diff --git a/kv/memberlist/memberlist_client_test.go b/kv/memberlist/memberlist_client_test.go
index 4df4f0572..54930c875 100644
--- a/kv/memberlist/memberlist_client_test.go
+++ b/kv/memberlist/memberlist_client_test.go
@@ -613,7 +613,7 @@ func TestMultipleClientsWithMixedLabelsAndExpectFailure(t *testing.T) {
 
 	err := testMultipleClientsWithConfigGenerator(t, len(membersLabel), configGen)
 	require.Error(t, err)
-	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), fmt.Sprintf("expected to see at least %d updates", len(membersLabel)))
+	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "expected to see at least 2 members, got 1")
 }
 
 func TestMultipleClientsWithMixedLabelsAndClusterLabelVerificationDisabled(t *testing.T) {
@@ -662,6 +662,8 @@ func TestMultipleClientsWithSameLabelWithClusterLabelVerification(t *testing.T)
 }
 
 func testMultipleClientsWithConfigGenerator(t *testing.T, members int, configGen func(memberId int) KVConfig) error {
+	t.Helper()
+
 	c := dataCodec{}
 	const key = "ring"
 	var clients []*Client
@@ -723,11 +725,10 @@ func testMultipleClientsWithConfigGenerator(t *testing.T, members int, configGen
 	startTime := time.Now()
 	firstKv := clients[0]
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), casInterval*3) // Watch for 3x cas intervals.
-	updates := 0
+	joinedMembers := 0
 	firstKv.WatchKey(ctx, key, func(in interface{}) bool {
-		updates++
-
 		r := in.(*data)
+		joinedMembers = len(r.Members)
 
 		minTimestamp, maxTimestamp, avgTimestamp := getTimestamps(r.Members)
 
@@ -740,12 +741,9 @@ func testMultipleClientsWithConfigGenerator(t *testing.T, members int, configGen
 	})
 	cancel() // make linter happy
 
-	t.Logf("Ring updates observed: %d", updates)
-
-	if updates < members {
-		// in general, at least one update from each node. (although that's not necessarily true...
-		// but typically we get more updates than that anyway)
-		return fmt.Errorf("expected to see at least %d updates, got %d", members, updates)
+	if joinedMembers <= 1 {
+		// expect at least 2 members. Otherwise, this means that the ring has failed to sync.
+		return fmt.Errorf("expected to see at least 2 members, got %d", joinedMembers)
 	}
 
 	if err := getClientErr(); err != nil {
@@ -755,47 +753,69 @@ func testMultipleClientsWithConfigGenerator(t *testing.T, members int, configGen
 	// Let's check all the clients to see if they have relatively up-to-date information
 	// All of them should at least have all the clients
 	// And same tokens.
-	allTokens := []uint32(nil)
-
-	for i := 0; i < members; i++ {
-		kv := clients[i]
+	check := func() error {
+		allTokens := []uint32(nil)
 
-		r := getData(t, kv, key)
-		t.Logf("KV %d: number of known members: %d\n", i, len(r.Members))
-		if len(r.Members) != members {
-			return fmt.Errorf("Member %d has only %d members in the ring", i, len(r.Members))
-		}
+		for i := 0; i < members; i++ {
+			kv := clients[i]
 
-		minTimestamp, maxTimestamp, avgTimestamp := getTimestamps(r.Members)
-		for n, ing := range r.Members {
-			if ing.State != ACTIVE {
-				return fmt.Errorf("Member %d: invalid state of member %s in the ring: %v ", i, n, ing.State)
+			r := getData(t, kv, key)
+			t.Logf("KV %d: number of known members: %d\n", i, len(r.Members))
+			if len(r.Members) != members {
+				return fmt.Errorf("Member %d has only %d members in the ring", i, len(r.Members))
 			}
-		}
-		now := time.Now()
-		t.Logf("Member %d: oldest: %v, avg: %v, youngest: %v", i,
-			now.Sub(time.Unix(minTimestamp, 0)).String(),
-			now.Sub(time.Unix(avgTimestamp, 0)).String(),
-			now.Sub(time.Unix(maxTimestamp, 0)).String())
-
-		tokens := r.getAllTokens()
-		if allTokens == nil {
-			allTokens = tokens
-			t.Logf("Found tokens: %d", len(allTokens))
-		} else {
-			if len(allTokens) != len(tokens) {
-				return fmt.Errorf("Member %d: Expected %d tokens, got %d", i, len(allTokens), len(tokens))
+
+			minTimestamp, maxTimestamp, avgTimestamp := getTimestamps(r.Members)
+			for n, ing := range r.Members {
+				if ing.State != ACTIVE {
+					stateStr := "UNKNOWN"
+					switch ing.State {
+					case JOINING:
+						stateStr = "JOINING"
+					case LEFT:
+						stateStr = "LEFT"
+					}
+					return fmt.Errorf("Member %d: invalid state of member %s in the ring: %s (%v) ", i, n, stateStr, ing.State)
+				}
 			}
+			now := time.Now()
+			t.Logf("Member %d: oldest: %v, avg: %v, youngest: %v", i,
+				now.Sub(time.Unix(minTimestamp, 0)).String(),
+				now.Sub(time.Unix(avgTimestamp, 0)).String(),
+				now.Sub(time.Unix(maxTimestamp, 0)).String())
+
+			tokens := r.getAllTokens()
+			if allTokens == nil {
+				allTokens = tokens
+				t.Logf("Found tokens: %d", len(allTokens))
+			} else {
+				if len(allTokens) != len(tokens) {
+					return fmt.Errorf("Member %d: Expected %d tokens, got %d", i, len(allTokens), len(tokens))
+				}
 
-			for ix, tok := range allTokens {
-				if tok != tokens[ix] {
-					return fmt.Errorf("Member %d: Tokens at position %d differ: %v, %v", i, ix, tok, tokens[ix])
+				for ix, tok := range allTokens {
+					if tok != tokens[ix] {
+						return fmt.Errorf("Member %d: Tokens at position %d differ: %v, %v", i, ix, tok, tokens[ix])
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		}
+
+		return getClientErr()
 	}
 
-	return getClientErr()
+	// Try this for ~10 seconds. memberlist is eventually consistent, so we may need to wait a bit, especially with `-race`.
+	for timeout := time.After(10 * time.Second); ; {
+		select {
+		case <-timeout:
+			return check() // return last error
+		default:
+			if err := check(); err == nil {
+				return nil // it passed
+			}
+			time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
+		}
+	}
 }
 
 func TestJoinMembersWithRetryBackoff(t *testing.T) {