diff --git a/bin/tests/system/cookie/tests.sh b/bin/tests/system/cookie/tests.sh
index 7708a59ce8..b6eab36185 100755
--- a/bin/tests/system/cookie/tests.sh
+++ b/bin/tests/system/cookie/tests.sh
@@ -142,8 +142,12 @@ n=`expr $n + 1`
 echo_i "checking for COOKIE value in adb ($n)"
 ret=0
 $RNDCCMD 10.53.0.1 dumpdb
-sleep 1
-grep "10.53.0.2.*\[cookie=" ns1/named_dump.db > /dev/null|| ret=1
+for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
+do
+  sleep 1
+  grep "10.53.0.2.*\[cookie=" ns1/named_dump.db > /dev/null && break
+done
+grep "10.53.0.2.*\[cookie=" ns1/named_dump.db > /dev/null || ret=1
 if [ $ret != 0 ]; then echo_i "failed"; fi
 status=`expr $status + $ret`