diff --git a/lading/src/blackhole/otlp/http.rs b/lading/src/blackhole/otlp/http.rs
index c85b86a8f..c95e19c5e 100644
--- a/lading/src/blackhole/otlp/http.rs
+++ b/lading/src/blackhole/otlp/http.rs
@@ -84,6 +84,10 @@ struct OtlpHttpHandler {
 }
 
 impl OtlpHttpHandler {
+    #[expect(
+        clippy::expect_used,
+        reason = "serde_json on default-constructed OTLP response protos is infallible"
+    )]
     fn new(response_delay: Duration, labels: &[(String, String)]) -> Self {
         // Pre-compute empty responses for both formats
         let empty_metrics = ExportMetricsServiceResponse::default();
@@ -105,10 +109,10 @@ impl OtlpHttpHandler {
 
         let content_type_proto = "application/x-protobuf"
             .parse()
-            .expect("application/x-protobuf is a valid MIME type");
+            .unwrap_or_else(|_| unreachable!("\"application/x-protobuf\" is a valid HeaderValue"));
         let content_type_json = "application/json"
             .parse()
-            .expect("application/json is a valid MIME type");
+            .unwrap_or_else(|_| unreachable!("\"application/json\" is a valid HeaderValue"));
 
         Self {
             labels: labels.to_vec(),
@@ -135,13 +139,15 @@ impl OtlpHttpHandler {
         }
 
         let mut response = Response::builder().status(StatusCode::OK);
-        let headers = response
-            .headers_mut()
-            .expect("Response builder should always provide headers_mut");
+        let headers = response.headers_mut().unwrap_or_else(|| {
+            unreachable!("Response::builder produces a builder with headers_mut available")
+        });
         headers.insert(hyper::header::CONTENT_TYPE, content_type.clone());
         Ok(response
             .body(crate::full(response_bytes))
-            .expect("Creating HTTP response should not fail"))
+            .unwrap_or_else(|_| {
+                unreachable!("Response::builder().body() on an OK builder cannot fail")
+            }))
     }
 
     #[expect(clippy::too_many_lines)]
@@ -156,7 +162,9 @@ impl OtlpHttpHandler {
             return Ok(Response::builder()
                 .status(StatusCode::NOT_FOUND)
                 .body(crate::full(Bytes::from_static(NOT_FOUND)))
-                .expect("Creating HTTP response should not fail"));
+                .unwrap_or_else(|_| {
+                    unreachable!("Response::builder().body() on an OK builder cannot fail")
+                }));
         }
 
         counter!("requests_received", &self.labels).increment(1);
diff --git a/lading/src/blackhole/tcp_rr.rs b/lading/src/blackhole/tcp_rr.rs
index cf32a2cd9..10cc23167 100644
--- a/lading/src/blackhole/tcp_rr.rs
+++ b/lading/src/blackhole/tcp_rr.rs
@@ -151,6 +151,10 @@ impl TcpRr {
     ///
     /// Panics if the ready-barrier tokio task is cancelled.
     #[allow(clippy::too_many_lines)]
+    #[expect(
+        clippy::expect_used,
+        reason = "set_nonblocking on a freshly bound TcpListener panics only on system resource exhaustion; documented contract for blackhole startup"
+    )]
     pub async fn run(self) -> Result<(), Error> {
         let shutdown_flag = thread::new_shutdown_flag();
         let num_threads = self.config.threads.get();
@@ -298,6 +302,10 @@ impl TcpRr {
 
 /// Create a listener socket. When `num_threads` > 1, sets `SO_REUSEPORT`
 /// and (for thread 0) attaches the reuseport eBPF program.
+#[expect(
+    clippy::expect_used,
+    reason = "socket-setup syscalls (set_nonblocking/cloexec/reuse_addr/reuse_port/listen) panic on system resource exhaustion; documented contract for blackhole startup"
+)]
 fn create_listener(
     thread_index: u16,
     num_threads: u16,
@@ -349,6 +357,10 @@ fn create_listener(
 }
 
 #[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)]
+#[expect(
+    clippy::expect_used,
+    reason = "mio Poll/registry setup panics on system resource exhaustion; documented contract for the server thread"
+)]
 fn server_thread_main(
     thread_index: u16,
     num_threads: u16,
diff --git a/lading/src/generator/container.rs b/lading/src/generator/container.rs
index d82dfdadf..ce47420aa 100644
--- a/lading/src/generator/container.rs
+++ b/lading/src/generator/container.rs
@@ -226,6 +226,10 @@ impl Container {
     ///
     /// Panics if container index cannot be converted to u32.
     #[expect(clippy::too_many_lines)]
+    #[expect(
+        clippy::expect_used,
+        reason = "u32::try_from on `idx` from enumerate(..self.concurrent_containers) which is u32 by config"
+    )]
     pub async fn spin(mut self) -> Result<(), Error> {
         info!(
             "Container generator running: {repository}:{tag}",
diff --git a/lading/src/generator/file_tree.rs b/lading/src/generator/file_tree.rs
index ca1da942a..c098d6807 100644
--- a/lading/src/generator/file_tree.rs
+++ b/lading/src/generator/file_tree.rs
@@ -207,6 +207,10 @@ impl FileTree {
     /// # Panics
     ///
     /// Function will panic if one node is not path is not populated properly
+    #[expect(
+        clippy::expect_used,
+        reason = "self.nodes is non-empty at construction and iter().cycle() never terminates"
+    )]
     pub async fn spin(mut self) -> Result<(), Error> {
         let mut iter = self.nodes.iter().cycle();
         let mut folders = Vec::with_capacity(self.total_folder);