diff --git a/pkg/controller/job/job_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/job/job_controller_test.go
index b52e36c1201..e286fd8c207 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/job/job_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/job/job_controller_test.go
@@ -1664,6 +1664,7 @@ func TestTrackJobStatusAndRemoveFinalizers(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestSyncJobPastDeadline verifies tracking of active deadline in a single syncJob call.
 func TestSyncJobPastDeadline(t *testing.T) {
 	testCases := map[string]struct {
 		// job setup
@@ -1829,7 +1830,9 @@ func hasTrueCondition(job *batch.Job) *batch.JobConditionType {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func TestSyncPastDeadlineJobFinished(t *testing.T) {
+// TestPastDeadlineJobFinished ensures that a Job is correctly tracked until
+// reaching the active deadline, at which point it is marked as Failed.
+func TestPastDeadlineJobFinished(t *testing.T) {
 	clientset := fake.NewSimpleClientset()
 	fakeClock := clocktesting.NewFakeClock(time.Now().Truncate(time.Second))
 	manager, sharedInformerFactory := newControllerFromClientWithClock(clientset, controller.NoResyncPeriodFunc, fakeClock)
@@ -1863,7 +1866,7 @@ func TestSyncPastDeadlineJobFinished(t *testing.T) {
 			job := newJobWithName(tc.jobName, 1, 1, 6, batch.NonIndexedCompletion)
 			job.Spec.ActiveDeadlineSeconds = pointer.Int64(1)
 			if tc.setStartTime {
-				start := metav1.NewTime(fakeClock.Now().Add(-time.Second))
+				start := metav1.NewTime(fakeClock.Now())
 				job.Status.StartTime = &start
 			}
 
@@ -1893,6 +1896,10 @@ func TestSyncPastDeadlineJobFinished(t *testing.T) {
 					break
 				}
 			}
+			// Make sure the start time is in the informer cache.
+			if err := sharedInformerFactory.Batch().V1().Jobs().Informer().GetIndexer().Add(j); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Failed to update job in cache: %v", err)
+			}
 			manager.clock.Sleep(time.Second)
 			err = wait.Poll(200*time.Millisecond, 3*time.Second, func() (done bool, err error) {
 				j, err = clientset.BatchV1().Jobs(metav1.NamespaceDefault).Get(ctx, job.GetName(), metav1.GetOptions{})