = getattr(app.state, "runtime_settings", None)
-    if runtime_settings is not None and _Mock is not None and isinstance(runtime_settings, _Mock):
-        return get_app_settings(app)
     if runtime_settings is not None:
         return runtime_settings
     return get_app_settings(app)
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_utils/test_runtime_state.py b/backend/tests/test_utils/test_runtime_state.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7fd124
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tests/test_utils/test_runtime_state.py
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock
+
+from app.config import Settings
+from app.utils.runtime_state import get_app_settings, get_effective_settings
+
+
+class _FakeState:
+    def __init__(self, settings: Settings, runtime_settings: object | None = None) -> None:
+        self.settings = settings
+        self.runtime_settings = runtime_settings
+
+
+class _FakeApp:
+    def __init__(self, state: object) -> None:
+        self.state = state
+
+
+def test_get_effective_settings_returns_runtime_settings() -> None:
+    settings = Settings(session_secret="secret")
+    runtime_settings = settings.model_copy(update={"database_path": "/tmp/runtime.db"})
+    app = _FakeApp(_FakeState(settings=settings, runtime_settings=runtime_settings))
+
+    assert get_effective_settings(app) is runtime_settings
+
+
+def test_get_effective_settings_returns_app_settings_when_runtime_none() -> None:
+    settings = Settings(session_secret="secret")
+    app = _FakeApp(_FakeState(settings=settings))
+
+    assert get_effective_settings(app) is settings
+
+
+def test_get_effective_settings_returns_mock_runtime_settings() -> None:
+    settings = Settings(session_secret="secret")
+    mock_settings = MagicMock()
+    app = _FakeApp(_FakeState(settings=settings, runtime_settings=mock_settings))
+
+    assert get_effective_settings(app) is mock_settings
+
+
+def test_get_app_settings_reads_bootstrap_settings() -> None:
+    settings = Settings(session_secret="secret")
+    app = _FakeApp(_FakeState(settings=settings))
+
+    assert get_app_settings(app) is settings