diff --git a/tests/test_blocking_client.py b/tests/test_blocking_client.py
index 0d342682..d33a852b 100644
--- a/tests/test_blocking_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_blocking_client.py
@@ -255,6 +255,9 @@ def test():
             for tx in client.transaction():
                 with tx:
                     self.assertEqual(tx.query_single("SELECT 1"), 2)
+                    # make this test more reliable by spending more time in
+                    # the transaction to hit top concurrency sooner
+                    time.sleep(0.01)
 
         with self.create_client(
             concurrency=10,