diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/util.go b/test/e2e/framework/util.go
index 8b8c6b0197a..a44c56d001e 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/util.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/util.go
@@ -2317,38 +2317,6 @@ func retryCmd(command string, args ...string) (string, string, error) {
 	return stdout, stderr, err
 }
 
-// WaitForStableCluster waits until all existing pods are scheduled and returns their amount.
-func WaitForStableCluster(c clientset.Interface, masterNodes sets.String) int {
-	timeout := 10 * time.Minute
-	startTime := time.Now()
-
-	allPods, err := c.CoreV1().Pods(metav1.NamespaceAll).List(metav1.ListOptions{})
-	ExpectNoError(err)
-	// API server returns also Pods that succeeded. We need to filter them out.
-	currentPods := make([]v1.Pod, 0, len(allPods.Items))
-	for _, pod := range allPods.Items {
-		if pod.Status.Phase != v1.PodSucceeded && pod.Status.Phase != v1.PodFailed {
-			currentPods = append(currentPods, pod)
-		}
-
-	}
-	allPods.Items = currentPods
-	scheduledPods, currentlyNotScheduledPods := e2epod.GetPodsScheduled(masterNodes, allPods)
-	for len(currentlyNotScheduledPods) != 0 {
-		time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
-
-		allPods, err := c.CoreV1().Pods(metav1.NamespaceAll).List(metav1.ListOptions{})
-		ExpectNoError(err)
-		scheduledPods, currentlyNotScheduledPods = e2epod.GetPodsScheduled(masterNodes, allPods)
-
-		if startTime.Add(timeout).Before(time.Now()) {
-			Failf("Timed out after %v waiting for stable cluster.", timeout)
-			break
-		}
-	}
-	return len(scheduledPods)
-}
-
 // E2ETestNodePreparer implements testutils.TestNodePreparer interface, which is used
 // to create/modify Nodes before running a test.
 type E2ETestNodePreparer struct {
diff --git a/test/e2e/scheduling/framework.go b/test/e2e/scheduling/framework.go
index b5a32c66b2d..e855f857b2e 100644
--- a/test/e2e/scheduling/framework.go
+++ b/test/e2e/scheduling/framework.go
@@ -16,9 +16,69 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 package scheduling
 
-import "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
+import (
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
+
+	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
+	clientset "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/test/e2e/framework"
+	e2epod "k8s.io/kubernetes/test/e2e/framework/pod"
+)
 
 // SIGDescribe annotates the test with the SIG label.
 func SIGDescribe(text string, body func()) bool {
 	return ginkgo.Describe("[sig-scheduling] "+text, body)
 }
+
+// WaitForStableCluster waits until all existing pods are scheduled and returns their amount.
+func WaitForStableCluster(c clientset.Interface, masterNodes sets.String) int {
+	timeout := 10 * time.Minute
+	startTime := time.Now()
+
+	allPods := getAllPods(c)
+	scheduledSystemPods, currentlyNotScheduledSystemPods := getSystemPods(c)
+	systemPods := scheduledSystemPods + currentlyNotScheduledSystemPods
+
+	// Wait for system pods to be scheduled, and for pods in all other namespaces to be deleted
+	for currentlyNotScheduledSystemPods != 0 || systemPods != allPods {
+		time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
+
+		scheduledSystemPods, currentlyNotScheduledSystemPods := getSystemPods(c)
+		systemPods = scheduledSystemPods + currentlyNotScheduledSystemPods
+		allPods = getAllPods(c)
+
+		if startTime.Add(timeout).Before(time.Now()) {
+			framework.Failf("Timed out after %v waiting for stable cluster.", timeout)
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	return scheduledSystemPods
+}
+
+// getAllPods lists all pods in the cluster, with succeeded and failed pods filtered out and returns the count
+func getAllPods(c clientset.Interface) int {
+	allPods, err := c.CoreV1().Pods(metav1.NamespaceAll).List(metav1.ListOptions{})
+	framework.ExpectNoError(err, "listing all pods in kube-system namespace while waiting for stable cluster")
+	// API server returns also Pods that succeeded. We need to filter them out.
+	currentPods := make([]v1.Pod, 0, len(allPods.Items))
+	for _, pod := range allPods.Items {
+		if pod.Status.Phase != v1.PodSucceeded && pod.Status.Phase != v1.PodFailed {
+			currentPods = append(currentPods, pod)
+		}
+
+	}
+	allPods.Items = currentPods
+	return len(allPods.Items)
+}
+
+// getSystemPods lists the pods in the kube-system namespace and returns the number of scheduled and unscheduled pods
+func getSystemPods(c clientset.Interface) (int, int) {
+	systemPods, err := c.CoreV1().Pods(metav1.NamespaceSystem).List(metav1.ListOptions{})
+	framework.ExpectNoError(err, "listing all pods in kube-system namespace while waiting for stable cluster")
+	scheduledSystemPods, currentlyNotScheduledSystemPods := e2epod.GetPodsScheduled(masterNodes, systemPods)
+	return len(scheduledSystemPods), len(currentlyNotScheduledSystemPods)
+}
diff --git a/test/e2e/scheduling/predicates.go b/test/e2e/scheduling/predicates.go
index 57aaa9395d4..c6913c85431 100644
--- a/test/e2e/scheduling/predicates.go
+++ b/test/e2e/scheduling/predicates.go
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("SchedulerPredicates [Serial]", func() {
 			totalPodCapacity += podCapacity.Value()
 		}
 
-		currentlyScheduledPods := framework.WaitForStableCluster(cs, masterNodes)
+		currentlyScheduledPods := WaitForStableCluster(cs, masterNodes)
 		podsNeededForSaturation := int(totalPodCapacity) - currentlyScheduledPods
 
 		ginkgo.By(fmt.Sprintf("Starting additional %v Pods to fully saturate the cluster max pods and trying to start another one", podsNeededForSaturation))
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("SchedulerPredicates [Serial]", func() {
 				nodeMaxAllocatable = allocatable.Value()
 			}
 		}
-		framework.WaitForStableCluster(cs, masterNodes)
+		WaitForStableCluster(cs, masterNodes)
 
 		pods, err := cs.CoreV1().Pods(metav1.NamespaceAll).List(metav1.ListOptions{})
 		framework.ExpectNoError(err)
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("SchedulerPredicates [Serial]", func() {
 		Description: Scheduling Pods MUST fail if the resource limits exceed Machine capacity.
 	*/
 	framework.ConformanceIt("validates resource limits of pods that are allowed to run ", func() {
-		framework.WaitForStableCluster(cs, masterNodes)
+		WaitForStableCluster(cs, masterNodes)
 		nodeMaxAllocatable := int64(0)
 		nodeToAllocatableMap := make(map[string]int64)
 		for _, node := range nodeList.Items {
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("SchedulerPredicates [Serial]", func() {
 		ginkgo.By("Trying to schedule Pod with nonempty NodeSelector.")
 		podName := "restricted-pod"
 
-		framework.WaitForStableCluster(cs, masterNodes)
+		WaitForStableCluster(cs, masterNodes)
 
 		conf := pausePodConfig{
 			Name:   podName,
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("SchedulerPredicates [Serial]", func() {
 		ginkgo.By("Trying to schedule Pod with nonempty NodeSelector.")
 		podName := "restricted-pod"
 
-		framework.WaitForStableCluster(cs, masterNodes)
+		WaitForStableCluster(cs, masterNodes)
 
 		conf := pausePodConfig{
 			Name: podName,