diff --git a/packages/tests/src/lib/service_node.ts b/packages/tests/src/lib/service_node.ts
index baa905762a..52ec598cbd 100644
--- a/packages/tests/src/lib/service_node.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/src/lib/service_node.ts
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ interface RpcInfoResponse {
 
 export async function verifyServiceNodesConnected(
   nodes: ServiceNode[]
-): Promise<void> {
+): Promise<boolean> {
   for (const node of nodes) {
     const peers = await node.peers();
     log.info(`Service node ${node.containerName} peers:`, peers.length);
@@ -442,9 +442,9 @@ export async function verifyServiceNodesConnected(
 
     if (nodes.length > 1 && peers.length === 0) {
       log.error(`Service node ${node.containerName} has no peers connected`);
-      throw new Error(
-        `Service node ${node.containerName} has no peers connected`
-      );
+      return false;
     }
   }
+
+  return true;
 }
diff --git a/packages/tests/src/utils/nodes.ts b/packages/tests/src/utils/nodes.ts
index 623c3d54a2..b5f3512094 100644
--- a/packages/tests/src/utils/nodes.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/src/utils/nodes.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import {
   Protocols
 } from "@waku/interfaces";
 import { createLightNode } from "@waku/sdk";
-import { derivePubsubTopicsFromNetworkConfig } from "@waku/utils";
+import { delay, derivePubsubTopicsFromNetworkConfig } from "@waku/utils";
 import { Context } from "mocha";
 import pRetry from "p-retry";
 
@@ -37,7 +37,10 @@ export async function runMultipleNodes(
   );
 
   if (numServiceNodes > 1) {
-    await verifyServiceNodesConnected(serviceNodes.nodes);
+    const success = await verifyServiceNodesConnected(serviceNodes.nodes);
+    if (!success) {
+      throw new Error("Failed to verify that service nodes are connected");
+    }
   }
 
   const wakuOptions: CreateNodeOptions = {
@@ -55,12 +58,21 @@ export async function runMultipleNodes(
     throw new Error("Failed to initialize waku");
   }
 
+  //TODO: reinvestigate the need for these delays with nwaku:0.35.0: https://github.com/waku-org/js-waku/issues/2264
+  await delay(2000);
+
   for (const node of serviceNodes.nodes) {
     await waku.dial(await node.getMultiaddrWithId());
     await waku.waitForPeers([Protocols.Filter, Protocols.LightPush]);
-    await node.ensureSubscriptions(
+    const success = await node.ensureSubscriptions(
       derivePubsubTopicsFromNetworkConfig(networkConfig)
     );
+    if (!success) {
+      throw new Error("Failed to ensure subscriptions");
+    }
+
+    //TODO: reinvestigate the need for these delays with nwaku:0.35.0: https://github.com/waku-org/js-waku/issues/2264
+    await delay(2000);
 
     await node.waitForLog(waku.libp2p.peerId.toString(), 100);
   }
diff --git a/packages/tests/tests/sharding/static_sharding.spec.ts b/packages/tests/tests/sharding/static_sharding.spec.ts
index 066c0c6324..61db888be5 100644
--- a/packages/tests/tests/sharding/static_sharding.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/tests/sharding/static_sharding.spec.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import {
 const ContentTopic = "/waku/2/content/test.js";
 
 describe("Static Sharding: Running Nodes", function () {
-  this.timeout(15_000);
+  this.timeout(60_000);
   let waku: LightNode;
   let serviceNodes: ServiceNodesFleet;
 
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ describe("Static Sharding: Running Nodes", function () {
           store: true,
           lightpush: true,
           relay: true,
-          pubsubTopic: shardInfoToPubsubTopics(shardInfo)
+          pubsubTopic: shardInfoToPubsubTopics(shardInfo),
+          clusterId: singleShardInfo.clusterId
         },
         false,
         2,
@@ -80,7 +81,8 @@ describe("Static Sharding: Running Nodes", function () {
           store: true,
           lightpush: true,
           relay: true,
-          pubsubTopic: shardInfoToPubsubTopics(shardInfo)
+          pubsubTopic: shardInfoToPubsubTopics(shardInfo),
+          clusterId: singleShardInfo.clusterId
         },
         false,
         2,
diff --git a/packages/tests/tests/store/multiple_pubsub.spec.ts b/packages/tests/tests/store/multiple_pubsub.spec.ts
index ab80d161f2..fb4303a25e 100644
--- a/packages/tests/tests/store/multiple_pubsub.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/tests/tests/store/multiple_pubsub.spec.ts
@@ -175,8 +175,6 @@ describe("Waku Store (Autosharding), custom pubsub topic", function () {
   };
 
   beforeEachCustom(this, async () => {
-    console.log("running nodes");
-
     [serviceNodes, waku] = await runMultipleNodes(
       this.ctx,
       contentTopicInfoBothShards,