diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/storage/cacher/cacher_whitebox_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/storage/cacher/cacher_whitebox_test.go
index 58fa0081683..25f11e495c5 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/storage/cacher/cacher_whitebox_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/storage/cacher/cacher_whitebox_test.go
@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@ func TestWatchNotHangingOnStartupFailure(t *testing.T) {
 	// terminate instead of hanging forever.
 	go func() {
 		defer cancel()
-		cacher.clock.Sleep(5 * time.Second)
+		cacher.clock.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
 	}()
 
 	// Watch hangs waiting on watchcache being initialized.