diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index eff9de2..ef5af9e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ clean-logs:
 
 ax-image:
 	@echo "Building container image with ko..."
-	GOFLAGS="-tags=ate" ko build --base-import-paths ./cmd/ax
+	ko build --base-import-paths ./cmd/ax
 
 ax-server-image:
 	@echo "Building ax-server (harness path) container image with ko..."
@@ -91,12 +91,12 @@ ax-server-image:
 
 axepp-image:
 	@echo "Building axepp container image with ko..."
-	GOFLAGS="-tags=ate" ko build --base-import-paths ./cmd/axepp
+	ko build --base-import-paths ./cmd/axepp
 
 ax-shell-image:
 	# Used to debug ax servers within a cluster.
 	@echo "Building ax shell container image with ko using busybox..."
-	KO_DOCKER_REPO=$(KO_DOCKER_REPO)/ax-shell KO_DEFAULTBASEIMAGE=busybox:1.36 GOFLAGS="-tags=ate" ko build --base-import-paths ./cmd/ax
+	KO_DOCKER_REPO=$(KO_DOCKER_REPO)/ax-shell KO_DEFAULTBASEIMAGE=busybox:1.36 ko build --base-import-paths ./cmd/ax
 
 # Build all container images
 images: ax-image axepp-image ax-shell-image
diff --git a/cmd/axepp/main.go b/cmd/axepp/main.go
index 8c8c373..ed4fba3 100644
--- a/cmd/axepp/main.go
+++ b/cmd/axepp/main.go
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-//go:build ate
 
 // Copyright 2026 Google LLC
 //
diff --git a/hack/install-ax.sh b/hack/install-ax.sh
index 9885092..4024fc7 100755
--- a/hack/install-ax.sh
+++ b/hack/install-ax.sh
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ run_kubectl() {
 }
 
 run_ko() {
-  GOFLAGS="-tags=ate" ko apply \
+  ko apply \
     ${KUBECTL_CONTEXT:+--context=${KUBECTL_CONTEXT}} \
     "$@"
 }
diff --git a/internal/server/server_ate.go b/internal/server/server_ate.go
index c3b2c57..94428f3 100644
--- a/internal/server/server_ate.go
+++ b/internal/server/server_ate.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-//go:build !harness && ate
+//go:build !harness
 
 // Copyright 2026 Google LLC
 //
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/credentials"
 )
 
-func createATEClient() any {
+func createATEClient() *ate.Client {
 	if os.Getenv("AX_SUBSTRATE") != "1" {
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -76,8 +76,7 @@ func suspendActor(actorID string) {
 	if client == nil {
 		return
 	}
-	c := client.(*ate.Client)
-	defer c.Close()
+	defer client.Close()
 
 	log.Printf("Automatically suspending actor %s in 50 milliseconds...", actorID)
 	time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
@@ -85,7 +84,7 @@ func suspendActor(actorID string) {
 	suspendCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
 
-	if _, err := c.SuspendActor(suspendCtx, actorID); err != nil {
+	if _, err := client.SuspendActor(suspendCtx, actorID); err != nil {
 		log.Printf("Failed to automatically suspend actor %s: %v", actorID, err)
 	} else {
 		log.Printf("Successfully suspended actor %s", actorID)
diff --git a/internal/server/server_no_ate.go b/internal/server/server_no_ate.go
deleted file mode 100644
index e239110..0000000
--- a/internal/server/server_no_ate.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-//go:build !harness && !ate
-
-// Copyright 2026 Google LLC
-//
-// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-// You may obtain a copy of the License at
-//
-//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-//
-// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-// limitations under the License.
-
-package server
-
-func suspendActor(actorID string) {
-	// No-op
-}