diff --git a/hack/make-rules/test-cmd-util.sh b/hack/make-rules/test-cmd-util.sh
index e57398c4e14..5cd3da9b855 100644
--- a/hack/make-rules/test-cmd-util.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/test-cmd-util.sh
@@ -666,16 +666,15 @@ run_pod_tests() {
   }
 }
 __EOF__
-  kubectl replace -f - "${kube_flags[@]}" << __EOF__
-{
+  kubectl-with-retry replace "${kube_flags[@]}" -f <(echo '{
   "kind": "Node",
   "apiVersion": "v1",
   "metadata": {
     "name": "node-v1-test",
     "annotations": {"a":"b"}
   }
-}
-__EOF__
+}')
+
   # Post-condition: the node command succeeds
   kube::test::get_object_assert "node node-v1-test" "{{.metadata.annotations.a}}" 'b'
   kubectl delete node node-v1-test "${kube_flags[@]}"