diff --git a/test/e2e/deployment.go b/test/e2e/deployment.go
index 13a0de3f91b..8642c12f788 100644
--- a/test/e2e/deployment.go
+++ b/test/e2e/deployment.go
@@ -454,12 +454,14 @@ func testRolloverDeployment(f *Framework) {
 		Logf("error in waiting for pods to come up: %s", err)
 		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 	}
+	deploymentMinReadySeconds := 5
+	err = waitForPodsReady(c, ns, podName, deploymentMinReadySeconds)
+	Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 
 	// Create a deployment to delete nginx pods and instead bring up redis-slave pods.
 	deploymentName, deploymentImageName := "redis-deployment", "redis-slave"
 	deploymentReplicas := 4
 	deploymentImage := "gcr.io/google_samples/gb-redisslave:v1"
-	deploymentMinReadySeconds := 5
 	deploymentStrategyType := extensions.RollingUpdateDeploymentStrategyType
 	Logf("Creating deployment %s", deploymentName)
 	newDeployment := newDeployment(deploymentName, deploymentReplicas, deploymentPodLabels, deploymentImageName, deploymentImage, deploymentStrategyType, nil)
diff --git a/test/e2e/util.go b/test/e2e/util.go
index 92f9272c0ca..506dbe23044 100644
--- a/test/e2e/util.go
+++ b/test/e2e/util.go
@@ -2144,6 +2144,23 @@ func waitForDeploymentStatus(c clientset.Interface, ns, deploymentName string, d
 	})
 }
 
+func waitForPodsReady(c *clientset.Clientset, ns, name string, minReadySeconds int) error {
+	label := labels.SelectorFromSet(labels.Set(map[string]string{"name": name}))
+	options := api.ListOptions{LabelSelector: label}
+	return wait.Poll(poll, 5*time.Minute, func() (bool, error) {
+		pods, err := c.Pods(ns).List(options)
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+		for _, pod := range pods.Items {
+			if !deploymentutil.IsPodAvailable(&pod, minReadySeconds) {
+				return false, nil
+			}
+		}
+		return true, nil
+	})
+}
+
 // Waits for the deployment to clean up old rcs.
 func waitForDeploymentOldRSsNum(c *clientset.Clientset, ns, deploymentName string, desiredRSNum int) error {
 	return wait.Poll(poll, 5*time.Minute, func() (bool, error) {