diff --git a/docs/history/hatch.md b/docs/history/hatch.md
index 314a387cb..98392bde2 100644
--- a/docs/history/hatch.md
+++ b/docs/history/hatch.md
@@ -8,10 +8,14 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 
 ## Unreleased
 
-***Fixed***
+
+***Fixed:***
+
+- Erase stale coverage data before running `hatch test --cover`.
 
 - Fix environment creation crashing when a metadata hook exists that doesn’t happen to be installed in the `hatch` CLI’s environment.
 
+
 ## [1.17.1](https://github.com/pypa/hatch/releases/tag/hatch-v1.17.1) - 2026-07-08 ## {: #hatch-v1.17.1 }
 
 ***Fixed***
diff --git a/src/hatch/cli/test/__init__.py b/src/hatch/cli/test/__init__.py
index d89c680d7..291267d7e 100644
--- a/src/hatch/cli/test/__init__.py
+++ b/src/hatch/cli/test/__init__.py
@@ -180,6 +180,10 @@ def test(
     if cover:
         patched_coverage.write_config_file()
 
+        for context in app.runner_context([selected_envs[0]]):
+            context.add_shell_command("coverage erase")
+            context.env_vars["COVERAGE_RCFILE"] = coverage_config_file
+
     for context in app.runner_context(selected_envs, ignore_compat=multiple_possible, display_header=multiple_possible):
         internal_arguments: list[str] = list(context.env.config.get("extra-args", []))
 
diff --git a/tests/cli/test/test_test.py b/tests/cli/test/test_test.py
index 912324366..adb10799d 100644
--- a/tests/cli/test/test_test.py
+++ b/tests/cli/test/test_test.py
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ def test_flag(self, hatch, temp_dir, config_file, env_run, mocker):
         assert not result.output
 
         assert env_run.call_args_list == [
+            mocker.call("coverage erase", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage run -m pytest -p no:randomly tests", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage combine", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage report", shell=True),
@@ -230,6 +231,7 @@ def test_flag_with_arguments(self, hatch, temp_dir, config_file, env_run, mocker
         assert not result.output
 
         assert env_run.call_args_list == [
+            mocker.call("coverage erase", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage run -m pytest -p no:randomly --flag -- arg1 arg2", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage combine", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage report", shell=True),
@@ -266,6 +268,7 @@ def test_quiet_implicitly_enables(self, hatch, temp_dir, config_file, env_run, m
         assert not result.output
 
         assert env_run.call_args_list == [
+            mocker.call("coverage erase", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage run -m pytest -p no:randomly tests", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage combine", shell=True),
         ]
@@ -303,6 +306,7 @@ def test_legacy_config_define_section(self, hatch, temp_dir, config_file, env_ru
         assert not result.output
 
         assert env_run.call_args_list == [
+            mocker.call("coverage erase", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage run -m pytest -p no:randomly tests", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage combine", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage report", shell=True),
@@ -341,6 +345,7 @@ def test_legacy_config_enable_parallel(self, hatch, temp_dir, config_file, env_r
         assert not result.output
 
         assert env_run.call_args_list == [
+            mocker.call("coverage erase", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage run -m pytest -p no:randomly tests", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage combine", shell=True),
             mocker.call("coverage report", shell=True),
@@ -809,6 +814,7 @@ def test_coverage(self, hatch, temp_dir, config_file, env_run, mocker):
         assert not result.output
 
         assert env_run.call_args_list == [
+            mocker.call("coverage erase", shell=True),
             mocker.call("test with coverage", shell=True),
             mocker.call("combine coverage", shell=True),
             mocker.call("show coverage", shell=True),