diff --git a/coderd/coderd.go b/coderd/coderd.go
index 3b2f204bd6..ab0332f821 100644
--- a/coderd/coderd.go
+++ b/coderd/coderd.go
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ type Options struct {
 	Pubsub           pubsub.Pubsub
 	// ReplicaSyncPubsub is used explicitly to instantiate the replicasync manager downstream if it exists.
 	// All other consumers of pubsub should reference Options.Pubsub.
-	ReplicaSyncPubsub *pubsub.PGPubsub
+	ReplicaSyncPubsub pubsub.Pubsub
 	RuntimeConfig     *runtimeconfig.Manager
 
 	// CacheDir is used for caching files served by the API.
diff --git a/coderd/coderdtest/coderdtest.go b/coderd/coderdtest/coderdtest.go
index c790db406c..7ab7ca8fcc 100644
--- a/coderd/coderdtest/coderdtest.go
+++ b/coderd/coderdtest/coderdtest.go
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
 	"github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v4"
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2/server"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	"github.com/smallstep/pkcs7"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -93,6 +94,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/coder/coder/v2/coderd/workspacestats"
 	"github.com/coder/coder/v2/coderd/wsbuilder"
 	"github.com/coder/coder/v2/coderd/x/chatd/chatprovider"
+	natspubsub "github.com/coder/coder/v2/coderd/x/nats"
 	"github.com/coder/coder/v2/codersdk"
 	"github.com/coder/coder/v2/codersdk/agentsdk"
 	"github.com/coder/coder/v2/codersdk/drpcsdk"
@@ -171,7 +173,7 @@ type Options struct {
 	// test instances are running against the same database.
 	Database          database.Store
 	Pubsub            pubsub.Pubsub
-	ReplicaSyncPubsub *pubsub.PGPubsub
+	ReplicaSyncPubsub pubsub.Pubsub
 
 	// APIMiddleware inserts middleware before api.RootHandler, this can be
 	// useful in certain tests where you want to intercept requests before
@@ -290,13 +292,28 @@ func NewOptions(t testing.TB, options *Options) (func(http.Handler), context.Can
 		usageInserter.Store(&options.UsageInserter)
 	}
 	if options.Database == nil {
-		options.Database, options.Pubsub = dbtestutil.NewDB(t)
+		var ps pubsub.Pubsub
+		options.Database, ps = dbtestutil.NewDB(t)
+		var ok bool
+		options.ReplicaSyncPubsub, ok = ps.(*pubsub.PGPubsub)
+		require.True(t, ok)
 	}
 	if options.ReplicaSyncPubsub == nil {
-		pgPubsub, ok := options.Pubsub.(*pubsub.PGPubsub)
-		require.True(t, ok, "ReplicaSyncPubsub must be a PGPubsub")
-		options.ReplicaSyncPubsub = pgPubsub
+		// To get here, the database must have been passed in, but not the ReplicSyncPubsub. We can't create a PGPubsub
+		// just from the database.Store since it could be anything including a mock. We need this to be independent from
+		// the main Pubsub in case it's NATS, since that uses the ReplicaSync to bootstrap the cluster. The in-mem
+		// pubsub satisfies these requirements.
+		options.ReplicaSyncPubsub = pubsub.NewInMemory()
 	}
+	if options.Pubsub == nil {
+		natsCtx, natsCancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+		t.Cleanup(natsCancel)
+		natPS, err := natspubsub.New(natsCtx, *options.Logger, natspubsub.Options{ClusterPort: server.RANDOM_PORT})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		t.Cleanup(func() { _ = natPS.Close() })
+		options.Pubsub = natPS
+	}
+
 	if options.CoordinatorResumeTokenProvider == nil {
 		options.CoordinatorResumeTokenProvider = tailnet.NewInsecureTestResumeTokenProvider()
 	}
diff --git a/enterprise/coderd/coderd.go b/enterprise/coderd/coderd.go
index 764c03eda9..a38b7ee830 100644
--- a/enterprise/coderd/coderd.go
+++ b/enterprise/coderd/coderd.go
@@ -721,6 +721,12 @@ func New(ctx context.Context, options *Options) (_ *API, err error) {
 		return nil, xerrors.Errorf("mount scim routes: %w", mountScimError)
 	}
 
+	// The NATS pubsub, if enabled, used the Replica Manager for clustering. It's a layering violation if the pubsub
+	// for the Replica Manager *is* the NATS pubsub, because then we have a dependency loop.
+	if _, isNats := options.ReplicaSyncPubsub.(*nats.Pubsub); isNats {
+		return nil, xerrors.Errorf("replica sync pubsub cannot be the NATS pubsub")
+	}
+
 	// We always want to run the replica manager even if we don't have DERP
 	// enabled, since it's used to detect other coder servers for licensing,
 	// and NATS clustering for HA pubsub.
diff --git a/enterprise/coderd/coderd_test.go b/enterprise/coderd/coderd_test.go
index 9582fe2b29..e023da7b1d 100644
--- a/enterprise/coderd/coderd_test.go
+++ b/enterprise/coderd/coderd_test.go
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ func TestEntitlements(t *testing.T) {
 			}),
 		})
 		require.NoError(t, err)
-		err = api.Pubsub.Publish(coderd.PubsubEventLicenses, []byte{})
+		err = api.ReplicaSyncPubsub.Publish(coderd.PubsubEventLicenses, []byte{})
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		require.Eventually(t, func() bool {
 			entitlements, err := anotherClient.Entitlements(context.Background())
diff --git a/enterprise/coderd/workspaceproxy_test.go b/enterprise/coderd/workspaceproxy_test.go
index 50bb7cf68c..144fbfde1a 100644
--- a/enterprise/coderd/workspaceproxy_test.go
+++ b/enterprise/coderd/workspaceproxy_test.go
@@ -44,13 +44,9 @@ func TestRegions(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("OK", func(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Parallel()
 
-		db, pubsub := dbtestutil.NewDB(t)
-
-		client, _ := coderdenttest.New(t, &coderdenttest.Options{
+		client, db, _ := coderdenttest.NewWithDatabase(t, &coderdenttest.Options{
 			Options: &coderdtest.Options{
 				AppHostname: appHostname,
-				Database:    db,
-				Pubsub:      pubsub,
 			},
 		})