diff --git a/xarray/backends/zarr.py b/xarray/backends/zarr.py
index 7ff59e0e7bf..c437c42183a 100644
--- a/xarray/backends/zarr.py
+++ b/xarray/backends/zarr.py
@@ -61,15 +61,12 @@ def encode_zarr_attr_value(value):
 
 
 class ZarrArrayWrapper(BackendArray):
-    __slots__ = ("datastore", "dtype", "shape", "variable_name", "_array")
-
-    def __init__(self, variable_name, datastore):
-        self.datastore = datastore
-        self.variable_name = variable_name
+    __slots__ = ("dtype", "shape", "_array")
 
+    def __init__(self, zarr_array):
         # some callers attempt to evaluate an array if an `array` property exists on the object.
         # we prefix with _ to avoid this inference.
-        self._array = self.datastore.zarr_group[self.variable_name]
+        self._array = zarr_array
         self.shape = self._array.shape
 
         # preserve vlen string object dtype (GH 7328)
@@ -86,10 +83,10 @@ def get_array(self):
         return self._array
 
     def _oindex(self, key):
-        return self.get_array().oindex[key]
+        return self._array.oindex[key]
 
     def __getitem__(self, key):
-        array = self.get_array()
+        array = self._array
         if isinstance(key, indexing.BasicIndexer):
             return array[key.tuple]
         elif isinstance(key, indexing.VectorizedIndexer):
@@ -506,7 +503,7 @@ def ds(self):
         return self.zarr_group
 
     def open_store_variable(self, name, zarr_array):
-        data = indexing.LazilyIndexedArray(ZarrArrayWrapper(name, self))
+        data = indexing.LazilyIndexedArray(ZarrArrayWrapper(zarr_array))
         try_nczarr = self._mode == "r"
         dimensions, attributes = _get_zarr_dims_and_attrs(
             zarr_array, DIMENSION_KEY, try_nczarr
diff --git a/xarray/tests/test_backends.py b/xarray/tests/test_backends.py
index d6f76df067c..d60daefc728 100644
--- a/xarray/tests/test_backends.py
+++ b/xarray/tests/test_backends.py
@@ -2836,6 +2836,43 @@ def test_write_empty(
                 ls = listdir(os.path.join(store, "test"))
                 assert set(expected) == set([file for file in ls if file[0] != "."])
 
+    def test_avoid_excess_metadata_calls(self) -> None:
+        """Test that chunk requests do not trigger redundant metadata requests.
+
+        This test targets logic in backends.zarr.ZarrArrayWrapper, asserting that calls
+        to retrieve chunk data after initialization do not trigger additional
+        metadata requests.
+
+        https://github.com/pydata/xarray/issues/8290
+        """
+
+        import zarr
+
+        ds = xr.Dataset(data_vars={"test": (("Z",), np.array([123]).reshape(1))})
+
+        # The call to retrieve metadata performs a group lookup. We patch Group.__getitem__
+        # so that we can inspect calls to this method - specifically count of calls.
+        # Use of side_effect means that calls are passed through to the original method
+        # rather than a mocked method.
+        Group = zarr.hierarchy.Group
+        with (
+            self.create_zarr_target() as store,
+            patch.object(
+                Group, "__getitem__", side_effect=Group.__getitem__, autospec=True
+            ) as mock,
+        ):
+            ds.to_zarr(store, mode="w")
+
+            # We expect this to request array metadata information, so call_count should be == 1,
+            xrds = xr.open_zarr(store)
+            call_count = mock.call_count
+            assert call_count == 1
+
+            # compute() requests array data, which should not trigger additional metadata requests
+            # we assert that the number of calls has not increased after fetchhing the array
+            xrds.test.compute(scheduler="sync")
+            assert mock.call_count == call_count
+
 
 class ZarrBaseV3(ZarrBase):
     zarr_version = 3
@@ -2876,47 +2913,6 @@ def create_zarr_target(self):
             yield tmp
 
 
-@requires_zarr
-class TestZarrArrayWrapperCalls(TestZarrKVStoreV3):
-    def test_avoid_excess_metadata_calls(self) -> None:
-        """Test that chunk requests do not trigger redundant metadata requests.
-
-        This test targets logic in backends.zarr.ZarrArrayWrapper, asserting that calls
-        to retrieve chunk data after initialization do not trigger additional
-        metadata requests.
-
-        https://github.com/pydata/xarray/issues/8290
-        """
-
-        import zarr
-
-        ds = xr.Dataset(data_vars={"test": (("Z",), np.array([123]).reshape(1))})
-
-        # The call to retrieve metadata performs a group lookup. We patch Group.__getitem__
-        # so that we can inspect calls to this method - specifically count of calls.
-        # Use of side_effect means that calls are passed through to the original method
-        # rather than a mocked method.
-        Group = zarr.hierarchy.Group
-        with (
-            self.create_zarr_target() as store,
-            patch.object(
-                Group, "__getitem__", side_effect=Group.__getitem__, autospec=True
-            ) as mock,
-        ):
-            ds.to_zarr(store, mode="w")
-
-            # We expect this to request array metadata information, so call_count should be >= 1,
-            # At time of writing, 2 calls are made
-            xrds = xr.open_zarr(store)
-            call_count = mock.call_count
-            assert call_count > 0
-
-            # compute() requests array data, which should not trigger additional metadata requests
-            # we assert that the number of calls has not increased after fetchhing the array
-            xrds.test.compute(scheduler="sync")
-            assert mock.call_count == call_count
-
-
 @requires_zarr
 @requires_fsspec
 def test_zarr_storage_options() -> None: