diff --git a/distributed/protocol/tests/test_highlevelgraph.py b/distributed/protocol/tests/test_highlevelgraph.py
index ba1f6478a8..b3df069a92 100644
--- a/distributed/protocol/tests/test_highlevelgraph.py
+++ b/distributed/protocol/tests/test_highlevelgraph.py
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import contextlib
-
 import pytest
 
 np = pytest.importorskip("numpy")
@@ -175,11 +173,9 @@ async def test_dataframe_annotations(c, s, a, b):
     acol = df["a"]
     bcol = df["b"]
 
-    ctx = contextlib.nullcontext()
-    if dd._dask_expr_enabled():
-        ctx = pytest.warns(
-            UserWarning, match="Annotations will be ignored when using query-planning"
-        )
+    ctx = pytest.warns(
+        UserWarning, match="Annotations will be ignored when using query-planning"
+    )
 
     with dask.annotate(retries=retries), ctx:
         df = acol + bcol
@@ -189,7 +185,3 @@ async def test_dataframe_annotations(c, s, a, b):
 
     assert rdf.dtypes == np.float64
     assert (rdf == 10.0).all()
-
-    if not dd._dask_expr_enabled():
-        # There is an annotation match per partition (i.e. task)
-        assert plugin.retry_matches == df.npartitions
diff --git a/distributed/shuffle/tests/test_merge.py b/distributed/shuffle/tests/test_merge.py
index 2143d9920e..92d1152bf8 100644
--- a/distributed/shuffle/tests/test_merge.py
+++ b/distributed/shuffle/tests/test_merge.py
@@ -56,13 +56,10 @@ async def test_basic_merge(c, s, a, b, how):
 
     joined = a.merge(b, left_on="y", right_on="y", how=how)
 
-    if dd._dask_expr_enabled():
-        # Ensure we're using a hash join
-        from dask_expr._merge import HashJoinP2P
+    # Ensure we're using a hash join
+    from dask_expr._merge import HashJoinP2P
 
-        assert any(
-            isinstance(expr, HashJoinP2P) for expr in joined.optimize()._expr.walk()
-        )
+    assert any(isinstance(expr, HashJoinP2P) for expr in joined.optimize()._expr.walk())
 
     expected = pd.merge(A, B, how, "y")
     await list_eq(joined, expected)
diff --git a/distributed/shuffle/tests/test_shuffle.py b/distributed/shuffle/tests/test_shuffle.py
index 24887ec47b..18dc1f1887 100644
--- a/distributed/shuffle/tests/test_shuffle.py
+++ b/distributed/shuffle/tests/test_shuffle.py
@@ -1637,9 +1637,7 @@ async def test_multi(c, s, a, b):
     await assert_scheduler_cleanup(s)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.skipif(
-    dd._dask_expr_enabled(), reason="worker restrictions are not supported in dask-expr"
-)
+@pytest.mark.skipif(reason="worker restrictions are not supported in dask-expr")
 @gen_cluster(client=True)
 async def test_restrictions(c, s, a, b):
     df = dask.datasets.timeseries(
diff --git a/distributed/shuffle/tests/utils.py b/distributed/shuffle/tests/utils.py
index 693a044373..f0d7abac0a 100644
--- a/distributed/shuffle/tests/utils.py
+++ b/distributed/shuffle/tests/utils.py
@@ -6,14 +6,7 @@
 from distributed.core import PooledRPCCall
 from distributed.shuffle._core import ShuffleId, ShuffleRun
 
-UNPACK_PREFIX = "shuffle_p2p"
-try:
-    import dask.dataframe as dd
-
-    if dd._dask_expr_enabled():
-        UNPACK_PREFIX = "p2pshuffle"
-except ImportError:
-    pass
+UNPACK_PREFIX = "p2pshuffle"
 
 
 class PooledRPCShuffle(PooledRPCCall):