diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 9a0a7da889a1e44eb2ecba159225dab7b37f36d5..c584cb001b3b5ffb108eff4ae7e0a54ceee10132 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -288,7 +288,6 @@ test_ood_image:
       --wait
       $OOD_INSTANCE_NAME)
     - echo NEW_INSTANCE_ID=$NEW_INSTANCE_ID | tee -a instance.env
-    - sleep 35
     - openstack server add floating ip $NEW_INSTANCE_ID $FLOATING_IP
     - >
       curl --retry 10 --retry-delay 20 --retry-connrefused https://knightly.rc.uab.edu/Shibboleth.sso/Metadata --resolve knightly.rc.uab.edu:443:$FLOATING_IP -kf
@@ -299,6 +298,7 @@ test_ood_image:
       elif [ $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'schedule' ]; then
         cp "$SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS" ~/.ssh/known_hosts
         chmod 644 ~/.ssh/known_hosts
+        until ssh acctsvc@$FLOATING_IP hostname; do sleep 5; done;
         ssh acctsvc@$FLOATING_IP '[ $(mount | grep "etc/auto" | wc -l) -eq 6 ]' || FAILED=true
       fi
     - |