diff --git a/services/track-changes/test/acceptance/coffee/ArchivingUpdatesTests.coffee b/services/track-changes/test/acceptance/coffee/ArchivingUpdatesTests.coffee
index 25397cfa61..282aaec2f5 100644
--- a/services/track-changes/test/acceptance/coffee/ArchivingUpdatesTests.coffee
+++ b/services/track-changes/test/acceptance/coffee/ArchivingUpdatesTests.coffee
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ describe "Archiving updates", ->
 			message = new Error("s3 keys not setup, this test setup will fail")
 			return done(message)
 
+		TrackChangesClient.waitForS3 done
+
+	before (done) ->
 		@now = Date.now()
 		@to = @now
 		@user_id = ObjectId().toString()
diff --git a/services/track-changes/test/acceptance/coffee/helpers/TrackChangesClient.coffee b/services/track-changes/test/acceptance/coffee/helpers/TrackChangesClient.coffee
index 9f17939656..1ae07426b2 100644
--- a/services/track-changes/test/acceptance/coffee/helpers/TrackChangesClient.coffee
+++ b/services/track-changes/test/acceptance/coffee/helpers/TrackChangesClient.coffee
@@ -100,6 +100,21 @@ module.exports = TrackChangesClient =
 			response.statusCode.should.equal 204
 			callback(error)
 
+	waitForS3: (done, retries=42) ->
+		if !Settings.trackchanges.s3.endpoint
+			return done()
+
+		request.get "#{Settings.trackchanges.s3.endpoint}/", (err, res) ->
+			if res && res.statusCode < 500
+				return done()
+
+			if retries == 0
+				return done(err or new Error("s3 returned #{res.statusCode}"))
+
+			setTimeout () ->
+				TrackChangesClient.waitForS3(done, --retries)
+			, 1000
+
 	getS3Doc: (project_id, doc_id, pack_id, callback = (error, body) ->) ->
 		params =
 			Bucket: S3_BUCKET