diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/node/wait_test.go b/test/e2e/framework/node/wait_test.go
index 174d55016d6..3b3373de891 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/node/wait_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/node/wait_test.go
@@ -168,15 +168,26 @@ func TestCheckReadyForTests(t *testing.T) {
 				return true, nodeList, tc.nodeListErr
 			})
 			checkFunc := CheckReadyForTests(c, tc.nonblockingTaints, tc.allowedNotReadyNodes, testLargeClusterThreshold)
-			out, err := checkFunc()
-			if out != tc.expected {
-				t.Errorf("Expected %v but got %v", tc.expected, out)
-			}
-			switch {
-			case err == nil && len(tc.expectedErr) > 0:
-				t.Errorf("Expected error %q nil", tc.expectedErr)
-			case err != nil && err.Error() != tc.expectedErr:
-				t.Errorf("Expected error %q but got %q", tc.expectedErr, err.Error())
+			// The check function returns "false, nil" during its
+			// first two calls, therefore we have to try several
+			// times until we get the expected error.
+			for attempt := 0; attempt <= 3; attempt++ {
+				out, err := checkFunc()
+				expected := tc.expected
+				expectedErr := tc.expectedErr
+				if tc.nodeListErr != nil && attempt < 2 {
+					expected = false
+					expectedErr = ""
+				}
+				if out != expected {
+					t.Errorf("Expected %v but got %v", expected, out)
+				}
+				switch {
+				case err == nil && expectedErr != "":
+					t.Errorf("attempt #%d: expected error %q nil", attempt, expectedErr)
+				case err != nil && err.Error() != expectedErr:
+					t.Errorf("attempt #%d: expected error %q but got %q", attempt, expectedErr, err.Error())
+				}
 			}
 		})
 	}