diff --git a/tests/pubsub/testgossipsub.nim b/tests/pubsub/testgossipsub.nim
index 0a67114..5986d47 100644
--- a/tests/pubsub/testgossipsub.nim
+++ b/tests/pubsub/testgossipsub.nim
@@ -574,7 +574,8 @@ suite "GossipSub":
     let
       nodes = generateNodes(
         2,
-        gossip = true)
+        gossip = true,
+        unsubscribeBackoff = 10.minutes)
 
       # start switches
       nodesFut = await allFinished(
diff --git a/tests/pubsub/utils.nim b/tests/pubsub/utils.nim
index f203f74..846c8bb 100644
--- a/tests/pubsub/utils.nim
+++ b/tests/pubsub/utils.nim
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ proc generateNodes*(
   verifySignature: bool = libp2p_pubsub_verify,
   anonymize: bool = libp2p_pubsub_anonymize,
   sign: bool = libp2p_pubsub_sign,
+  unsubscribeBackoff = 1.seconds,
   maxMessageSize: int = 1024 * 1024): seq[PubSub] =
 
   for i in 0..<num:
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ proc generateNodes*(
         msgIdProvider = msgIdProvider,
         anonymize = anonymize,
         maxMessageSize = maxMessageSize,
-        parameters = (var p = GossipSubParams.init(); p.floodPublish = false; p.historyLength = 20; p.historyGossip = 20; p.unsubscribeBackoff = 1.seconds; p))
+        parameters = (var p = GossipSubParams.init(); p.floodPublish = false; p.historyLength = 20; p.historyGossip = 20; p.unsubscribeBackoff = unsubscribeBackoff; p))
       # set some testing params, to enable scores
       g.topicParams.mgetOrPut("foobar", TopicParams.init()).topicWeight = 1.0
       g.topicParams.mgetOrPut("foo", TopicParams.init()).topicWeight = 1.0