diff --git a/internal/daemon/worker/testing.go b/internal/daemon/worker/testing.go
index db47dece74..7083becb7b 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/worker/testing.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/worker/testing.go
@@ -456,9 +456,6 @@ func NewTestMultihopWorkers(t testing.TB,
 	})
 	t.Cleanup(kmsWorker.Shutdown)
 
-	// Give time for it to be inserted into the database
-	time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
-
 	// names should not be set when using pki workers
 	pkiWorkerConf, err := config.DevWorker()
 	require.NoError(err)
@@ -476,9 +473,6 @@ func NewTestMultihopWorkers(t testing.TB,
 	})
 	t.Cleanup(pkiWorker.Shutdown)
 
-	// Give time for it to be inserted into the database
-	time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
-
 	// Get a server repo and worker auth repo
 	serversRepo, err := serversRepoFn()
 	require.NoError(err)
@@ -513,9 +507,6 @@ func NewTestMultihopWorkers(t testing.TB,
 	})
 	t.Cleanup(childPkiWorker.Shutdown)
 
-	// Give time for it to be inserted into the database
-	time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
-
 	// Perform initial authentication of worker to controller
 	reqBytes, err = base58.FastBase58Decoding(childPkiWorker.Worker().WorkerAuthRegistrationRequest)
 	require.NoError(err)
@@ -548,16 +539,62 @@ func NewTestMultihopWorkers(t testing.TB,
 		WorkerAuthDebuggingEnabled: enableAuthDebugging,
 		DisableAutoStart:           true,
 	})
+	t.Cleanup(childKmsWorker.Shutdown)
 	childKmsWorker.w.conf.WorkerAuthStorageKms = nil
 
 	err = childKmsWorker.w.Start()
-	t.Cleanup(childKmsWorker.Shutdown)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
+	require.NoError(err)
 
-	// Sleep so that workers can startup and connect.
-	time.Sleep(12 * time.Second)
+	t.Log("Waiting for workers to start up")
+	require.Eventually(
+		func() bool {
+			t.Log("Checking worker status")
+			workers, err := serversRepo.ListWorkers(controllerContext, []string{"global"})
+			if err != nil {
+				return false
+			}
+			if len(workers) != 4 {
+				return false
+			}
+			for _, w := range workers {
+				if w.LastStatusTime == nil {
+					return false
+				}
+			}
+			return true
+		},
+		30*time.Second,
+		time.Second,
+	)
+	t.Log("All workers have started")
+
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		// Run shutdowns in parallel, they each take multiple seconds
+		// Note: this duplicates the shutdowns above, but since shutdowns
+		// are idempotent, that's OK. This is the first time we can safely run them
+		// all in parallel.
+		t.Log("Shutting down workers")
+		wg := &sync.WaitGroup{}
+		wg.Add(4)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			kmsWorker.Shutdown()
+		}()
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			pkiWorker.Shutdown()
+		}()
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			childPkiWorker.Shutdown()
+		}()
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			childKmsWorker.Shutdown()
+		}()
+		wg.Wait()
+		t.Log("Workers shut down")
+	})
 
 	return kmsWorker, pkiWorker, childPkiWorker, childKmsWorker
 }