diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 01e43314..70ce64b5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 - Added `rivermigrate.ValidateOpts.TargetVersion` so validation can check migrations up to a specific target version, matching the target-version behavior available on `Migrate` and `MigrateTx`. Notably, this is a breaking API change as the validate functions previously didn't take any options. [PR #1259](https://github.com/riverqueue/river/pull/1259)
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Fixed `rivertest.Worker.Work` and `WorkJob` to honor a configured custom `Config.Schema` when transitioning a job to its running state. Previously, the running-state update ran unqualified and could fail on a connection whose `search_path` didn't include the configured schema. [PR #1262](https://github.com/riverqueue/river/pull/1262)
+
 ## [0.38.0] - 2026-05-22
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/rivertest/worker.go b/rivertest/worker.go
index 45c5fb8b..8da01ae0 100644
--- a/rivertest/worker.go
+++ b/rivertest/worker.go
@@ -166,6 +166,7 @@ func (w *Worker[T, TTx]) workJob(ctx context.Context, tb testing.TB, tx TTx, job
 		AttemptedAtDoUpdate: true,
 		AttemptedBy:         append(job.AttemptedBy, w.config.ID),
 		AttemptedByDoUpdate: true,
+		Schema:              w.config.Schema,
 		StateDoUpdate:       true,
 		State:               rivertype.JobStateRunning,
 	})
diff --git a/rivertest/worker_test.go b/rivertest/worker_test.go
index 1e0d5680..ced315c5 100644
--- a/rivertest/worker_test.go
+++ b/rivertest/worker_test.go
@@ -450,6 +450,34 @@ func TestWorker_Work(t *testing.T) {
 		require.True(t, middlewareCalled)
 		require.True(t, middlewareWithBaseServiceCalled)
 	})
+
+	// Honors config.Schema: River lives in a named schema, worked through a
+	// transaction with an empty search_path so tables resolve only via schema
+	// qualification. Needs its own infrastructure, so it skips setup.
+	t.Run("CustomSchema", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		var (
+			dbPool = riversharedtest.DBPool(ctx, t)
+			driver = riverpgxv5.New(dbPool)
+			schema = riverdbtest.TestSchema(ctx, t, driver, nil)
+			config = &river.Config{ID: "rivertest-worker", Schema: schema}
+		)
+
+		tx, err := dbPool.Begin(ctx)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		t.Cleanup(func() { _ = tx.Rollback(ctx) })
+
+		worker := river.WorkFunc(func(ctx context.Context, job *river.Job[testArgs]) error {
+			require.Equal(t, rivertype.JobStateRunning, job.State)
+			return nil
+		})
+
+		tw := NewWorker(t, driver, config, worker)
+		res, err := tw.Work(ctx, t, tx, testArgs{Value: "test"}, nil)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, river.EventKindJobCompleted, res.EventKind)
+	})
 }
 
 func TestWorker_WorkJob(t *testing.T) {
@@ -556,4 +584,38 @@ func TestWorker_WorkJob(t *testing.T) {
 		require.ErrorContains(t, err, "failed to update job to running state")
 		require.Nil(t, res)
 	})
+
+	// Honors config.Schema: River lives in a named schema, worked through a
+	// transaction with an empty search_path so tables resolve only via schema
+	// qualification. Needs its own infrastructure, so it skips setup.
+	t.Run("CustomSchema", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		var (
+			dbPool = riversharedtest.DBPool(ctx, t)
+			driver = riverpgxv5.New(dbPool)
+			schema = riverdbtest.TestSchema(ctx, t, driver, nil)
+			config = &river.Config{ID: "rivertest-workjob", Schema: schema}
+		)
+
+		tx, err := dbPool.Begin(ctx)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		t.Cleanup(func() { _ = tx.Rollback(ctx) })
+
+		client, err := river.NewClient(driver, config)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		insertRes, err := client.InsertTx(ctx, tx, testArgs{Value: "test"}, nil)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		worker := river.WorkFunc(func(ctx context.Context, job *river.Job[testArgs]) error {
+			require.Equal(t, rivertype.JobStateRunning, job.State)
+			return nil
+		})
+
+		tw := NewWorker(t, driver, config, worker)
+		res, err := tw.WorkJob(ctx, t, tx, insertRes.Job)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, river.EventKindJobCompleted, res.EventKind)
+	})
 }