diff --git a/distributed/utils_test.py b/distributed/utils_test.py
index 3a72ed07889..e56e3865c77 100644
--- a/distributed/utils_test.py
+++ b/distributed/utils_test.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
     sync,
     thread_state,
 )
-from .worker import Worker
+from .worker import RUNNING, Worker
 
 try:
     import dask.array  # register config
@@ -1549,7 +1549,7 @@ def check_instances():
     for w in Worker._instances:
         with suppress(RuntimeError):  # closed IOLoop
             w.loop.add_callback(w.close, report=False, executor_wait=False)
-            if w.status in (Status.running, Status.paused):
+            if w.status in RUNNING:
                 w.loop.add_callback(w.close)
     Worker._instances.clear()
 
diff --git a/distributed/worker.py b/distributed/worker.py
index 3d9c9504054..06d914e3838 100644
--- a/distributed/worker.py
+++ b/distributed/worker.py
@@ -3673,11 +3673,7 @@ def get_worker() -> Worker:
         return thread_state.execution_state["worker"]
     except AttributeError:
         try:
-            return first(
-                w
-                for w in Worker._instances
-                if w.status in (Status.running, Status.paused)
-            )
+            return first(w for w in Worker._instances if w.status in RUNNING)
         except StopIteration:
             raise ValueError("No workers found")