diff --git a/cuda_bindings/tests/helpers.py b/cuda_bindings/tests/helpers.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d44e73d46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cuda_bindings/tests/helpers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2025 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import os
+import pathlib
+import sys
+
+CUDA_PATH = os.environ.get("CUDA_PATH")
+CUDA_INCLUDE_PATH = None
+CCCL_INCLUDE_PATHS = None
+if CUDA_PATH is not None:
+    path = os.path.join(CUDA_PATH, "include")
+    if os.path.isdir(path):
+        CUDA_INCLUDE_PATH = path
+        CCCL_INCLUDE_PATHS = (path,)
+        path = os.path.join(path, "cccl")
+        if os.path.isdir(path):
+            CCCL_INCLUDE_PATHS = (path,) + CCCL_INCLUDE_PATHS
+
+
+try:
+    import cuda_python_test_helpers
+except ImportError:
+    # Import shared platform helpers for tests across repos
+    test_helpers_path = str(pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] / "cuda_python_test_helpers")
+    try:
+        sys.path.insert(0, test_helpers_path)
+        import cuda_python_test_helpers
+    finally:
+        # Clean up sys.path modification
+        if test_helpers_path in sys.path:
+            sys.path.remove(test_helpers_path)
+
+
+IS_WSL = cuda_python_test_helpers.IS_WSL
+supports_ipc_mempool = cuda_python_test_helpers.supports_ipc_mempool
+
+
+del cuda_python_test_helpers
diff --git a/cuda_bindings/tests/test_graphics_apis.py b/cuda_bindings/tests/test_graphics_apis.py
index ae2f074d5..783aa923c 100644
--- a/cuda_bindings/tests/test_graphics_apis.py
+++ b/cuda_bindings/tests/test_graphics_apis.py
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@
 
 import pytest
 from cuda.bindings import runtime as cudart
+from helpers import IS_WSL
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(IS_WSL, reason="Graphics interop not supported on this platform")
 def test_graphics_api_smoketest():
     # Due to lazy importing in pyglet, pytest.importorskip doesn't work
     try:
@@ -26,6 +28,7 @@ def test_graphics_api_smoketest():
         assert error_name in ("cudaErrorInvalidValue", "cudaErrorUnknown")
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(IS_WSL, reason="Graphics interop not supported on this platform")
 def test_cuda_register_image_invalid():
     """Exercise cudaGraphicsGLRegisterImage with dummy handle only using CUDA runtime API."""
     fake_gl_texture_id = 1
diff --git a/cuda_core/tests/helpers.py b/cuda_core/tests/helpers.py
index 10af3dcc2..d44e73d46 100644
--- a/cuda_core/tests/helpers.py
+++ b/cuda_core/tests/helpers.py
@@ -22,8 +22,14 @@
     import cuda_python_test_helpers
 except ImportError:
     # Import shared platform helpers for tests across repos
-    sys.path.insert(0, str(pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] / "cuda_python_test_helpers"))
-    import cuda_python_test_helpers
+    test_helpers_path = str(pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] / "cuda_python_test_helpers")
+    try:
+        sys.path.insert(0, test_helpers_path)
+        import cuda_python_test_helpers
+    finally:
+        # Clean up sys.path modification
+        if test_helpers_path in sys.path:
+            sys.path.remove(test_helpers_path)
 
 
 IS_WSL = cuda_python_test_helpers.IS_WSL
diff --git a/cuda_python_test_helpers/cuda_python_test_helpers/__init__.py b/cuda_python_test_helpers/cuda_python_test_helpers/__init__.py
index 5996498d9..b8c5f2fe6 100644
--- a/cuda_python_test_helpers/cuda_python_test_helpers/__init__.py
+++ b/cuda_python_test_helpers/cuda_python_test_helpers/__init__.py
@@ -6,8 +6,6 @@
 from contextlib import suppress
 from typing import Union
 
-from cuda.core.experimental._utils.cuda_utils import handle_return
-
 
 def _detect_wsl() -> bool:
     data = ""
@@ -39,6 +37,9 @@ def supports_ipc_mempool(device_id: Union[int, object]) -> bool:
         except Exception:
             from cuda import cuda as driver  # type: ignore
 
+        # Lazy import handle_return to avoid hard dependency on cuda.core
+        from cuda.core.experimental._utils.cuda_utils import handle_return
+
         # Initialize CUDA
         handle_return(driver.cuInit(0))