diff --git a/hbase-it/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/chaos/actions/Action.java b/hbase-it/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/chaos/actions/Action.java
index 1e00659e4e7..7a2016e056d 100644
--- a/hbase-it/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/chaos/actions/Action.java
+++ b/hbase-it/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/chaos/actions/Action.java
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ public class Action {
     LOG.info("Stopping regionserver " + server);
     cluster.stopRegionServer(server);
     cluster.waitForRegionServerToStop(server, killRsTimeout);
-    LOG.info(String.format("Stoppiong regionserver %s. Reported num of rs: %s", server,
+    LOG.info(String.format("Stopping regionserver %s. Reported num of rs: %s", server,
         cluster.getClusterStatus().getLiveServersLoad().size()));
   }
 
diff --git a/hbase-it/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/chaos/actions/RollingBatchRestartRsAction.java b/hbase-it/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/chaos/actions/RollingBatchRestartRsAction.java
index 347340799c1..7db9f5ac9a5 100644
--- a/hbase-it/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/chaos/actions/RollingBatchRestartRsAction.java
+++ b/hbase-it/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/chaos/actions/RollingBatchRestartRsAction.java
@@ -20,8 +20,10 @@ package org.apache.hadoop.hbase.chaos.actions;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.Queue;
 
 import org.apache.commons.lang.math.RandomUtils;
@@ -61,7 +63,7 @@ public class RollingBatchRestartRsAction extends BatchRestartRsAction {
     List<ServerName> selectedServers = selectServers();
 
     Queue<ServerName> serversToBeKilled = new LinkedList<ServerName>(selectedServers);
-    Queue<ServerName> deadServers = new LinkedList<ServerName>();
+    LinkedList<ServerName> deadServers = new LinkedList<ServerName>();
 
     // loop while there are servers to be killed or dead servers to be restarted
     while ((!serversToBeKilled.isEmpty() || !deadServers.isEmpty())  && !context.isStopping()) {
@@ -94,13 +96,17 @@ public class RollingBatchRestartRsAction extends BatchRestartRsAction {
           deadServers.add(server);
           break;
         case START:
+          server = Objects.requireNonNull(deadServers.peek());
           try {
-            server = deadServers.remove();
             startRs(server);
+            // only remove the server from the known dead list if `startRs` succeeds.
+            deadServers.remove(server);
           } catch (org.apache.hadoop.util.Shell.ExitCodeException e) {
             // The start may fail but better to just keep going though we may lose server.
-            //
-            LOG.info("Problem starting, will retry; code=" + e.getExitCode(), e);
+            // Shuffle the dead list to avoid getting stuck on a single stubborn host.
+            Collections.shuffle(deadServers);
+            LOG.info(String.format(
+              "Problem starting %s, will retry; code=%s", server, e.getExitCode(), e));
           }
           break;
       }