diff --git a/.github/scripts/levelization/results/ordering.txt b/.github/scripts/levelization/results/ordering.txt
index d4d07eee94..747ea8b6a6 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/levelization/results/ordering.txt
+++ b/.github/scripts/levelization/results/ordering.txt
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ test.peerfinder > xrpld.core
 test.peerfinder > xrpld.peerfinder
 test.peerfinder > xrpl.protocol
 test.protocol > test.toplevel
+test.protocol > test.unit_test
 test.protocol > xrpl.basics
 test.protocol > xrpl.json
 test.protocol > xrpl.protocol
@@ -171,6 +172,7 @@ test.shamap > xrpl.shamap
 test.toplevel > test.csf
 test.toplevel > xrpl.json
 test.unit_test > xrpl.basics
+test.unit_test > xrpl.protocol
 tests.libxrpl > xrpl.basics
 tests.libxrpl > xrpl.json
 tests.libxrpl > xrpl.net
diff --git a/include/xrpl/protocol/SecretKey.h b/include/xrpl/protocol/SecretKey.h
index a59b1150c1..550ccf75bc 100644
--- a/include/xrpl/protocol/SecretKey.h
+++ b/include/xrpl/protocol/SecretKey.h
@@ -16,8 +16,11 @@ namespace xrpl {
 /** A secret key. */
 class SecretKey
 {
+public:
+    static constexpr std::size_t size_ = 32;
+
 private:
-    std::uint8_t buf_[32];
+    std::uint8_t buf_[size_];
 
 public:
     using const_iterator = std::uint8_t const*;
@@ -27,9 +30,14 @@ public:
     SecretKey&
     operator=(SecretKey const&) = default;
 
+    bool
+    operator==(SecretKey const&) = delete;
+    bool
+    operator!=(SecretKey const&) = delete;
+
     ~SecretKey();
 
-    SecretKey(std::array<std::uint8_t, 32> const& data);
+    SecretKey(std::array<std::uint8_t, size_> const& data);
     SecretKey(Slice const& slice);
 
     std::uint8_t const*
@@ -78,16 +86,10 @@ public:
 };
 
 inline bool
-operator==(SecretKey const& lhs, SecretKey const& rhs)
-{
-    return lhs.size() == rhs.size() && std::memcmp(lhs.data(), rhs.data(), rhs.size()) == 0;
-}
+operator==(SecretKey const& lhs, SecretKey const& rhs) = delete;
 
 inline bool
-operator!=(SecretKey const& lhs, SecretKey const& rhs)
-{
-    return !(lhs == rhs);
-}
+operator!=(SecretKey const& lhs, SecretKey const& rhs) = delete;
 
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/src/test/app/Manifest_test.cpp b/src/test/app/Manifest_test.cpp
index d9ecf89b26..45e5067403 100644
--- a/src/test/app/Manifest_test.cpp
+++ b/src/test/app/Manifest_test.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include <test/jtx.h>
+#include <test/unit_test/utils.h>
 
 #include <xrpld/app/misc/ValidatorList.h>
 
@@ -446,7 +447,7 @@ public:
 
             auto const token = loadValidatorToken(tokenBlob);
             BEAST_EXPECT(token);
-            BEAST_EXPECT(token->validationSecret == *valSecret);
+            BEAST_EXPECT(test::equal(token->validationSecret, *valSecret));
             BEAST_EXPECT(token->manifest == manifest);
         }
         {
diff --git a/src/test/app/ValidatorKeys_test.cpp b/src/test/app/ValidatorKeys_test.cpp
index 925c02131b..8088577972 100644
--- a/src/test/app/ValidatorKeys_test.cpp
+++ b/src/test/app/ValidatorKeys_test.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include <test/jtx/Env.h>
+#include <test/unit_test/utils.h>
 
 #include <xrpld/app/misc/ValidatorKeys.h>
 #include <xrpld/core/Config.h>
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ public:
             if (BEAST_EXPECT(k.keys))
             {
                 BEAST_EXPECT(k.keys->publicKey == seedPublicKey);
-                BEAST_EXPECT(k.keys->secretKey == seedSecretKey);
+                BEAST_EXPECT(test::equal(k.keys->secretKey, seedSecretKey));
             }
             BEAST_EXPECT(k.nodeID == seedNodeID);
             BEAST_EXPECT(k.manifest.empty());
@@ -119,7 +120,7 @@ public:
             if (BEAST_EXPECT(k.keys))
             {
                 BEAST_EXPECT(k.keys->publicKey == tokenPublicKey);
-                BEAST_EXPECT(k.keys->secretKey == tokenSecretKey);
+                BEAST_EXPECT(test::equal(k.keys->secretKey, tokenSecretKey));
             }
             BEAST_EXPECT(k.nodeID == tokenNodeID);
             BEAST_EXPECT(k.manifest == tokenManifest);
diff --git a/src/test/protocol/SecretKey_test.cpp b/src/test/protocol/SecretKey_test.cpp
index de21c7d88b..86ce3bcbe9 100644
--- a/src/test/protocol/SecretKey_test.cpp
+++ b/src/test/protocol/SecretKey_test.cpp
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+#include <test/unit_test/utils.h>
+
 #include <xrpl/beast/unit_test.h>
 #include <xrpl/beast/utility/rngfill.h>
 #include <xrpl/crypto/csprng.h>
@@ -183,7 +185,7 @@ public:
                 TokenType::NodePrivate, "pnen77YEeUd4fFKG7iycBWcwKpTaeFRkW2WFostaATy1DSupwXe");
             BEAST_EXPECT(sk2);
 
-            BEAST_EXPECT(sk1 == *sk2);
+            BEAST_EXPECT(test::equal(sk1, *sk2));
         }
 
         {
@@ -193,7 +195,7 @@ public:
                 TokenType::NodePrivate, "paKv46LztLqK3GaKz1rG2nQGN6M4JLyRtxFBYFTw4wAVHtGys36");
             BEAST_EXPECT(sk2);
 
-            BEAST_EXPECT(sk1 == *sk2);
+            BEAST_EXPECT(test::equal(sk1, *sk2));
         }
 
         // Try converting short, long and malformed data
@@ -261,20 +263,20 @@ public:
             BEAST_EXPECT(!si.empty());
 
             auto const ski = parseBase58<SecretKey>(TokenType::NodePrivate, si);
-            BEAST_EXPECT(ski && keys[i] == *ski);
+            BEAST_EXPECT(ski && test::equal(keys[i], *ski));
 
             for (std::size_t j = i; j != keys.size(); ++j)
             {
-                BEAST_EXPECT((keys[i] == keys[j]) == (i == j));
+                BEAST_EXPECT(test::equal(keys[i], keys[j]) == (i == j));
 
                 auto const sj = toBase58(TokenType::NodePrivate, keys[j]);
 
                 BEAST_EXPECT((si == sj) == (i == j));
 
                 auto const skj = parseBase58<SecretKey>(TokenType::NodePrivate, sj);
-                BEAST_EXPECT(skj && keys[j] == *skj);
+                BEAST_EXPECT(skj && test::equal(keys[j], *skj));
 
-                BEAST_EXPECT((*ski == *skj) == (i == j));
+                BEAST_EXPECT(test::equal(*ski, *skj) == (i == j));
             }
         }
     }
@@ -292,7 +294,7 @@ public:
             auto kp = generateKeyPair(KeyType::secp256k1, Seed{makeSlice(test.seed)});
 
             BEAST_EXPECT(kp.first == PublicKey{makeSlice(test.pubkey)});
-            BEAST_EXPECT(kp.second == SecretKey{makeSlice(test.seckey)});
+            BEAST_EXPECT(test::equal(kp.second, SecretKey{makeSlice(test.seckey)}));
             BEAST_EXPECT(calcAccountID(kp.first) == *id);
         }
     }
@@ -310,7 +312,7 @@ public:
             auto kp = generateKeyPair(KeyType::ed25519, Seed{makeSlice(test.seed)});
 
             BEAST_EXPECT(kp.first == PublicKey{makeSlice(test.pubkey)});
-            BEAST_EXPECT(kp.second == SecretKey{makeSlice(test.seckey)});
+            BEAST_EXPECT(test::equal(kp.second, SecretKey{makeSlice(test.seckey)}));
             BEAST_EXPECT(calcAccountID(kp.first) == *id);
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/test/unit_test/utils.h b/src/test/unit_test/utils.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1f6ee58436
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/unit_test/utils.h
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#include <xrpl/protocol/SecretKey.h>
+
+#include <cstring>
+
+namespace xrpl {
+namespace test {
+
+/// Compare two SecretKey objects for equality.
+/// SecretKey::operator== is deleted, so a named function is used
+/// to avoid member-function lookup shadowing free-function overloads.
+inline bool
+equal(SecretKey const& lhs, SecretKey const& rhs)
+{
+    return lhs.size() == SecretKey::size_ && rhs.size() == SecretKey::size_ &&
+        std::memcmp(lhs.data(), rhs.data(), SecretKey::size_) == 0;
+}
+
+}  // namespace test
+}  // namespace xrpl