diff --git a/lib/test-driver/Machine.pm b/lib/test-driver/Machine.pm
index 9d638dfe0bd..063346b57b9 100644
--- a/lib/test-driver/Machine.pm
+++ b/lib/test-driver/Machine.pm
@@ -216,6 +216,15 @@ sub mustSucceed {
 }
 
 
+sub waitUntilSucceeds {
+    my ($self, $command) = @_;
+    retry sub {
+        my ($status, $out) = $self->execute($command);
+        return 1 if $status == 0;
+    };
+}
+
+
 sub mustFail {
     my ($self, $command) = @_;
     my ($status, $out) = $self->execute($command);
diff --git a/tests/quake3.nix b/tests/quake3.nix
index e3a190dda7a..a31a14ea18e 100644
--- a/tests/quake3.nix
+++ b/tests/quake3.nix
@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ rec {
       $client1->execute("quake3 '+set r_fullscreen 0' '+set name Foo' '+connect server' &");
       $client2->execute("quake3 '+set r_fullscreen 0' '+set name Bar' '+connect server' &");
  
-      sleep 40;
+      $server->waitUntilSucceeds("grep -q 'Foo.*entered the game' /tmp/log");
+      $server->waitUntilSucceeds("grep -q 'Bar.*entered the game' /tmp/log");
 
-      $server->mustSucceed("grep -q 'Foo.*entered the game' /tmp/log");
-      $server->mustSucceed("grep -q 'Bar.*entered the game' /tmp/log");
+      sleep 30; # wait for a while to get a nice screenshot
 
       $client1->screenshot("screen1");
       $client2->screenshot("screen2");