diff --git a/routing/dht/dht_test.go b/routing/dht/dht_test.go
index 1358903a9..2e63e438e 100644
--- a/routing/dht/dht_test.go
+++ b/routing/dht/dht_test.go
@@ -78,6 +78,16 @@ func connect(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context, a, b *IpfsDHT) {
 	if err := a.host.Connect(ctx, pi); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
+
+	// loop until connection notification has been received.
+	// under high load, this may not happen as immediately as we would like.
+	for a.routingTable.Find(b.self) == "" {
+		time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 5)
+	}
+
+	for b.routingTable.Find(a.self) == "" {
+		time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 5)
+	}
 }
 
 func bootstrap(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context, dhts []*IpfsDHT) {