diff --git a/agent/consul/helper_test.go b/agent/consul/helper_test.go
index 48186b5486..0f89856d74 100644
--- a/agent/consul/helper_test.go
+++ b/agent/consul/helper_test.go
@@ -1213,10 +1213,12 @@ func registerTestRoutingConfigTopologyEntries(t *testing.T, codec rpc.ClientCode
 func registerLocalAndRemoteServicesVIPEnabled(t *testing.T, state *state.Store) {
 	t.Helper()
 
-	_, entry, err := state.SystemMetadataGet(nil, structs.SystemMetadataVirtualIPsEnabled)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.NotNil(t, entry)
-	require.Equal(t, "true", entry.Value)
+	retry.Run(t, func(r *retry.R) {
+		_, entry, err := state.SystemMetadataGet(nil, structs.SystemMetadataVirtualIPsEnabled)
+		require.NoError(r, err)
+		require.NotNil(r, entry)
+		require.Equal(r, "true", entry.Value)
+	})
 
 	// Register a local connect-native service
 	require.NoError(t, state.EnsureRegistration(10, &structs.RegisterRequest{
diff --git a/agent/consul/internal_endpoint_test.go b/agent/consul/internal_endpoint_test.go
index 6d35f55b64..91d48601cd 100644
--- a/agent/consul/internal_endpoint_test.go
+++ b/agent/consul/internal_endpoint_test.go
@@ -2782,6 +2782,10 @@ func TestInternal_PeeredUpstreams(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Skip("too slow for testing.Short")
 	}
 
+	orig := virtualIPVersionCheckInterval
+	virtualIPVersionCheckInterval = 50 * time.Millisecond
+	t.Cleanup(func() { virtualIPVersionCheckInterval = orig })
+
 	t.Parallel()
 	_, s1 := testServerWithConfig(t)