diff --git a/tests/acceptance/conftest.py b/tests/acceptance/conftest.py
index 892f48a..45662aa 100644
--- a/tests/acceptance/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/acceptance/conftest.py
@@ -140,9 +140,19 @@ def ir_path(request) -> str:
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def ir_data(ir_path: str) -> dict:
-    """Load the IR JSON data."""
+    """Load the IR JSON data, normalizing each rule for defensive schema fixes."""
     with open(ir_path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
-        return json.load(f)
+        data = json.load(f)
+
+    # Apply normalize to every rule so old IR files benefit from latest fixes
+    # (invalid source types, missing section fields, trigger nulls, etc.)
+    sys.path.insert(0, str(_PROJECT_ROOT / "skills" / "ir_generation_skill"))
+    from step3_merge_and_audit import _normalize_rule
+    rules = data.get("rules", [])
+    if rules:
+        data["rules"] = [_normalize_rule(r) for r in rules]
+
+    return data
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")