diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_node_status_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_node_status_test.go
index 20ab8c8c74e..10c3f7f8565 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_node_status_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/kubelet_node_status_test.go
@@ -642,8 +642,8 @@ func TestUpdateExistingNodeStatusTimeout(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Error(t, kubelet.updateNodeStatus())
 
 	// should have attempted multiple times
-	if actualAttempts := atomic.LoadInt64(&attempts); actualAttempts != nodeStatusUpdateRetry {
-		t.Errorf("Expected %d attempts, got %d", nodeStatusUpdateRetry, actualAttempts)
+	if actualAttempts := atomic.LoadInt64(&attempts); actualAttempts < nodeStatusUpdateRetry {
+		t.Errorf("Expected at least %d attempts, got %d", nodeStatusUpdateRetry, actualAttempts)
 	}
 }