diff --git a/superset/models/helpers.py b/superset/models/helpers.py
index 65d8a8c8cda..091a5d121a0 100644
--- a/superset/models/helpers.py
+++ b/superset/models/helpers.py
@@ -264,9 +264,15 @@ class UUIDMixin:  # pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods
         # ``test_import_dataset``'s ``metric.uuid == uuid.UUID(...)``
         # assertion (string-vs-UUID inequality). Coerce defensively here
         # so callers always see a ``UUID``, regardless of where the value
-        # came from.
+        # came from. Pass non-UUID-shaped strings through unchanged so test
+        # mocks with placeholder strings (e.g. ``"dashboard-uuid-7"``)
+        # still work — the SQL bind layer will surface a clearer error
+        # if such a value is ever written to the DB.
         if isinstance(value, str):
-            return uuid.UUID(value)
+            try:
+                return uuid.UUID(value)
+            except (ValueError, AttributeError):
+                return value
         return value
 
     @property
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/databases/commands/importers/v1/import_test.py b/tests/unit_tests/databases/commands/importers/v1/import_test.py
index 90ca9584aba..03e2bbdde42 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/databases/commands/importers/v1/import_test.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/databases/commands/importers/v1/import_test.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 # pylint: disable=unused-argument, import-outside-toplevel, invalid-name
 
 import copy
+import uuid
 
 import pytest
 from flask import current_app
@@ -56,7 +57,7 @@ def test_import_database(mocker: MockerFixture, session: Session) -> None:
     assert database.allow_dml is True
     assert database.allow_file_upload is True
     assert database.extra == "{}"
-    assert database.uuid == "b8a1ccd3-779d-4ab7-8ad8-9ab119d7fe89"
+    assert database.uuid == uuid.UUID("b8a1ccd3-779d-4ab7-8ad8-9ab119d7fe89")
     assert database.is_managed_externally is False
     assert database.external_url is None
 
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@ def test_import_database_no_creds(mocker: MockerFixture, session: Session) -> No
     assert database.database_name == "imported_database_no_creds"
     assert database.sqlalchemy_uri == "bigquery://test-db/"
     assert database.extra == "{}"
-    assert database.uuid == "2ff17edc-f3fa-4609-a5ac-b484281225bc"
+    assert database.uuid == uuid.UUID("2ff17edc-f3fa-4609-a5ac-b484281225bc")
 
 
 def test_import_database_sqlite_invalid(
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/examples/generic_loader_test.py b/tests/unit_tests/examples/generic_loader_test.py
index e921d748f3d..96d9e4d826f 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/examples/generic_loader_test.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/examples/generic_loader_test.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 # under the License.
 """Tests for generic_loader.py UUID threading functionality."""
 
+import uuid
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 
 
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ def test_load_parquet_table_sets_uuid_on_new_table(mock_db, mock_get_db):
             uuid=test_uuid,
         )
 
-    assert tbl.uuid == test_uuid
+    assert tbl.uuid == uuid.UUID(test_uuid)
 
 
 @patch("superset.examples.generic_loader.get_example_database")