diff --git a/qiskit_experiments/test/mock_iq_backend.py b/qiskit_experiments/test/mock_iq_backend.py
index ec68f7d479..3e5bab79d2 100644
--- a/qiskit_experiments/test/mock_iq_backend.py
+++ b/qiskit_experiments/test/mock_iq_backend.py
@@ -11,17 +11,14 @@
 # that they have been altered from the originals.
 
 """A mock IQ backend for testing."""
-import datetime
 from abc import abstractmethod
 from typing import Sequence, List, Tuple, Dict, Union, Any
 
 import numpy as np
 
 from qiskit import QuantumCircuit
-from qiskit.circuit.library import XGate, SXGate
 from qiskit.result import Result
-from qiskit.providers import BackendV2, Provider, convert_to_target
-from qiskit.providers.fake_provider import FakeOpenPulse2Q
+from qiskit.providers.fake_provider import GenericBackendV2
 from qiskit.qobj.utils import MeasLevel
 
 from qiskit_experiments.exceptions import QiskitError
@@ -35,59 +32,16 @@
 )
 
 
-class FakeOpenPulse2QV2(BackendV2):
-    """BackendV2 conversion of qiskit.providers.fake_provider.FakeOpenPulse2Q"""
-
-    def __init__(
-        self,
-        provider: Provider = None,
-        name: str = None,
-        description: str = None,
-        online_date: datetime.datetime = None,
-        backend_version: str = None,
-        **fields,
-    ):
-        super().__init__(provider, name, description, online_date, backend_version, **fields)
-
-        backend_v1 = FakeOpenPulse2Q()
-        # convert_to_target requires the description attribute
-        backend_v1._configuration.description = "A fake test backend with pulse defaults"
-
-        self._target = convert_to_target(
-            backend_v1.configuration(),
-            backend_v1.properties(),
-            backend_v1.defaults(),
-            add_delay=True,
-        )
-        # See commented out defaults() method below
-        self._defaults = backend_v1._defaults
-
-    # This method is not defined in the base class as we would like to avoid
-    # relying on it as much as necessary. Individual tests should add it when
-    # necessary.
-    # def defaults(self):
-    #     """Pulse defaults"""
-    #     return self._defaults
-
-    @property
-    def max_circuits(self):
-        return 300
-
-    @property
-    def target(self):
-        return self._target
-
-
-class MockRestlessBackend(FakeOpenPulse2QV2):
+class MockRestlessBackend(GenericBackendV2):
     """An abstract backend for testing that can mock restless data."""
 
     def __init__(self, rng_seed: int = 0):
         """
         Initialize the backend.
         """
-        self._rng = np.random.default_rng(rng_seed)
+        self.__rng = np.random.default_rng(rng_seed)
         self._precomputed_probabilities = None
-        super().__init__()
+        super().__init__(num_qubits=2, calibrate_instructions=True, seed=rng_seed)
 
     @classmethod
     def _default_options(cls):
@@ -147,7 +101,7 @@ def run(self, run_input, **options):
             for circ_idx, _ in enumerate(run_input):
                 probs = self._precomputed_probabilities[(circ_idx, prev_outcome)]
                 # Generate the next shot dependent on the pre-computed probabilities.
-                outcome = self._rng.choice(state_strings, p=probs)
+                outcome = self.__rng.choice(state_strings, p=probs)
                 # Append the single shot to the memory of the corresponding circuit.
                 sorted_memory[circ_idx]["memory"].append(hex(int(outcome, 2)))
 
@@ -192,9 +146,6 @@ def __init__(
         self._angle_per_gate = angle_per_gate
         super().__init__(rng_seed=rng_seed)
 
-        self.target.add_instruction(SXGate(), properties={(0,): None})
-        self.target.add_instruction(XGate(), properties={(0,): None})
-
     def _compute_outcome_probabilities(self, circuits: List[QuantumCircuit]):
         """Compute the probabilities of being in the excited state or
         ground state for all circuits."""
@@ -219,7 +170,7 @@ def _compute_outcome_probabilities(self, circuits: List[QuantumCircuit]):
             self._precomputed_probabilities[(idx, "1")] = [prob_1, prob_0]
 
 
-class MockIQBackend(FakeOpenPulse2QV2):
+class MockIQBackend(GenericBackendV2):
     """A mock backend for testing with IQ data."""
 
     def __init__(
@@ -238,9 +189,10 @@ def __init__(
         """
 
         self._experiment_helper = experiment_helper
-        self._rng = np.random.default_rng(rng_seed)
+        # Can not be called _rng because GenericBackendV2 sets a _rng attribute
+        self.__rng = np.random.default_rng(rng_seed)
 
-        super().__init__()
+        super().__init__(num_qubits=2, calibrate_instructions=True, seed=rng_seed)
 
     @classmethod
     def _default_options(cls):
@@ -323,7 +275,7 @@ def _get_normal_samples_for_shot(
         Returns:
             Ndarray: A numpy array with values that were produced from normal distribution.
         """
-        samples = [self._rng.normal(0, 1, size=1) for qubit in qubits]
+        samples = [self.__rng.normal(0, 1, size=1) for qubit in qubits]
         # we squeeze the second dimension because samples is List[qubit_number][0][0\1] = I\Q
         # and we want to change it to be List[qubit_number][0\1]
         return np.squeeze(np.array(samples), axis=1)
@@ -396,7 +348,7 @@ def _draw_iq_shots(
         shot_num = 0
 
         for output_number, number_of_occurrences in enumerate(
-            self._rng.multinomial(shots, prob, size=1)[0]
+            self.__rng.multinomial(shots, prob, size=1)[0]
         ):
             state_str = str(format(output_number, "b").zfill(len(circ_qubits)))
             for _ in range(number_of_occurrences):
@@ -451,7 +403,7 @@ def _generate_data(
 
         if meas_level == MeasLevel.CLASSIFIED:
             counts = {}
-            results = self._rng.multinomial(shots, prob_arr, size=1)[0]
+            results = self.__rng.multinomial(shots, prob_arr, size=1)[0]
             for result, num_occurrences in enumerate(results):
                 result_in_str = str(format(result, "b").zfill(output_length))
                 counts[result_in_str] = num_occurrences
@@ -551,6 +503,7 @@ def __init__(
                 helper classes for each experiment.
             rng_seed: The random seed value.
         """
+        self.__rng = np.random.default_rng(rng_seed)
         super().__init__(experiment_helper, rng_seed)
 
     @property
@@ -634,7 +587,7 @@ def _parallel_draw_iq_shots(
             shot_num = 0
 
             for output_number, number_of_occurrences in enumerate(
-                self._rng.multinomial(shots, prob, size=1)[0]
+                self.__rng.multinomial(shots, prob, size=1)[0]
             ):
                 state_str = str(format(output_number, "b").zfill(len(qubits)))
                 for _ in range(number_of_occurrences):
diff --git a/test/library/calibration/test_drag.py b/test/library/calibration/test_drag.py
index 1c1f651028..2b89a9017c 100644
--- a/test/library/calibration/test_drag.py
+++ b/test/library/calibration/test_drag.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ def setUp(self):
             pulse.play(Drag(duration=160, amp=0.208519, sigma=40, beta=beta), DriveChannel(0))
 
         self.x_plus = xp
-        self.test_tol = 0.1
+        self.test_tol = 0.25
 
     @data(
         (None, None, None),
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ def test_end_to_end(self, freq, betas, p0_opt):
         backend = MockIQBackend(drag_experiment_helper)
 
         drag = RoughDrag([1], self.x_plus)
-        drag.set_run_options(shots=200)
+        drag.set_run_options(shots=500)
 
         if betas is not None:
             drag.set_experiment_options(betas=betas)
diff --git a/test/library/calibration/test_fine_amplitude.py b/test/library/calibration/test_fine_amplitude.py
index ea87c992b0..1a135d7070 100644
--- a/test/library/calibration/test_fine_amplitude.py
+++ b/test/library/calibration/test_fine_amplitude.py
@@ -46,10 +46,9 @@ def test_end_to_end_under_rotation(self, pi_ratio):
 
         error = -np.pi * pi_ratio
         backend = MockIQBackend(FineAmpHelper(error, np.pi, "x"))
-        backend.target.add_instruction(XGate(), properties={(0,): None})
-        backend.target.add_instruction(SXGate(), properties={(0,): None})
 
-        expdata = amp_exp.run(backend)
+        # Needs extra shots to avoid chisq > 3
+        expdata = amp_exp.run(backend, shots=1600)
         self.assertExperimentDone(expdata)
         result = expdata.analysis_results("d_theta")
         d_theta = result.value.n
@@ -67,8 +66,6 @@ def test_end_to_end_over_rotation(self, pi_ratio):
 
         error = np.pi * pi_ratio
         backend = MockIQBackend(FineAmpHelper(error, np.pi, "x"))
-        backend.target.add_instruction(XGate(), properties={(0,): None})
-        backend.target.add_instruction(SXGate(), properties={(0,): None})
         expdata = amp_exp.run(backend)
         self.assertExperimentDone(expdata)
         result = expdata.analysis_results("d_theta")
@@ -99,7 +96,8 @@ def test_end_to_end(self, pi_ratio):
         backend = MockIQBackend(FineAmpHelper(error, np.pi / 2, "szx"))
         backend.target.add_instruction(Gate("szx", 2, []), properties={(0, 1): None})
 
-        expdata = amp_exp.run(backend)
+        # Needs extra shots to avoid chisq > 3
+        expdata = amp_exp.run(backend, shots=1600)
         self.assertExperimentDone(expdata)
         result = expdata.analysis_results("d_theta")
         d_theta = result.value.n
@@ -218,8 +216,6 @@ def setUp(self):
         library = FixedFrequencyTransmon()
 
         self.backend = MockIQBackend(FineAmpHelper(-np.pi * 0.07, np.pi, "xp"))
-        self.backend.target.add_instruction(SXGate(), properties={(0,): None})
-        self.backend.target.add_instruction(XGate(), properties={(0,): None})
         self.cals = Calibrations.from_backend(self.backend, libraries=[library])
 
     def test_cal_options(self):
diff --git a/test/library/calibration/test_ramsey_xy.py b/test/library/calibration/test_ramsey_xy.py
index 693e8b48ca..c89338be45 100644
--- a/test/library/calibration/test_ramsey_xy.py
+++ b/test/library/calibration/test_ramsey_xy.py
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def test_end_to_end(self, freq_shift: float):
 
         This test also checks that we can pickup frequency shifts with different signs.
         """
-        test_tol = 0.03
+        test_tol = 0.05
         abs_tol = max(1e3, abs(freq_shift) * test_tol)
 
         exp_helper = RamseyXYHelper()
diff --git a/test/library/characterization/test_qubit_spectroscopy.py b/test/library/characterization/test_qubit_spectroscopy.py
index ae8fc8bde8..c190b807ed 100644
--- a/test/library/characterization/test_qubit_spectroscopy.py
+++ b/test/library/characterization/test_qubit_spectroscopy.py
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 import numpy as np
 
 from qiskit.qobj.utils import MeasLevel
-from qiskit.circuit.library import XGate
 from qiskit_ibm_runtime.fake_provider import FakeWashingtonV2
 from qiskit_experiments.framework import ParallelExperiment
 
@@ -42,7 +41,6 @@ def test_spectroscopy_end2end_classified(self):
         backend = MockIQBackend(
             experiment_helper=exp_helper,
         )
-        backend.target.add_instruction(XGate(), properties={(0,): None})
 
         qubit = 1
         freq01 = BackendData(backend).drive_freqs[qubit]
@@ -82,7 +80,6 @@ def test_spectroscopy_end2end_kerneled(self):
         backend = MockIQBackend(
             experiment_helper=exp_helper,
         )
-        backend.target.add_instruction(XGate(), properties={(0,): None})
 
         qubit = 0
         freq01 = BackendData(backend).drive_freqs[qubit]
@@ -128,7 +125,6 @@ def test_spectroscopy12_end2end_classified(self):
                 iq_cluster_width=[0.2],
             ),
         )
-        backend.target.add_instruction(XGate(), properties={(0,): None})
         qubit = 0
         freq01 = BackendData(backend).drive_freqs[qubit]
         frequencies = np.linspace(freq01 - 10.0e6, freq01 + 10.0e6, 21)
@@ -174,7 +170,6 @@ def test_expdata_serialization(self):
         backend = MockIQBackend(
             experiment_helper=exp_helper,
         )
-        backend.target.add_instruction(XGate(), properties={(0,): None})
 
         qubit = 1
         freq01 = BackendData(backend).drive_freqs[qubit]
@@ -201,7 +196,6 @@ def test_kerneled_expdata_serialization(self):
         backend = MockIQBackend(
             experiment_helper=exp_helper,
         )
-        backend.target.add_instruction(XGate(), properties={(0,): None})
 
         qubit = 1
         freq01 = BackendData(backend).drive_freqs[qubit]
@@ -231,10 +225,6 @@ def test_parallel_experiment(self):
             experiment_helper=None,
             rng_seed=0,
         )
-        parallel_backend.target.add_instruction(
-            XGate(),
-            properties={(0,): None, (1,): None},
-        )
 
         # experiment hyper parameters
         qubit1 = 0
diff --git a/test/library/characterization/test_resonator_spectroscopy.py b/test/library/characterization/test_resonator_spectroscopy.py
index a0b9663d32..bd612ad3b6 100644
--- a/test/library/characterization/test_resonator_spectroscopy.py
+++ b/test/library/characterization/test_resonator_spectroscopy.py
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 
 """Spectroscopy tests for resonator spectroscopy experiment."""
 
+from __future__ import annotations
+
 from test.base import QiskitExperimentsTestCase
 from typing import Any, List, Tuple
 
@@ -34,6 +36,13 @@
 )
 
 
+class MockDefaults:
+    """Just enough qiskit.providers.models.PulseDefaults for ResonatorSpectroscpy"""
+
+    def __init__(self, meas_freq_est: list[float]):
+        self.meas_freq_est = meas_freq_est
+
+
 class MockIQBackendDefaults(MockIQBackend):
     """MockIQBackend with defaults() method"""
 
@@ -45,7 +54,7 @@ def defaults(self):
         to Backend classes outside of this test module so that we do not
         introduce new dependencies on it.
         """
-        return self._defaults
+        return MockDefaults(meas_freq_est=[7e9] * self.num_qubits)
 
 
 class MockIQParallelBackendDefaults(MockIQParallelBackend):
@@ -59,7 +68,7 @@ def defaults(self):
         to Backend classes outside of this test module so that we do not
         introduce new dependencies on it.
         """
-        return self._defaults
+        return MockDefaults(meas_freq_est=[7e9] * self.num_qubits)
 
 
 def data_valid_initial_circuits() -> List[Tuple[Any, str]]:
diff --git a/test/library/characterization/test_zz_ramsey.py b/test/library/characterization/test_zz_ramsey.py
index 10b12950a0..754329d633 100644
--- a/test/library/characterization/test_zz_ramsey.py
+++ b/test/library/characterization/test_zz_ramsey.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ def compute_probabilities(self, circuits: List[QuantumCircuit]) -> List[Dict[str
                 freq = (-1 * self.zz_freq) / 2
             else:
                 freq = self.zz_freq / 2
-            rz, _, _ = next(i for i in circuit.data if i[0].name == "u1")
+            rz, _, _ = next(i for i in circuit.data if i[0].name == "rz")
             phase = float(rz.params[0])
 
             prob1 = 0.5 - 0.5 * np.cos(2 * np.pi * freq * delay + phase)